Abstract

This study analyzes the dissident discourse of a group of leaders of coastal communities in La Araucanía and Los Ríos Region respectively, concerning their socio-environmental conditions, social organization, identity, history, and vision of the future related to the state-imposed division of access rights to local ocean waters through the Ley de Pesca (Fisheries Act). A workshop/meeting was analyzed along with 15 interviews with local leaders. The results indicate the existence of an emerging organic intellectual that works for the well-being and development of their communities and sustains a hybrid-transformational discourse formed by aspects related to both hegemony and resistance. Elements identified include criticizing and resisting conditions of domination, valuing the organization and bonds of solidarity as tools for liberation, community self-knowledge and self-discovery. These results invite a rethinking of local communities as active and empowered agents who can confront the pressures of neoliberalism and thus undergo rapid economic and environmental changes in their social and cultural systems.