La revuelta de los insurrectos contra el abuso y la desigualdad. Las protestas en Santiago de Chile en octubre de 2019

Abstract

A photographer and an anthropologist find themselves at the epicenter of the social outbreak on the streets of Santiago de Chile in October 2019. As protesters themselves, they observe, record, and scrutinize the maelstrom of events unfolding during the uprising. Through visual and ethnographic recording, this article develops some interpretative keys to the five months of social demonstrations that began on October 18 as a result of the increase in transport fares. By recording empirical evidence where the protest was taking place, the text and the images dialogue to provide an account of the meaning of a) the rubble in the city; b) the bodies in the performative gesture of protest; and c) the insurgent monuments. It is argued that the anger and discontent of decades of excess and abuse of the neoliberal system are expressed in the disorder and destruction of public space, bodies, and monuments. This excess is present in the memory of the demonstrators and in every aspect of social and daily life in Chile. It is concluded that the future is still open and a glimmer of hope is emerging in the rewriting of a new Chilean constitution.

Keywords

• bodies
• memorials
• memory
• santiago de chile
• social protest