Abstract

In Chile, Feminist Spring refers to the mobilisation of hundreds of higher education female students between April and July 2018. However, the Chilean feminist movement has a common pattern of claims regarding women’s autonomy. Focusing on this event, this chapter seeks to address the following questions: How have feminist demands evolved since the return to democracy and what prompted girls to join the feminist movement in 2018? To answer them a revision of the literature on earlier feminist and women movements was conducted together with ethnographic fieldwork during the 2018 feminist outburst of mobilisation. The study is framed within the broader literature on women and feminist’s activism and focuses on its evolution over time in positioning their political claims. Distinct patterns regarding strategies and demands are identified for feminist and women’s movements. Becoming a feminist is viewed as the optimal way to succeed in positioning women’s demands for autonomy, ending sexism. This analysis contributes to the literature on feminist and women’s political organising by delineating a framework of demands and internal dynamics through the Chilean experience since the return to democracy.