Abstract
This article analyses, from a gender perspective, the socio-political experiences of eight former left-wing militant women in processes linked to so-called poder popular (popular power). It does so with a focus on poblaciones (shantytowns) and trade unions in Concepción and Santiago between 1970 and 1973. Methodologically, it takes a qualitative approach, contrasting oral history interviews with primary sources. The process of political socialisation in childhood and adolescence influenced women when it came to joining political parties on both the ‘traditional left’ and the ‘revolutionary left’. At the start of the 1970s, these militants participated in grassroots organisations, such as juntas de abastecimiento y precios (supply and price control boards, JAPs), shantytowns, centros de madre (mothers’ centres) and unions, among others. This meant that their practices as party militants had a high degree of continuity with lived social experiences from their youth. The main difference was that as party militants they moved through more politicised spaces and gained access to political training and, in some cases, took on leadership roles within social organisations. Indeed, one woman became a communal – and later, parliamentary – representative. The skills acquired and their experiences during the Popular Unity (UP) period shaped their life trajectories, and consequently, these women have promoted an intergenerational transfer of socio-political practices in new, contemporary Chilean, scenarios.
Highlights
This article analyses, from a gender perspective, the socio-political experiences of eight former left-wing militant women in processes linked to so-called poder popular
How did experiences of poder popular at the end of the 1960s and during the Popular Unity (UP) government in Chile (1970–3) become a legacy that extends across generations to the present?4 While further historical research is necessary, this legacy raises questions about the nature of doing politics and the kinds of participation and social activism that militant women engaged in within local spaces, which often extended beyond traditional party spaces during the long 1960s, culminating in the period of the UP government
Independent of the critical positions of their respective parties, the leftist women interviewed supported this coalition, and in particular placed hope in the Allende government’s proposals for social transformations. They participated in the political organisations and strategies deployed to achieve the broader goals of wealth redistribution, deepening democracy and poder popular proposals to accelerate the process of revolutionary change in the country
Summary
This article analyses, from a gender perspective, the socio-political experiences of eight former left-wing militant women in processes linked to so-called poder popular (popular power). How did experiences of poder popular at the end of the 1960s and during the Popular Unity (UP) government in Chile (1970–3) become a legacy that extends across generations to the present?4 While further historical research is necessary, this legacy raises questions about the nature of doing politics and the kinds of participation and social activism that militant women engaged in within local spaces, which often extended beyond traditional party spaces during the long 1960s, culminating in the period of the UP government.
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