Conquistas, derrotas, desplazamientos: de la sindicalización en la reforma agraria a la des-sindicalización y emergencia de nuevos actores sociales bajo el neoliberalismo

Peasant Struggles in Times of Crises: The Political Role of Rural and Indigenous Women in Chile Today

“…From a historical perspective, several scholars argue that rural inequalities date back to the totalitarian regime. All the improvements in social rights of the Agrarian Reform (1964)(1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973), such as unionization, land restitution and land distribution for peasants, were reversed by the counter-reform carried out during the civil-military dictatorship (1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990) (Bengoa, 2015;Bowen et al, 2012;Gómez, 2002;Kay, 1978Kay, , 2015Valdés, 2017). Peasants were expropriated of their means of production, especially land and water, a process that Bengoa (2017) refers to as a period of typical original accumulation.…”

“…The Chilean agrarian structure changed, replacing the hacendal model with the agribusiness model that implied profound changes in rural lifestyles. Among these implications are the precariousness of working conditions, the feminization of agricultural jobs, the increase in seasonal workers (temporero/as), and the increase in the immigrant population in informal conditions (Valdés, 2017(Valdés, , 2021. As a result, thousands of peasants ceased to be peasants and became pobladores, impoverished inhabitants of small towns or the most impoverished areas of the cities (Bengoa, 2017;Valdés, 2015Valdés, , 2021Valdés et al, 2017).…”

“…The ANAMURI's foundresses came from other leftist peasant organizations with long territorial work during the civic-military dictatorship (1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990) and split from their movements to form an autonomous space exclusively by and for women (Valdés, 2017). Initially with 54 women, today it has over 10,000 members and is present in all regions of Chile, grouped in Inter-Regional Fronts (northern, central and southern zone).…”