For others, belief in the power of self-reinvention sparked restrained optimism at the possibility of being able to carry on during the emergency, while some found themselves mired in despair. This contrasts with feelings of collective hope reported during the unrest of 18/O and, above all, the confidence that “if we manage to achieve anything, I’ll benefit too.” This collective hope marked a departure from pre-uprising “normality” when attitudes had focused on individual merit, albeit accompanied by criticism of the so-called meritocracy. What effect, then, do these new feelings in relation to self-reinvention – transitory as they may be – have on people’s more enduring motivation to strive against inequality and towards the common good?
Collective identity during the pandemic
During the uprising, the term el pueblo was used extensively by focus group participants, particularly those from the lower to middle strata, in reference to a shared identity. This was in contrast to the first set of meetings held during the period prior to 18/O, when there was no evidence of any homogeneous naming convention. What happened to this identity during the pandemic? Its longevity could be connected with the meaning attributed by Butler (2017) to the expression nosotros el pueblo (“we the people”), which seeks to evoke the existence of a plural social group and to convey the value of equality in a context characterised by a complete lack thereof.
One participant, a 25-year-old supermarket shelf stacker from the district of Quilicura in northern Santiago, took part in all three of our focus group sessions. During the meeting held a week before the uprising she spoke of “where we come from; Plaza Italia and below” as a defining aspect of her identity. Her reference to Plaza Italia, an iconic open space on the border between affluent Providencia and bustling downtown Santiago and the traditional epicentre of demonstrations and other protest activity, evokes the long-established socio-economic segregation between Santiago’s wealthy eastern districts and the rest of the city.
When the group met again a month after 18/O, she spoke of “those who live up there” in reference to the other half of the social dichotomy. In regard to those “below Plaza Italia,” she expressed belonging to “the same pueblo to which we all belong, all of us are humble.” Here she makes clear reference to a “we”, to a sense of belonging to a broad collective which had not been apparent prior to the uprising. A few months later, in the midst of the pandemic, as she compared the vignette of the investor with two others, the housekeeper and the taxi driver, she states: “These two are more a part of el pueblo, more self-sacrificing, shall we say… but he [the investor] has more options… because money helps a lot, of course.”
Her view of the investor as occupying a position of financial advantage in which to endure the COVID-19 emergency illustrates her continued focus on his remoteness from el pueblo, an identity applied to and shared by those of limited means. In short, her perception of the identity of el pueblo remained the same across the three focus group sessions, and it grew in strength following 18/O, despite the changing circumstances.
However, unlike the shelf stacker, the other focus group participants referred repeatedly to el pueblo during the uprising but ceased to do so as the pandemic took hold. This can be explained by the fact that the expression has emotional connotations and refers to a notion of social value that goes beyond a mere socio-economic category. The fact that the term el pueblo fell out of use during the pandemic serves to illustrate the reduction in intensity of associated emotions that occurred between the uprising and the pandemic, and how motivation to contribute to collective action dropped off.
By contrast, the idea that dominated in focus groups during the pandemic was that “everyone” was faced with the same threat of falling ill, regardless of social status, pointing to the notion of equality at the human level. Despite this, however, the lower-strata participants in particular emphasised that although the level of risk of infection was the same for “everyone” including the investor, the latter was in an incomparable situation. “If he falls ill, he’ll go to a private clinic and they’ll treat him quickly,” pointed out a housewife from San Ramón in southern Santiago.
Another member of the group added that a less well-off person would have no option but to seek treatment within the “already overstretched” public health system. Other lower-strata participants asserted that the investor’s financial resources would enable him to remain at home, that he would not need to travel for work, that his isolation would be more “comfortable,” and that he would enjoy the opportunity to “spend more time with his family.”
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Jose Conejeros Oscar MacClure Emmanuelle Barozet | Radio Free (2020-09-07T23:27:33+00:00) Chile during the pandemic: Have the emotions of October subsided?. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/09/07/chile-during-the-pandemic-have-the-emotions-of-october-subsided/
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