Browsing by Author "Medel, Rodrigo M."

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    Politization in Labor Conflict: Analyzing the Demands of Post-Authoritarian Chilean Strikes
    (SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2021) Medel, Rodrigo M.; Velasquez, Diego; Pérez Valenzuela, Domingo Javier
    By examining the demands of labor strikes in the private sector, this article claims that Chilean trade unions have experienced a politization process from the transition to democracy to our days (1990-2019). Assuming a Marxist perspective on the labor process, we propose operationalizing politization into three levels based on the nature of demands: (1) remunerative, (2) related to work conditions, and (3) related to the organization of the labor process. The study regards these three levels as a latent variable ranging from less to more control over the productive process, but, also, as a continuum ranging from more legal demands to more illegal demands according to Chilean labor regulation. The results show an increase of politized demands (i.e. more control and less legality) through the years. This case study sheds light on the consequences of a rigid and ineffective regulation and on the necessity to rethink politics in the workplace.
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    Politization in Labor Conflict: Analyzing the Demands of Post-Authoritarian Chilean Strikes
    (Wiley, 2021) Medel, Rodrigo M.; Velasquez, Diego; Pérez Valenzuela, Domingo Javier
    By examining the demands of labor strikes in the private sector, this article claims that Chilean trade unions have experienced a politization process from the transition to democracy to our days (1990-2019). Assuming a Marxist perspective on the labor process, we propose operationalizing politization into three levels based on the nature of demands: (1) remunerative, (2) related to work conditions, and (3) related to the organization of the labor process. The study regards these three levels as a latent variable ranging from less to more control over the productive process, but, also, as a continuum ranging from more legal demands to more illegal demands according to Chilean labor regulation. The results show an increase of politized demands (i.e. more control and less legality) through the years. This case study sheds light on the consequences of a rigid and ineffective regulation and on the necessity to rethink politics in the workplace.
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    PROFILE: understanding the 2022-23 Peruvian uprising
    (2024) Somma, Nicolas M.; Disi, Rodolfo; Medel, Rodrigo M.
    This profile examines Peru's unexpected popular uprising of 2022-23, which is distinct from its neighbors due to decades of relative calm. We combine three concepts emphasizing time-varying processes: deep-rooted societal inequality across class, ethnicity, and regions resulting in a fragmented civil society (long term); a mounting crisis in political representation (medium term); and the immediate trigger, namely, the removal of President Pedro Castillo (short term), which incited his supporters and sparked widespread protests.
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    The Nexus between Protest and Electoral Participation: Explaining Chile's Exceptionalism
    (2023) Medel, Rodrigo M.; Somma, Nicolas M.; Donoso, Sofia
    The literature on political participation has consistently found that protest positively and significantly correlates with voting. However, Chile can be considered a deviant case to this pattern. During the last decade, Chileans who participated in street demonstrations were unlikely to participate in elections. What explains this anomaly? We argue that this rupture between participation in protest and in elections results from an effective distancing between social-movement organisations (SMOs) and institutional politics. However, this distancing of SMOs from party politics has not been homogeneous. To examine this heterogeneity, we conduct a comparative design of two cases: the labour and student movements. Based on a mixed-methods study that combines interviews with movement leaders and surveys of protest participants in marches, we seek to highlight the mediating role of SMOs in the promotion of different forms of political participation.
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    Uneven States, Unequal Societies, and Democracy’s Unfulfilled Promises: Citizenship Rights in Chile and Contemporary Latin America
    (2023) Luna, Juan Pablo; Medel, Rodrigo M.
    In contemporary Latin America, deep-seated social discontent with political elites and institutions has been, paradoxically, the counterpart of democratic stability and resilience. This paradox suggests that scholarly assessments of democracy are, at least partially, at odds with citizens’ own views of democracy. This article thus develops a framework to describe citizens’ everyday experience with civil, political, and social entitlements associated with democracy. It introduces the framework by analyzing the structural underpinnings of democratic discontent in Chile and then applying it to the analysis of perceived citizenship entitlements in 18 countries, using the AmericasBarometer data. Significant variance is observed across time and both across and within countries. The descriptive findings also imply that only a (declining) minority of Latin American citizens feel fully entitled to civil, political, and social citizenship rights. We advocate the need to bring the demand side of democracy back to the analysis of democratic shortcomings and crises.