Collective Action and Political Strategy of the University Movement: From the Struggle for Education to the Social Outbreak in Chile

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter, we approach the process of construction of the university student movement from the transitional period of the 1990s to the so-called Chilean social outbreak of October 2019, adding certain milestones of the secondary movement. Thus, it is proposed to understand the student movement in four periods. The first is the rearticulation of the movement, the second is the offensive for public education, the third is the feminist student movement, and finally the student movement in the social outbreak of 2019. For this, the theory of the political process and the perspective are developed of strategic political action to analyze the Chilean student movement and its relationship with the political system. The analysis proposal is that the social outbreak of 2019 is not understandable without the development of the student movement in its defense of public education, the distance it will take from political parties, and the increase in social conflict in Chile during the last two decades.KeywordsUniversity movementSecondary movementPublic educationFeminist movementSocial outbreakContentious actionPolitical processPolitical strategySocial conflict