Transient Political Infrastructures: Toward an Atlas of the Chilean Uprising

Abstract

The Chilean uprising has been defined by detractors and sympathizers as an “estallido social” or social explosion, alluding to its perceived transient character. Assumptions about spontaneity have similarly underpinned diagnoses of its political significance. It is either a problem to be pacified or limited for generating alternatives. This article problematizes this perceived transience, focusing instead on the event’s rhythms, atmospheres and materialities. The article seeks to contribute to projects of collective knowledge production that underline the need to archive, map and theorise events as lived history. Studying the uprising as lived history does not elicit a particular response but rather initiates an investigation into what it makes possible. The figure of the atlas is developed for such an investigation. An atlas curates the emerging archive by composing images and text, not to close off meaning but rather allow for imagination to enter the realm of knowledge.

批评者和同情者将智利动乱定义为“社会爆炸”（estallido social）, 暗指其短暂性特点。自发性假设也同样支持了对其政治意义的判断。这是为了寻求其它选择而进行缓解或限制的问题。本文质疑了这种感知短暂性, 转而关注事件的节奏、气氛和实质性。本文研究了集体知识生产, 强调应将事件作为历史进行归档、制图和理论化。对动乱的历史研究, 并没有引起特别的反响, 但开启了对动乱可能性的研究并为此绘制了地图集。该地图集是结合图像和文本的新档案, 并非意在封存认知, 而旨在将想象引入知识领域。

El levantamiento chileno ha sido definido por detractores y simpatizantes como un “estallido social”, o explosión social, en alusión a su percibido carácter transitorio. Los supuestos sobre su espontaneidad han soportado por igual los diagnósticos de su significancia política. Se trata de un problema al que se debe pacificar, o limitar con alternativas generadoras. Este artículo problematiza esta transitoriedad percibida, enfocándose por el contrario en los ritmos del evento, sus atmósferas y materialidades. El artículo pretende contribuir a los proyectos de producción de conocimiento colectivo que subrayen la necesidad de archivar, cartografiar y teorizar los eventos, como historia vivida. Estudiar el levantamiento como historia vivida no suscita una respuesta particular, sino que inicia una investigación sobre lo que la hace posible. La figura del atlas fue desarrollada para esa investigación. Un atlas preserva el archivo emergente componiendo imágenes y texto, no para cerrar el significado, sino para permitirle a la imaginación entrar en el ámbito del conocimiento.

Key Words:

• Chile
• infrastructure
• mapping
• protest
• revolt

Keywords:

• 智利
• 基础设施
• 制图
• 抗议
• 动乱。

Keywords:

• Chile
• infraestructura
• mapeo
• protesta
• revuelta

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Augusto Medina for allowing us to include his excellent photos in our compositions. Earlier versions of the paper were presented at the Common Infrastructure workshop at the University of Sydney, the InfUr international webinar series and the ‘Urban Archives of the International’ workshop at EWIS 2022. We thank participants at these events for their feedback and particularly Aya Nassar for her close reading of the text. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their generous feedback.

Notes

1 Viewable here: https://cinechile.cl/pelicula/los-ojos-del-estallido/

2 Accessible here: http://museosonorodelarevuelta.cl/

3 The museum is now located in Bellavista. It can be visited virtually here: https://museodelestallidosocial.org/

4 Patricio Landaeta and Javiera Carmona Jiménez have been directly involved in the activities of the group while Ari Jerrems has collaborated via this project. We decided to use “we” here for the sake of fluidity in the text.

5 Such efforts to rethink mapping, cartography and atlases are reflected in numerous projects emerging in recent years at the intersection of geography, art and political activism (See, e.g., Cisternas 2020; Kollektive Orangotango 2018; Madera 2015; Monsaingeon 2013; Speranza 2012).

6 See: https://iconoclasistas.net/

7 See: https://geoactivismo.org/

8 Accessed here: http://www.memoriachilena.cl

9 The critical geography collective Gladys Armijo mapped unfolding battles in Santiago https://www.geografiacritica.cl/2019/10/20/mapa-protestas/. See also Forensic Architecture documenting tear gas in Plaza Dignidad https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/tear-gas-in-plaza-de-la-dignidad.

10 Viewable here: https://www.laciudadcomotexto.cl/. See also http://www.antesdelolvido.cl/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ari Jerrems

ARI JERREMS is Research Fellow at the Department of International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on the spatial and temporal dimensions of global politics.

Patricio Landaeta

PATRICIO LANDAETA is Researcher at the Center of Advanced Studies at the Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaiso, Chile. E-mail: [email protected]. His current research explores the relationship between aesthetics and politics, particularly the intersection between philosophy and literature.

Javiera Carmona Jiménez

JAVIERA CARMONA JIMÉNEZ is Associate Researcher in the Center of Historical Studies at the Universdad Bernardo O’Higgins and Associate Professor in the Department of Mediations and Subjectivities at the Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaiso, Chile. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research concentrates on the intersection between culture, communication, memory and patrimony.