Abstract

Memory studies in Latin America have focused on understanding the form in which societies remember and transmit the violence perpetrated by the dictatorships that affected the region between 1970 and 1990. In this regard, more recent research has recognized the need to focus on local territories. In this context, studies on “emblematic” neighborhoods have emerged in Chile given the active role of these urban territories during the resistance against the dictatorship. However, not enough attention has been paid to what and how the past is transmitted considering that these territories face not only past but also present violence, such as police harassment or drug trafficking. This research contributes to this field. Based on a 3-year ethnographic study (2016-2018), the article analyzes the date produced in one of the observation settings — the “Heritage Day” — organized in an emblematic population of Santiago labeled by the State as a “critical neighborhood” for its levels of violence and social conflict. The analysis shows how memory transmission, in this case, operates as an intervention mechanism, overlooking and marginalizing lifestyles and closing the debate about different forms to live.