Diverse groups have joined in an energised movement daring to challenge Chile‘s social order for the first time in decades. For over a year now, this revolt has been developing. Mass protests and general strikes have shaken the government, as when 600,000 workers walked out. The main frontline of conflict is the country’s education system.
In many ways, the pattern of unrest in Chile is repeating that in Quebec, and Asturias. In Quebec, an ongoing, militant student revolt centred on opposition to increasing tuition fees broadened into a call for a “social strike” bringing workers’ demands to the fore. The student leaders asserted that the issue was one of class. Unions have provided logistical and legal support for the students, and the protests have spread through working-class neighbourhoods throughout Quebec. The unrest has already matured into a restless, broad-based social movement. Likewise, the Asturian miners’ revolt escalated from a dispute over jobs into a wider conflict with the government, drawing in supporters across the country with a march on Madrid that attracted tens of thousands of supporters. A protest camp inspired by the Indignados movement was created by supporters in the regional capital, Oviedo.
Learning Change 