Mobilizing at the Urban Margins: Citizenship and Patronage Politics in Post-Dictatorial Chile.

"Mobilizing at the Urban Margins: Citizenship and Patronage Politics in Post-Dictatorial Chile" by Simón Escoffier is a book that challenges the assumption of a demobilization of poor people's movements in Chile's urban periphery following the return of democracy in the 1990s. The book provides a comparative study of two Santiago poblaciones, Lo Hermida and Nuevo Amanecer, and examines the origins of these settlements and the tension between the Far Left and the socialist/communist mainstream. It argues that social mobilization can endure in marginalized urban contexts, with organizations of the Far Left and the memory of pre-dictatorship times playing a key role. The book offers a detailed analysis of the mobilization and identity-building processes in Lo Hermida and highlights the importance of political socialization by left parties committed to community empowerment. While the book focuses primarily on Lo Hermida, it raises questions about the demobilization of Nuevo Amanecer and the role of the Communist Party. Overall, the book is a valuable contribution to social movement studies and provides important insights into the events in Chile since 2019. [Extracted from the article]

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