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| Autonomist Movement (Chile) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Autonomist Movement |
| Native name | Movimiento Autonomista |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Dissolved | 2016 |
| Headquarters | Santiago, Valparaíso |
| Country | Chile |
Autonomist Movement (Chile) was a left-wing political current active in Chile between 2008 and 2016 that emerged from student mobilizations and urban social movements in Santiago, Valparaíso and Concepción. The movement developed networks linking activists from the 2006 Chilean student protests, the 2011–2013 Chilean student protests, and community organizers from neighborhoods in Greater Santiago and the Biobío Region, and later participated in the formation of the Broad Front (Chile) and the Convergencia Social party. Its membership included university activists, municipal councilors, cultural producers, and intellectuals engaged with debates around autonomy, direct democracy, and territorial politics.
The Autonomist Movement grew out of student collectivities associated with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the University of Chile, the University of Santiago, Chile, and the University of Valparaíso following the Penguin Revolution of 2006 and the wave of mobilizations of 2011 centered on figures like Camila Vallejo and Giorgio Jackson. Founders had links to collectives that participated in the Chilean student federation (FECH), the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile, and neighborhood assemblies influenced by experiences from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Occupy movement. Between 2011 and 2014 the movement consolidated municipal platforms in communes such as Santiago, La Florida, and Valparaíso (city), electing representatives to local councils and coordinating with national actors like the Nueva Mayoría critics and dissidents from the Concertación tradition. In 2016 it merged into broader party-building efforts that produced Convergencia Social and contributed cadres to the formation of the Broad Front (Chile), altering the landscape that had been dominated by Socialist Party of Chile, Christian Democratic Party (Chile), and Independent Democratic Union pluralities.
The movement articulated a synthesis drawing on autonomist Marxism, libertarian socialism, and participatory municipalism, referencing theorists and movements such as Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt, the Italian Autonomism current, and the Autonomist movement (Italy). Its platform combined demands originating in the 2011–2013 Chilean student protests—free public education, democratization of institutional frameworks like the Constitution of Chile, and opposition to neoliberal models advanced after the 1973 Chilean coup d'état—with proposals for decentralized governance inspired by experiments in Barcelona and Porto Alegre. The movement emphasized horizontal structures, popular assemblies, and neighborhood councils, advocating policies in dialogue with debates around the Constitution of Chile (1980) replacement process, municipalism practiced by actors from Comunero traditions, and the institutional struggles around the National Congress of Chile.
Organizationally the Autonomist Movement favored federated collectives, local assemblies, and working groups modeled after social movements active in Europe and Latin America, including networks comparable to the Alter-globalization movement and the World Social Forum. Internal coordination took place through communal councils in Providencia, Ñuñoa, and Recoleta, thematic commissions addressing education policy, housing conflicts such as those in Santiago Centro, and electoral strategy cells interacting with municipal campaigns. Leadership rotated among elected delegates, and the movement maintained alliances with grassroots organizations like the Movimiento por el Derecho a la Ciudad and cultural organizations linked to the Cultura Mapuche resurgence. It created electoral platforms when strategic, fielding candidates in municipal and parliamentary contests while preserving autonomous neighborhood coordination outside institutional politics.
Electoral engagement included municipal campaigns that secured positions for sympathizers and allies in councils across Metropolitan Region (Chile), Valparaíso Region, and Biobío Region. The movement engaged in the 2013 presidential cycle, coordinating with the New Majority critics and supporting alternative candidacies aligned with Jorge Sharp-style municipalism. It played a role in the creation of the Broad Front (Chile), which contested seats in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and the Senate of Chile in subsequent elections. Tactical cooperation ranged from electoral lists to independent citizen candidacies in plebiscites including the 2020 Chilean national plebiscite debates over a new constitution, contributing platforms that emphasized participatory constituent mechanisms and municipal assemblies.
The Autonomist Movement maintained dense links with student federations, neighborhood assemblies, labor unions such as the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, indigenous organizations like the Consejo de Todas las Tierras, feminist collectives participating in the Ni Una Menos mobilizations, and environmental campaigns opposing extractive projects in regions affected by Compañía de Acero del Pacífico-era disputes. It collaborated with international networks including activists from Spain, Argentina, and Mexico involved in municipalist currents, and coordinated with social justice NGOs engaged in housing struggles and consumer cooperatives influenced by models from the Mondragon Corporation.
Prominent activists affiliated with or originating in the Autonomist Movement included municipal leaders and intellectuals who later assumed public roles in Convergencia Social and the Broad Front (Chile), many of whom had backgrounds in the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile and the Juventud Comunista de Chile critique circles. Notable names associated through activism and candidacies include municipal actors like Jorge Sharp and public intellectuals who contributed to debates around the Nueva Constitución process and participated in assemblies that contested policies from administrations such as that of Michelle Bachelet and critics of Sebastián Piñera.
The movement's legacy is visible in the rise of municipalist politics exemplified by mayors in Valparaíso and Santiago, the establishment of Convergencia Social as part of the Broad Front (Chile), and contributions to the constitutional debate culminating in the 2020 plebiscite. Its emphasis on horizontal organization influenced subsequent activist formations, party renewal processes within Chilean left currents, and the formation of citizen candidacies challenging traditional parties like the Partido por la Democracia and the Partido Radical (Chile). The Autonomist Movement left an imprint on debates over decentralization, participatory budgeting, and the role of social movements in institutional change that continue to shape political contests involving figures from the Apruebo Dignidad coalition and city-level coalitions.
Category:Political movements in Chile Category:Left-wing politics in Chile