Forms of resistance at the workplace in Chile

: an inquiry into resistance at the workplace and on the streets

Abstract

This thesis primarily examines the forms of control and resistance within the employment relationship in contemporary Chile, a country sometimes described as the harbinger of the neoliberal model, imposed during the Pinochet Dictatorship (1973- 1989) and since maintained without substantial modifications. The fieldwork and the bulk of the research was carried out during 2018, however, in October 2019 just as this thesis was being shaped, a momentous uprising shook the political and institutional order, shifting the terrain of possibilities, a transformation that is still in the making. This thesis thus also presents a reflection on the points of connection between the findings from 2019.
This thesis moves beyond the dichotomous approach that has dominated much of the research done on the topic of workers’ struggles after the dictatorship in Chile, either pointing to the defeat of the unions, or to a rebirth of the union movement. This thesis argues instead that a panoply of forms of resistance exist, even in a context where capital’s control has been effective in weakening the unions power to negotiate and strike effectively (via the Labour Code and Constitution) with employers who, despite an apparent use of modern managerial techniques, still exert forms of control that are deemed violent by the workers. The analysis exceeds the classic understandings of control and resistance by also including everyday forms of resistance, an approach that is illuminated by a combination of Labour Process Theory and Autonomist Marxism. The forms of control and resistance are understood as countering forces in which the forms of control aim to expand the imposition of work, while resistance expresses itself through a multitude of contestations or evasions to this imposition. The findings showed that the workers, both collectively and individually, enact forms of resistance that move in-between, and sometimes beyond, the interstices of possibilities left within a highly disciplinary context. In most cases these are not spectacular forms of resistance, but, nevertheless they are struggles against a violent system of employment relations, and which call for their dignified treatment as workers.
These two elements, a demand for a dignified life against a violent institutional and social order were also the motto of the October uprising. While this thesis does not pretend to study el estallido social in-depth, the analysis of workers’ resistance can contribute to understanding the recent events in Chile as part of a continuum of forms of resistance that over the years has seen little steps forwards, several defeats, and a resurgence of different movements contesting neoliberalism.
This document is organised in the following manner, the first chapters are dedicated to the contributions of Labour Process Theory and Autonomist Marxism, to the study of control and resistance, and to literature relevant to the case of Chile. This is followed by a chapter on the methodological and ethical decisions taken. A second section presents a chapter with the findings from the main project – the workers’ forms of resistance – and a chapter with findings derived from secondary sources about the events from 2019 onwards. Finally, an analysis chapter discusses the findings of the main research and the connections with the 2019 uprising, with the implications for the literature discussed in the concluding chapter.

Date of Award	7 Feb 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Gregory Schwartz (Supervisor), Peter J Turnbull (Supervisor) & Kevin Doogan (Supervisor)