Synopses & Reviews
When supporters and critics of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet squared off against each other in the streets and elsewhere following his death in December 2006, most observers saw this conflict as another stage in the continuing struggle between authoritarian and antiauthoritarian forces in Latin America. Gwynn Thomas, however, looks below the surface of these events to reveal a set of cultural beliefs—shared, surprisingly, by both sides—about the role of the family in Chilean life. In Contesting Legitimacy in Chile, Thomas examines how common attitudes toward the family played out in the contentious politics of the 1970s and 1980s. Her analysis investigates the uses of the family in Chilean election propaganda, political speeches, press releases, public service campaigns, magazines, newspaper articles, and televised political advertisements. It considers the language, symbols, metaphors, and images of the political conflicts that surrounded the election and overthrow of Allende’s social democracy (1970–73), the installation and maintenance of Pinochet’s military dictatorship (1973–90), and finally the transition back to democratic rule (1988–90).
Synopsis
Examines the role in Chilean politics during the 1970s and 1980s of cultural beliefs and values surrounding the family. Draws on election propaganda, political speeches, press releases, public service campaigns, magazines, newspaper articles, and televised political advertisements.
About the Author
Gwynn Thomas is Associate Professor in the Department of Global Gender Studies at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
Table of Contents
Contents List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
1. Seeing the Political Through the Familial
2. The Hidden Story: Familial Beliefs and Political Conflict
3. Competing Fathers: The 1970 Presidential Election
4. A Feuding Family: Mobilizing for and Against Allende
5. Pinochet’s Chilean Family: Constructing Authoritarian Legitimacy
6. Mobilizing Families: Justifying Political Dissent Under Pinochet
7. Reconciling the Family: Legitimizing the Transition to Democracy
Conclusion: The Political Is Personal
Bibliography
Index