A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism
<p class="first" id="d134102e91">As Salvador Allende and his supporters forged a democratic path towards socialism, the task of building a more sovereign and egalitarian national economy became one of the Popular Unity (UP) revolution’s first priorit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UCL Press
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Radical Americas |
| Online Access: | https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ra.2021.v6.1.009 |
| _version_ | 1797896329940172800 |
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| author | Joshua Frens-String |
| author_facet | Joshua Frens-String |
| author_sort | Joshua Frens-String |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p class="first" id="d134102e91">As Salvador Allende and his supporters forged a democratic path towards socialism,
the task of building a more sovereign and egalitarian national economy became one
of the Popular Unity (UP) revolution’s first priorities. To that end, Allende’s coalition
promoted a massive downward redistribution of income during its first months in office
while also extending state control over many of the country’s most essential industries.
Chile’s food economy, including its agricultural sector, received special attention
during this early period as both purchasing power and domestic production soared.
However, when a combination of economic, ecological and political factors caused consumer
production to stagnate, acute shortages for a wide range of goods raised questions
about the viability of the UP’s plans for a more just consumer economy. The emergence
of a powerful opposition movement also raised questions about the government’s reluctance
to pursue substantive political changes at the same time that it implemented major
economic reforms. By examining the political economy of the UP experiment in the context
of Chile’s 2019–20 uprising against inequality and political exclusion, this article
reconsiders the consequences of the UP’s inability to link economic transformations
with changes in how political power was exercised in mid-century Chile.
</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:39:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-603b9b7ffee5480899e69d206b23e418 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2399-4606 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:39:58Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | UCL Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Radical Americas |
| spelling | doaj.art-603b9b7ffee5480899e69d206b23e4182023-02-23T11:46:00ZengUCL PressRadical Americas2399-46062021-05-0161510.14324/111.444.ra.2021.v6.1.009A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialismJoshua Frens-String<p class="first" id="d134102e91">As Salvador Allende and his supporters forged a democratic path towards socialism, the task of building a more sovereign and egalitarian national economy became one of the Popular Unity (UP) revolution’s first priorities. To that end, Allende’s coalition promoted a massive downward redistribution of income during its first months in office while also extending state control over many of the country’s most essential industries. Chile’s food economy, including its agricultural sector, received special attention during this early period as both purchasing power and domestic production soared. However, when a combination of economic, ecological and political factors caused consumer production to stagnate, acute shortages for a wide range of goods raised questions about the viability of the UP’s plans for a more just consumer economy. The emergence of a powerful opposition movement also raised questions about the government’s reluctance to pursue substantive political changes at the same time that it implemented major economic reforms. By examining the political economy of the UP experiment in the context of Chile’s 2019–20 uprising against inequality and political exclusion, this article reconsiders the consequences of the UP’s inability to link economic transformations with changes in how political power was exercised in mid-century Chile. </p>https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ra.2021.v6.1.009 |
| spellingShingle | Joshua Frens-String A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism Radical Americas |
| title | A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism |
| title_full | A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism |
| title_fullStr | A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism |
| title_full_unstemmed | A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism |
| title_short | A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism |
| title_sort | popular option for development reconsidering the rise and fall of chile s political economy of socialism |
| url | https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ra.2021.v6.1.009 |
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