Abstract

This essay proposes some notes on the political signification of the social rebellion which occurred in several Chilean cities on October 18th, 2019. It is argued that the current scenario of mobilizations represents a reaction to the historical process of neoliberalization of Chilean society. Among the most important characteristics of this rebellion is the diversification of the political uses of urban space and the subaltern reappropriation of the social articulation of the city. This process intensifies and extends the social conflict resulting from the deepening of the contradictions of capital accumulation's pattern imposed by the civic-military Dictatorship, and shows the exhaustion of the subsidiary State and semisovereign democracy. Based on an analysis of the political climate, complemented by the description of the main cycles of social mobilizations in urban space since the second half of the 20th century, it is argued that the current social rebellion partially evidences the breakdown of the neoliberal consensus, the politicization of the social and the strengthening local power in the cities. It is concluded that the novelty of social rebellion relies on the intensity, breadth and diversification of forms and contents of the political exercise of diverse social and territorial sectors.