THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973
Unlike many countries across the world, in Chile after 1968 a radical socialist government came to power with the electoral victory of Salvador Allende and Popular Unity underpinned by a whole range of movements toward a socialism “from below”. Using fragments gathered from workers’ newspapers produ...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | eng |
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Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad
2018
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| Online Access: | https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/21093 |
| _version_ | 1811171358175920128 |
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| author | Fishwick, Adam Daniel |
| author_facet | Fishwick, Adam Daniel |
| author_sort | Fishwick, Adam Daniel |
| collection | Portal de Revistas |
| description | Unlike many countries across the world, in Chile after 1968 a radical socialist government came to power with the electoral victory of Salvador Allende and Popular Unity underpinned by a whole range of movements toward a socialism “from below”. Using fragments gathered from workers’ newspapers produced during the 1930s, 1950s and 1970s, the aim of this article is to identify the changing content of radical socialist politics that coalesced by the time of this electoral victory in and through the “everyday” experience of workers in the textile industry. Workers in this sector were at the forefront of the profound changes underway during the prior period of import-substitution industrialisation from the 1930s and the “pre-revolutionary” moment of 1970-1973, where major textile firms were amongst the first to be occupied and nationalised under the Allende government. By tracing the evolution of socialist ideas in these publications —published by trade unions, political parties and, in the 1970s, by workers in the occupied factories themselves— I unravel the development of a radical socialist politics through these decades that then coalesced with the electoral victory of the UP in 1970. Methodologically, I draw on the work of Chilean sociologist Tomás Moulian (1993) and his concept of ideas “en uso” to examine how radical socialist ideas developed and changed in their interaction with workplace conflicts of the time. Consequently, I identify four areas in which these ideas developed: expression of the changing workplace; interpretation of discontent through legalist and radical discourse; the complexities of Chilean socialist and anti-imperialist ideas; and the construction of historical memory. I demonstrate how the interplay of these four features of Chilean socialist ideas were represented in an “everyday socialism” that informed the factory occupations and nascent social transformations after 1970. |
| format | Online |
| id | oai:ojs.revistas.unc.edu.ar:article-21093 |
| institution | Universidad Nacional de Cordoba |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | oai:ojs.revistas.unc.edu.ar:article-210932018-12-28T23:25:21Z THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973 EL “SOCIALISMO COTIDIANO” DE LOS TRABAJADORES TEXTILES CHILENOS: TRAZANDO UNA POLÍTICA RADICAL A TRAVÉS DE LA PRENSA OBRERA, 1936-1973 Fishwick, Adam Daniel Chile socialism textile industry labour movement political ideas Chile Socialismo Industria textil Movimiento obrero Ideas políticas Unlike many countries across the world, in Chile after 1968 a radical socialist government came to power with the electoral victory of Salvador Allende and Popular Unity underpinned by a whole range of movements toward a socialism “from below”. Using fragments gathered from workers’ newspapers produced during the 1930s, 1950s and 1970s, the aim of this article is to identify the changing content of radical socialist politics that coalesced by the time of this electoral victory in and through the “everyday” experience of workers in the textile industry. Workers in this sector were at the forefront of the profound changes underway during the prior period of import-substitution industrialisation from the 1930s and the “pre-revolutionary” moment of 1970-1973, where major textile firms were amongst the first to be occupied and nationalised under the Allende government. By tracing the evolution of socialist ideas in these publications —published by trade unions, political parties and, in the 1970s, by workers in the occupied factories themselves— I unravel the development of a radical socialist politics through these decades that then coalesced with the electoral victory of the UP in 1970. Methodologically, I draw on the work of Chilean sociologist Tomás Moulian (1993) and his concept of ideas “en uso” to examine how radical socialist ideas developed and changed in their interaction with workplace conflicts of the time. Consequently, I identify four areas in which these ideas developed: expression of the changing workplace; interpretation of discontent through legalist and radical discourse; the complexities of Chilean socialist and anti-imperialist ideas; and the construction of historical memory. I demonstrate how the interplay of these four features of Chilean socialist ideas were represented in an “everyday socialism” that informed the factory occupations and nascent social transformations after 1970. A diferencia de las experiencias en otros países, en Chile, luego de 1968, un gobierno socialista llegó al poder con el triunfo electoral de Salvador Allende y la Unidad Popular, respaldado por movimientos obreros que pregonaban la constitución de un socialismo. Mediante el uso de fragmentos recogidos de la prensa obrera durante los años 1930, 1950 y 1970, el objetivo de este artículo será identificar el contenido cambiante de la política socialista y de los sectores radicalizados que convergieron en esta victoria electoral. Asimismo, estos cambios serían registrables a través de la “experiencia cotidiana” de los obreros de la industria textil. Los trabajadores de este sector estaban en la vanguardia de los cambios profundos durante este periodo, desde la industrialización por sustitución de importaciones comenzada en la década de 1930 hasta el gobierno socialista de Salvador Allende de 1970 a 1973, donde las principales empresas textiles se encontraban en proceso de ocupación y nacionalización. Al trazar la evolución de las ideas socialistas en estas publicaciones —por los sindicatos, los partidos políticos y, en la década de 1970, por los trabajadores en las mismas fábricas ocupadas—, podemos desentrañar el desarrollo de una ideología de tipo radical y socialista que luego convergió en la victoria electoral de la UP. Metodológicamente, tomamos como apoyo el trabajo del sociólogo chileno Tomás Moulian (1993) y su concepto de las ideas “en uso” para examinar cómo las ideas radicales se desarrollan y cambian en su interacción con los conflictos sociales de cada época. En consecuencia, identificamos cuatro áreas en las que se desarrollaron estas ideas: expresión desde el puesto de trabajo; interpretación del descontento a través del discurso legalista y radical; la complejidad de las ideas socialistas y antiimperialistas chilenas; y la construcción de la memoria histórica. En definitiva, intentaré demostrar cómo estas cuatro características de las ideas socialistas chilenas estuvieron representadas en el “socialismo cotidiano” que interactuó en las ocupaciones de fábricas y transformaciones sociales nacientes desde 1970. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad 2018-12-28 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Artículos revisados por pares application/pdf https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/21093 10.55441/1668.7515.n21.21093 Astrolabio; No. 21 (2018): 68/69, PUNTO DE INFLEXIÓN; 53-79 Astrolabio; Núm. 21 (2018): 68/69, PUNTO DE INFLEXIÓN; 53-79 Astrolabio; n. 21 (2018): 68/69, PUNTO DE INFLEXIÓN; 53-79 1668-7515 10.55441/1668.7515.n21 eng https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/21093/22543 |
| spellingShingle | Chile socialism textile industry labour movement political ideas Chile Socialismo Industria textil Movimiento obrero Ideas políticas Fishwick, Adam Daniel THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973 |
| title | THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973 |
| title_alt | EL “SOCIALISMO COTIDIANO” DE LOS TRABAJADORES TEXTILES CHILENOS: TRAZANDO UNA POLÍTICA RADICAL A TRAVÉS DE LA PRENSA OBRERA, 1936-1973 |
| title_full | THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973 |
| title_fullStr | THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973 |
| title_full_unstemmed | THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973 |
| title_short | THE “EVERYDAY SOCIALISM” OF CHILEAN TEXTILE WORKERS: TRACING RADICAL POLITICS THROUGH THE WORKERS PRESS, 1936-1973 |
| title_sort | everyday socialism of chilean textile workers tracing radical politics through the workers press 1936 1973 |
| topic | Chile socialism textile industry labour movement political ideas Chile Socialismo Industria textil Movimiento obrero Ideas políticas |
| topic_facet | Chile socialism textile industry labour movement political ideas Chile Socialismo Industria textil Movimiento obrero Ideas políticas |
| url | https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/21093 |
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