(Dis)integrative modernity: voices of the Chilean right after the estallido social

Abstract

ne consequence of Chile’s socalled “estallido social” (social outburst) of October 2019 was the erosion of the hegemonic ideological canon, in other words, of neoliberalism as a paradigm of modernity. That several currents of opinion have since (re)emerged within conservative Chilean intellectual thought reflects not only this loss of ideological hegemony, but also shows an ability to react and adapt to a setting in which this belief system is under threat. This paper analyses some of these currents, taking four authors as paradigmatic examples: Axel Kaiser (liberalism), Pablo Ortúzar (corporatism), Hugo Herrera (social Christianity) and Alexis López Tapia (nationalism). Of particular interest are their readings of the nature of the outburst, the political displacements provoked, the ideological and conceptual tensions that emerged, as well as the continuities and departures in terms of social imaginaries, traditions, practices and ideas.

Keywords

• chile
• intellectual thought
• conservatism
• neoliberalism
• social outburst
• hegemony
• modernity