Protest, citizenship and democratic renewal: the student movement in Chile

Abstract

What is the significance of upsurge of protest and claims-making for how we understand citizenship in relatively new democracies? In Chile, some 20 years after a paradigmatically successful democratisation, student protests for a more equitable education system have re-politicised and transformed debates about what democracy and citizenship should mean. Claims are being staked not only for educational reform but also for a new model of citizenship based on rights and welfare, in contrast to neoliberal models of citizenship as individualisation and consumption. In raising consciousness as regards the costs of neoliberal democracy, the student protests are reviving the country's radical traditions and past practices of an engaged, political active youth movement.

Keywords::

• student protests
• Chile
• democratisation
• citizenship
• neoliberalism
• education

Notes

^1. Vallejo cited in Navarrete (2011, 259).