Abstract
State and Society in Chile, 1891-1931
The project analyzes, from a socio-historical perspective, the relationship between the state and the population in Chile from
1891 to 1931.
During the first period (1891-1924), various Chilean oligarchic groups monopolized the state apparatus. After the Civil War of
1891, these groups were able to consolidate a political, administrative, and legal system. The principal feature of the state
during this period was the refusal to take into account social groups that did not belong to the oligarchy. Therefore, the state
related to this part of the population in an exclusionary manner. It is for this reason that the work uses the concept "The State as
an Exclusionary State."
During this period, the oligarchic groups developed a specific way of administering the state, which the investigation refers to as
oligarchic state logic. This approach consisted in viewing the state as the oligarchy?s personal domain and a means of
aristocratization.
Between September 1924 and March 1925, there were two military coups, which reflected the lack of satisfaction that existed
with respect to the oligarchies. These coups ended the oligarchic monopoly of the state, as well as the exclusionary manner in
which state operated.
In order to arrive at this historical moment, two antecedent processes had first to take place. These processes, which were as
old as the exclusionary state itself, consisted in (a) the territorial and social expansion of the administrative structure and (b) the
so-called production and distribution of consciousness.
This development, which the investigation terms the social expansion of the state (estatalización social) made possible the
creation of a series of social bonds among different groups of the population. These bonds provided the foundation for the
construction of a national society.
However, the new kind of relationships that emerged also rested on oligarchic state logic, which thus outlived its creators.
These relationships destroyed the possibility of bring about the rule of law and a civil society. |
