Abstract
This chapter explores relations between discontent, social movements, and collective protest in Chile. I define discontent broadly as a feeling of discomfort with some aspect of the world, a definition that encompasses dissatisfaction with one’s personal economic situation or distrust in political authorities through to the perception of abuse by a powerful actor. By collective protest, I refer to any action between two or more people in a public setting that seeks to affect the social world, either by changing or preserving some aspect of it, through “non-institutional” tactics that may range from signing a petition to marching in the street, blocking roads, or occupying private or public buildings (Meyer 2007; Taylor and Van Dyke 2007). Finally, social movements are networks of people that use protest tactics in a bid to change or preserve some aspect of society.
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Nicolás M. Somma is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and associate researcher at the Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES, Chile). The author thanks the editors of this book and participants in the workshops in Montevideo (August 2013) and Santiago (May 2015) for their criticisms and suggestions. He also acknowledges the support of CONICYT Chile through COES (CONICYT-FONDAP 15130009) and the project “The diffusion of collective protest in Chile (2000–2012)” (CONICYT-FONDECYT Iniciación a la Investigación/11121147).
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Somma, N.M. (2017). Discontent, Collective Protest, and Social Movements in Chile. In: Joignant, A., Morales, M., Fuentes, C. (eds) Malaise in Representation in Latin American Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59955-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59955-1_2
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