Between Informality and Mobilization. Land Occupations in Santiago de Chile, 1954-­ 1973

Were land occupations, known in Chile as tomas, informal strategies of settlement, or the most emblematic actions of an urban social movement, that of the pobladores? Our hypothesis is that, although occupations are to be understood as complex actions, driven by multiple goals, in the Chilean case the claim-­making component prevailed. Thus, they can be studied as protest events. Through a review of press and archival sources, we reconstructed a homogeneous series of occupations carried out in Santiago between 1954 and 1973, which were analyzed in order to understand which actors participated and what relationships they established with the institutional and political system. We could verify that the tomas were sensitive to changes in the context. Between 1954 and 1970 we identified about 100 events. Partly as a result of harsh repression, the occupations achieved to establish settlements on a few occasions, but were effective in influencing public policy. In contrast, between 1970 and 1973, the act of occupying lost visibility but became very effective in creating settlements. Despite these different dynamics, through the occupations the pobladores managed to obtain a place in the city, even if it was peripheral;; and they managed to obtain rights, even if they were incomplete.

Keywords: Tomas, Land Occupations, Pobladores, Urban Social Movements, Urban Informality, Santiago de Chile.

Emanuel Giannotti, Tra informalità e mobilitazione. Le occupazioni di terreno a Santiago del Cile, 1954-­1973 in "STORIA URBANA " 177/2024, pp 59-78, DOI: 10.3280/SU2024-177004