Open AccessChile and Pinochetism, a popular dictatorship?
Author(s) -
Verónica Valdivia
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
latinoamerikanskij istoričeskij alʹmanah
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2713-0282
pISSN - 2305-8773
DOI - 10.32608/2305-8773-2020-28-1-186-206
Subject(s) - dictatorship , elite , authoritarianism , latin americans , legitimacy , dictator , state (computer science) , political science , democracy , sociology , political economy , politics , law , algorithm , computer science
This article probes into the “popular” dimension of the Chilean dictatorship headed by General Augusto Pinochet, also branded “pino-chetista”, in its efforts to seek legitimacy among elite and middle-class groups, but especially among shantytown dwellers. In this it exhibited some peculiar traits, which set it apart from other dictatorships in Latin America’s Southern Cone. Its hypothesis suggests that the social support received by Chile’s dictatorship and “pinochetismo” was actively sought by its ruling circles, mainly on account of two factors: the urge of military officers and civilian backers to legitimize the coup d’état and the regime it set up, and the process of personalization that overtook it and eventually led to “pinochetismo”. Its aim was a re-socialization of the popular classes, turning them into adherents of its neoliberal authoritarian project. This venture implied the formation of state apparatuses capable of penetrating the popular world.