International Educational Review

Generations of Protest: Chile’s Students and the Fight for Democracy, 1975-2016

Thomas V. O'Brien 1 2 * ,
Ricardo Souza de Carvalho 3
1 University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA2 Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca Chile3 Universidad Católica del Maule * Corresponding Author
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International Educational Review, Volume 1, Issue 1, April 2023, pp. 85-112
OPEN ACCESS VIEWS: 1380 DOWNLOADS: 789 Publication date: 08 Apr 2023
ABSTRACT
This article outlines seven waves of youth protest that unfolded in Chile from the 1970s-2016. Secondary and university students protested against the brutal military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, challenging his carefully-crafted neoliberal education system, which continues into the present. In demanding a robust system of public schooling and rejecting the commodification of education, Chilean youth have advanced both a strategy and message to reverse market-based schooling. The study finds that each wave of protest articulated more clearly how the structure of Chile’s educational system impacted the nation’s general welfare. We conclude that despite neoliberalism’s deep roots, students’ actions and explanations of education for the public good have impacted education policy and brought about structural alternatives
KEYWORDS
democratic education, student protest, mobilization, education politics, education policy
CITATION (APA)
O'Brien, T. V., & Carvalho, R. S. D. (2023). Generations of Protest: Chile’s Students and the Fight for Democracy, 1975-2016. International Educational Review, 1(1), 85-112. https://doi.org/10.58693/ier.115
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