Social conflicts over the use of water resources in Chile: the role of social movements and business power

ABSTRACT

This paper explores conflicts in contemporary Chile between local communities and economic elites over water resources usage, developing a frameworkthat seeks to bridge the gap between the literature on social movements and the scholarly work on business politics. It examines two similar cases. The first case deals with the conflict between large avocado producers and the rural community of Petorca, Central Chile, which has meant water deprivation for the aggrieved community. In the second case, the local community of Aysén, in Chilean Patagonia, successfully challenged business interests by halting a mega-hydroelectric project. We found that local communities can prevail when at least three conditions are met. First, the formation of a broad contingent coalition. Second, the elaboration of collective action frames to mobilise new constituencies. Third, the capacity to forge alliances with elite actors, which enhances the movement’s potential to engage in collective action.

KEYWORDS:

• Business power
• environmental conflicts
• water resources
• social movements
• collective action
• Latin America

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. These are the nicknames given to the fans of three main Chilean football teams: Colo-Colo (‘colocolinos’), Universidad Católica (‘cruzados’), and Universidad de Chile (‘chunchos’).