"Chileans' anger at inequality boils over" : The "Estallido Social" and the role of relative deprivation feelings and perceptions of economic inequality in social protests

Abstract

In October 2019, the "Estallido Social" demonstrations began in Chile. The protests originated from a growing critique of the government economic development model and the levels of inequality in the country. The social demands were varied and included several areas of Chilean society, from writing a new constitution to improving gender disparities. As a result, these Chilean demands for a more equalitarian country led to a 2020 referendum and the later creation of the Constitutional Assembly. Using International Social Survey Programme data from 2009 and 2019, and a theoretical framework based on Social Justice and Relative Deprivation Theory, I argue that the protests that started in 2019 were a consequence of a process that began years ago. Initial analysis pointed out that the 2019 demonstrations stemmed from earlier public discontent based on a perception that inequality was increasing, generating a more socially segregated society. Thus, the "Estallido Social" is based on the perception of an unequal country and a lack of trust in the institutions that should prevent it. However, my research also shows that the "Estallido" has a counter-intuitive origin, namely from a criticism of the perceived levels of economic inequality at a time when Chileans perceived less inequality than in the past. Thus, why did the "Estallido" begin in 2019 and not before when perceived inequality was greater? The research concludes that at the base of the demonstrations was an imbalance between what Chileans perceived and what they tolerated as a fair level of economic inequality. Perceptions of actual and just economic inequality relate to each other in order to explain deprivation feelings. Relative deprivation feelings regarding perceived economic inequality have increased in the last years among Chileans, and it is another variable that must be included to explicate the massiveness of the Chileans' protests. Show more