Soziale Entwicklung im Neoliberalismus. Eine empirische Analyse zu den urbanen Volkssektoren Chiles

Abstract

Abstract Social Environment and Neoliberalism. An Empirical Study about the urban popular sectors in Chile. Chile’s neoliberal system has produced high growth rates, low inflation and growing exports but was not able to close the gap between rich and poor. The so called chilean model created a deep social inequality with winners and losers destroying the potential of self-organization in the popular sectors. This article specially provides a summary of an empirical research – which emphasizes qualitative aspects – sought to determine self-organization in a densely populated poor area in Santiago de Chile by carrying out an ethnographic analysis of the prevailing social conditions there, while attempting to keep the interpretations of local actors in the foreground. It shows that neoliberal policy may be successful in reducing pauperism, but only by aggravating the economical and politcal gap between poor and rich.