Individual Dynamics of Collective Protest in Argentina and Chile: Who Protests and for what Reasons?

• In Event: Nuevas formas de liderazgo y participación en Argentina

Abstract

The transition to democracy in Argentina and Chile was followed by dissimilar trajectories. On the one hand, while social movements in Argentina remained active and deeply rooted in party politics, in Chile they demobilized and decoupled from political parties. On the other hand, unlike Chile, where neoliberal reforms was undertaken by the military regime, Argentina implemented partial neoliberal reforms during the military regime and, after the transition, they were completed by the democratic governments. In this paper we explore this two-fold transition’s long-lasting effects on protest behavior. Specifically, we analyze if these different paths have generated dissimilar forms of articulation of political and social demands. We hypothesize that they affect the individual dynamics of protest. We base our research on an original dataset on individual participation in protests in Argentina and Chile, which follows the methodology developed in the international project ‘Caught in the Act of Protest’. We examine how variations in the type of demand (labor rights, LGTBI rights, rights to education, and human rights), and protesters’ demographic, socioeconomic and attitudinal characteristics, impact on the individual dynamics of the protest. We address the following questions: To what extent does the social composition of manifestations vary between countries, and between manifestations with different demands?, How much do the motives that push different people to protest vary?, And why do different demonstrators have different trajectories of mobilization? Addressing these questions will deepen our knowledge about the social fabric and the articulation of collective demands in Argentina and Chile.

Authors

• Federico M Rossi, CONICET - UNSAM

• Nicolas M Somma, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile