Thursday May 14th at Pipsqueak, 173 16th Ave Seattle
Info:
To introduce the topic, the first target of this talk is to make a very brief contextualization of Chile: its history, historical milestones, and current legislation of importance. Furthermore, I will offer a macroeconomic context and some comparisons with the U.S. for the audience to better understand the nuances of the presentation.
Historical: The idea is to mention briefly the first propaganda attempts in Chile (since 1893), explaining the possible causes and repercussions it had in the region: The first workers organization, social invocations, and mutual-aid that were later taken over by the state. In short, the more relevant publications and controversies that existed until the 90s will be mentioned.
Recent History: From the 90s onwards, under the new “democratic context,” anarchist publications and different forms of propaganda began to gradually return, perhaps more diverse and alongside other radical left ideological influences. This talk will touch on other influences such as the history of the FAU (Uruguayan Anarchist federation) and later (early 2000) European anarchist insurrection, among others.
Present: Shifts in consumption behavior in relation to information and news has altered faster than anarchist groups could keep up with, especially at times when reading indexes in Chile remain as low as ever (the taxation on books and other things). The emergence of facebook, on the other hand, (from 2004 onwards) seems to have been fatal to the development and continuation of anarchist propaganda in Chile in the last several years (in a self-managed and autonomous way).
The decline in the dissemination and public presence of anarchist ideas has been partly due to the absence of shared web platforms or a more “neutral” site (ex Indymedia), as well as an increase in street policing. Obviously, publications and websites remain, but limited in its reach to anarchist circles.
Other Mediums: Since 2007 a series of anarchist audiovisual publications were initiated, which contributed in creating a closeness with a segment of the Chilean “youth”; renovating anarchist propaganda in its aesthetics (since the anarchist propaganda responded principally to the aesthetics of the Chilean left and punk/anarchist subculture who undoubtedly influenced the reappearance of anarchism in Chile).
To conclude, I will mention the appearance of anarchists in the official media. This includes newspaper covers, mention in national news, as well as academic, business, government conferences and how it positively influenced the spreading of anarchist ideas (contrary to its intention).
Felipe Valenzuela.
Anarquista Videografo.
Santiago, Chile.