Chilean Communities Combat Segregation

Chilean Communities Combating Segregation: A guide to community organizing from Valparaiso, Chile

Investigator: Jack Moreau Supervisor: Martha Matsuoka ValparaĂ­so, Chile Summer, 2012

Thank You I would like to thank the Richter trustee for giving me the incredible opportunity to independently study in Chile. Getting to know the people in these communities deeply affected my perception of Chile, Latin America, the United States and globalism. Chile now feels like a second home to me, a country where I have strong roots. This investigation aided a personal and academic transformation. My research gave me ability to immerse myself deeply into a culture and receive an authentic and unique experience. This research will be used in my up coming studies as well as my moral and ethical philosophies I carry with me.

A thousand thank you’s are not enough to display my gratitude for such an incredible opportunity. I am forever thankful.

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Dedicaci贸n Para los Chilenos en sus luchas. Que les vayan bien. Estoy aqu铆 cuando me necesitan.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.

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Table of Contents Introduction

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Methodology

6

Valpo Interviene Successes Challenges Delegation of Responsibility Horizontality of Power Collaboration Outcomes

8 8 9 10 10 11 12

Valpo Surf Project Successes Challenges Building and Maintaining Credibility Fundraising Internationally and Locally Understanding the Foreign Culture Outcomes

12 13 14 14 15 16 16

Junta De Vecinos Successes Challenges Initiation Tactics Building Community Leaders Keeping Traditions Outcomes

17 18 19 19 20 21 21

Student Education Movement Successes Challenges Mass Cultural Shift Clear Goals and Focus Youth Activation Outcomes

22 23 24 24 25 25 26

Synthesis

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Introduction Residential segregation along socio-economic lines is not a recent phenomenon in Chile, yet it increased considerably during certain political transitions. History of residential segregation began with arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, but increased most sharply after industrialization.i A century later in 1973, the entrance of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship led to another increase of residential segregation. This increase in residential segregation has been attributed to the sudden influx of neoliberalist policy imposed during the dictatorship.ii For example, the 1980’s education reform resulted in half of urban schools becoming for-profit private schooling institutions.iii At the same time, the Ministry of Education transferred national management of education facilities to municipal management.iv As a result, municipalities with lower incomes received less funding and were thus of lower quality. Lower quality education leaves the students with less opportunity for higher education and higher paying jobs. The education system created a systemic form of segregation wherein the poorer people could not escape poverty because they could not attain a job that required more education and they could not receive better education because they were poor.

Valparaíso is the third largest metropolitan area in Chile. The total population of Greater Valparaíso is 824,000 with 276,000 people in the urban municipality of Valparaíso.v The city has a strong economy as a result of large amounts of tourism and the country’s largest port.vi Government statistics show consistent growth of industry production and exportations.vii However, the benefits coming from this healthy growing economy have been offset by challenges created by the several dramatic shifts in government control over the past forty years that have greatly affected the policy and norms.viii The dramatic government shift in 1973 is categorized by themes of corporate privatization, political deregulation, and socio-economic polarization.ix The shift has further increased production

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statistics of the economy, but adversely affected working class communities.x The polarization of wealth-income gap resulted in segregation of communities based on the socio-economic lines.xi There are efforts from some community organizations to empower communities, rebuild cultural identities, and raise equality standards between social classes.

On September 11, 1973 Augusto Pinochet, a powerful military commander backed by the CIA, led the overthrow of Allende’s government. An armed insurgency flooded Santiago streets abducting and executing associates of the Salvador Allende administration and ultimately climaxing in a bombing of the Presidential palace and death of Allende.xii This moment marked the end the Chilean presidential republic.xiii Massive human rights violations were committed under the Pinochet regime such as abduction, torture, and murder. Pinochet installed a new constitution in 1980 with policies that supported corporatism, privatization, and deregulation. He transferred power to a democratically elected president in 1990. The current government operates with his constitution and supports very similar economic values.

Pinochet’s government’s focus on privatization in the marketplace led to polarization of the wealth-income gap. The system of government used is known as neoliberalism and is defined by, leading scholar and professor at Johns Hopkins University, David Harvey as a, “theory of political economic practices proposing that human well-being can best be advanced by the maximization of entrepreneurial freedoms within an institutional framework characterized by private property rights, individual liberty, unencumbered markets, and free trade”.xiv

Theories of deregulation became very popular during this era all across the globe, however the experiment proved unsuccessful; David Harvey continues in his essay to explain that while ruling elites and foreign investors did well, the general population did poorly.xv The neoliberalization of the economy led to marginalization in certain sectors of the market, a debilitated labor movement, increased inequality in income distribution, job insecurity, and low wages- thus demonstrating the systems inability to allow the wealth to “trickle-down”.xvi With the polarization of economic classes, the rich and poor communities have been separated and seldom interact with each other, thus building a widespread wake of low 5

quality sanitation, education, safety, and infrastructure in the low-income communities.

As wages fell, poverty increased, wealth polarized, living conditions in low-income communities diminished, and the rich further distanced themselves from poor communities.

Definitions of poverty are difficult to quantify, especially while exploring foreign communities, but social indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality, nutrition, the proportion of household income spent on education, literacy, school enrollment rates, access to health clinics, and drinking water can demonstrate inequality.xvii Valparaíso experiences serious problems of inequality with residential segregation that are correlated with poor quality of education, sanitation and public space.xviii These problems create systemic feedback loops wherein low quality of living conditions in the segregated areas lead to more poverty and the residents’ inability to escape the cycle.

The goal of the project is to examine tactics of community organizations as they organize to combat the effects of residential segregation and test the effectiveness of those tactics by analyzing their accomplishments. This investigation will analyze successes, challenges, and strategic ideologies of two NGOs, Juntas de Vecinos (neighbors meetings), and the Chilean student movement. Each organization is unique and will have its own strategy for achieving the similar goals. All organizations focus on improving the bad living conditions within their respective communities. This investigation will identify the unique characteristics of the community organizations and demonstrate their effectiveness by analysis of the achievements. That information can then be used and applied to many scenarios as proven effective strategies for community organizations.

Methodology The organizations under examinations were chosen after recommendation from colleagues and activists that have been to or lived in ValparaĂ­so. The organizations were

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chosen because each one is organizing against the effects of residential segregation along socio-economic lines. Each organization has a unique strategy to develop communities and fight for improved community living standards. The variation in strategy style offers an excellent opportunity for comparison and contrast.

Historical research, personal interviews, and participant observation were all used as means to develop a socio-political context of Chile and the current community organizing strategies to combat community issues. Historical research was used to bring the reader up to the current political context and describe Chile's neoliberalist condition. Interviews were performed one-on-one with the community organizers in a conversational manner as a means to bolster casual and candid discussion and analysis of community organizing methods. These interviews provided in depth analysis from the organizer's point of view of their own organizing strategy. The interviews also provided information of organizational structure and past accomplishments. Participant observation was used to provide another resource for organizing analysis. Activities and actions were observed, recorded, and analyzed as a means to further examine the organizations. The participant observation provided supplemental information and narrative regarding the individual groups' organizing strategy.

Each organization received individual focus and examination for 2-3 week periods.

During this time their meetings were observed and interviews were conducted. Participant observation consisted of sitting with the group, but not interfering so as to investigate how the group interacted naturally. Interviews were thirty minutes to one hour long and were conversational. The questions did not follow a rigid structure, but rather followed the interviewee through what they believed to be the critical components of community organizing. Questions were all based on themes such as organizational structure, shortterm goals, long-term goals, organization history, methods of outreach, and methods of group maintenance.

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Valpo Interviene Valpo Interviene organizes residentially segregated communities for environmental awareness, environmental stewardship and community beautification. They are based primarily out of Upper Playa Ancha, a low-income area and residentially segregated area in ValparaĂŹso. The group began one year ago and is in the process of becoming an NGO in Chile. This group is best known for their work regarding the creation of mosaics in plazas using nearly one hundred percent reused material found during community clean ups.

ValparaĂ­so is a city with major sanitation issues due to a lack of proper waste removal infrastructure as well as environmental consciousness. Historically, trash dumping was very common on city streets and alleyways. Some of the streets have been cleaned up, but many have not. The streets that still have large amounts of trash on them are all in lowincome areas. Valpo Interviene brings the community together to improve their own living standards in the city that they love. Through community organization they believe that they can strengthen community relationships, build pride for their city, improve sanitation and thereby public health, and reduce environmental waste contamination.

Sebastian Becera and Camilo Cajigaz, two primary organizers, discussed the successes and the challenges of a new NGO in a neo-liberalist state. They continued to speak about their personal organizing theories as a means to analyze the roots of their successes and failures. Both responded that the key elements to a community organization are delegation of responsibility, horizontality of power, and collaboration both in and outside of the group.

Successes

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Both organizers stated that the group’s greatest success was the high volume of completed projects in such a short amount of time. They have completed eight beach clean ups and three plaza mosaics in the year since their founding. Furthermore, these projects occurred in multiple communities and collaborated with six other organizations. Becera noted that the group’s quick growth is uncanny, but the rate of growth has only continued steadily.

The community clean ups are always done in collaboration with other two or three groups. The beach clean ups consist of 40-50 participants and are run for 3-4 hours. In that time they clean up around a half-mile stretch of beach on which there is always a large amount of trash. Valpo Interviene reuses non-recyclable trash in the mosaic structures built in plazas. Valpo Interviene uses a unique and inspired idea for community beautification.

Within three different residentially segregated communities they have constructed benches covered in colorful mosaics made from nearly one hundred percent reused material.

The community clean ups and mosaic bench construction are excellent organizing tactics. These events have gathered people from a many communities and created easily visible improvements. The activities are well suited for community organizing because they require very little skill for the majority of participants, are easily visible, and are extremely economical. This allows all people with no regard to ability to participant, gives them instant gratification for their actions, and lays little on the ever-strict NGO budget. The low income communities that Valpo Interviene works in now have better sanitation and health qualities on their public streets, beaches and plazas.

Challenges Valpo Interviene find that the lack of finances restricts group work to part time. The group does not have enough money to pay the directors a salary, so they all hold full time paid positions at other locations.Becera noted that he would like to meet with the group of 9

directors more often, but the scheduling is very difficult. They manage to meet as a board of directors twice a month where they plan how to move forward as a group.

Secondly, Valpo Interviene is still in the process of gaining full NGO status in Chile.

Without being an NGO it is harder to develop credibility that will attract volunteers and investors. For example, donating to a legal NGO gives the donor a tax break incentive.

Additionally, the Chilean government offers project grants that NGOs may apply for. The group is one year away from NGO status.

Delegation of Responsibility Valpo Interviene strongly supports specialization and delegation of responsibility.

The group consists of eight directors, each of which has a unique skill to bring to the group: Pablo Lemus- Compost, Pablo Campos- Mosaic Design, Francisco Duran- Fundraising, Lorna Colivoro- Mosaic Construction, Alonso Aravena- Treasurer and Organizational Structure-

Sebastian Becera- Public Relations/Architecture, Camilo Cajigaz- Public

Relations/Architecture, Constanza Manque- Management.

Specialization assures high quality work and avoids fully attended director group meetings. Individuals and small break out groups can work simultaneously from separate locations. It is not necessary for the group to constantly meet as a whole because each branch of the group is not dependent on the other. The high number of directors is organized through the delegation of responsibility so that every aspect of building an NGO is given its necessary attention. Therefore the group can accomplish a lot very quickly that helps the community.

Horizontality of Power

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The next organizing factor that Becera and Cajigaz highlighted was the need for horizontality within the directors group. Since the responsibilities have been diffused over many people it is critical that each voice is heard and that each branch participates during the meetings. Becera says that the group naturally runs horizontally and that he has not seen any individual seeking to control the group. He continued to say that everybody completely understands that all of the branches have their importance and that all conflicts are resolved through open discussion and compromise. This horizontality makes the group run smoothly and quickly so that they can reach their goals faster.

Collaboration Collaboration is the final factor noted by Becera and Cajigaz that keeps their group running well. Becera and Cajigaz work as a public relations team, primarily networking with other groups as a means to collaborate on large projects. The primary means of networking occur during environmentalist fairs where many NGOs, non-profits, and sustainable businesses join to promote their work and wrangle volunteers. Becera said that his primary goal during these fairs is not to gain individual volunteers, but rather to gain group leaders as allies. That way when a beach clean up is approaching Becera can speak with just one person who can easily organize their base of volunteers.

Additionally, collaboration connects communities from all sides of Valparaíso through collective work on shared public space. While Valpo Interviene cleans and constructs mosaics in individual communities, they also perform clean ups on the city’s public beaches.

This is an excellent strategy that aims to reunite populations that are residentially segregated along economic lines. Becera felt that the mixture of communities cleaning up their shared space gives everybody in the city a sense of camaraderie and pride for where they live.

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Outcomes Valpo Interviene has created a sustainable model for community organization and is effectively achieving their goals. The beach clean ups and mosaic construction have brought the community together to improve the issue of sanitation in their community. This shows how the organization is empowering the communities to take ownership and responsibility of their space and improve it themselves. The work is done with very little funding and a lot of community support, which both benefit community development. By taking command of their community's appearance, the community members are investing in a collective well-being. The once derelict plazas now have brand new features, which has attracted more usage. Therefore, this project has not just brought the community together to build the mosaic, but continually unites the community through post-project plaza usage.

All in all Valpo Interviene has an excellent model for sustainable community building.

Their projects unite communities, improve the sanitation problems in the community, and open a permanent space for community interaction. All of these things combat the issues that have been caused by income inequality and residential segregation. As it solves the short-term issues through community clean up, it also addresses systemic issues that are caused by fractured communities. Through collective community work there is great opportunity to improve the equality of all living conditions within ValparaĂ­so. Therefore, more groups like Valpo Interviene should be encouraged throughout all marginalized communities.

Valpo Surf Project Valpo Surf Project is an NGO working in ValparaĂ­so fighting the effects of residential segregation. This group is operated by three United States natives whom all moved to Chile two years ago to begin their non-profit. The three way partnership aims to improve

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community living standards through an after school program that teaches English as a second language, multimedia art, and surfing. They work and live in the Cerro Mariposa community, a residentially segregated neighborhood, where the community has little connection to the nearby maritime city center. They believe that through physical and academic empowerment that they can reconnect the estranged community with the ocean based city center.

Two of the three directors from this group were interviewed, Henry Meyer and Wylie Todd. They discussed themes such as being a foreigner, social philanthropy, youth in struggling communities, and the segregation of communities along socio-economic lines.

Then they continued to speak about their key organizing theories such as building and maintaining credibility in the community, fundraising internationally and locally, and greater understanding of Chilean culture. These interviews offered unique insight on organizing for social welfare as a non-native in a struggling community.

Successes The Valpo Surf Project has been extremely successful in entering and becoming part of the Mariposa community. The group is only two years old, but already has thirty-five consistent students in their after school program that meets three times a week. The program consists of English as a second language classes four times a week, varied media art classes once a week, and a swim and surf class once a week.

The group has chosen to mix academia and physical activity as a means to empower the youth community. Their philosophy begins with physical empowerment through surfing.

As the kids learn to surf, many of which begin not knowing how to swim, they create a love for the ocean and begin merging with the waterfront community. Henry Meyer and Wylie Todd both said the team has been successfully teaching their students to surf and many of them now visit the water without the group. The kids then feel pride for their physical 13

accomplishment and carry the attitude with them to the classroom where they begin learning English, none of whom start with any foundation. Valpo Surf Project has chosen to teach English in Chile because bilingual ability offers the children more opportunities in the current workforce.

Challenges The first challenge noted by both Henry Meyer and Wylie Todd was understanding the complexities of the Chilean legal system. They both said that it is not always apparent how to move through the Chilean bureaucracy due to lack of familiarity. They stressed the importance of personal connections within the bureaucracy as the only way to efficiently navigate through it. However, they also emphasized the difficulty in finding those connections.

Secondly, financing is a huge challenge for the Valpo Surf Project team. Meyer works full time and receives a salary while the other two directors periodically return to the United States to fundraise and work paid positions in other fields. The programs they run are not high cost and paying Meyer to run the operation full time consumes most of the funding.

The group relies nearly exclusively on funding from surfing communities in the United States.

Both Meyer and Todd said that the Chilean cultural view of social philanthropy is an obstacle still being overcome. They said that when originally proposing the idea to create a free after school program to the Mariposa community they met a lot of skepticism. The idea of the free program and social philanthropy from other communities seemed impossible to the residents. It took a lot of trust building in order to bring the program to where it is today.

Building and Maintaining Credibility Originally an obstacle, but now an asset, credibility in the community has earned 14

Valpo Surf Project a permanent position as the local community group. A Chilean resident introduced them to the community at the monthly Junta de Vecinos. Here they pitched idea to the community and received mixed responses. Some in the community were ecstatic to see foreigners taking interest in struggling Chilean communities, while others waited for “the catch” in the bargain. After repeatedly explaining that there is no “catch” to the project the group earned the trust of the entire community and received approval to begin at once.

Maintaining the credibility of the program in the community comes from the respect it receives from the students. Meyer said that sometimes the students begin to take the program for granted and stop attending or make under-appreciative remarks to one of them.

He said when he sees this happening he immediately demonstrates to the students that this program is a privilege that no other community in Valparaíso has. Valpo Surf Project has done an excellent job in maintaining their students and has plans to continue expanding.

Fundraising Internationally and Locally Wylie Todd is the primary fundraiser for the organization and travels several times a year to New York, New England, California, and Europe to visit surfing communities, family, and friends. He has organized a number of functions including concerts and auctions in order to raise the money. Todd stressed how critical finding the money to continue is and that the group is often moving day by day in order to operate.

Todd found it easier to fundraise outside of Chile. He began with family and friends and then began speaking in surfing communities along the east and west coast as well as in Europe. By hosting functions and building relationships Todd has built a donor base across the globe. He said that he no longer needs to focus on the maintaining the donor base because previous donors consistently respond well to simple letter or email requests.

Therefore he focuses his time on donor base expansion.

It is difficult to find donors in Chile because of the cultural view of social philanthropy 15

as well as the lack of affluent surfing communities. In general, Wylie said that the Chileans are not accustomed to giving charity to other communities; most people only support their own neighborhood. Additionally, there is little incentive to donate to other communities because donations cannot yet be offset by a Chilean tax break. Valpo Surf Project is currently in the application process to be a Chilean NGO. Todd believes that the tax break incentive is critical for him to build a donor base in Chile.

Understanding the Foreign Culture Todd and Meyer both expressed the sensitivity of entering a foreign culture and creating a community organization. Their intentions were not to Americanize the population, but rather create a self-sufficient positive community in a residentially segregated community. They are especially careful in the classroom where they are beginning to see their lessons expanding from simple English classes to classes that provoke critical thinking.

Todd raised the example of approaching sexual education as particularly difficult because Chile is a Roman-Catholic country. Therefore, the Valpo Surf Project must decide whether it is their role in the community to teach about such sensitive issues.

The group has jumped right into the community in some aspects, but in others has taken an observation standpoint. They want to reinforce the positive community values so they first identify them and then highlight them around the kids. Constant positive attitudes, determination, and curiosity rank highly among admirable community traits. The group tries to be good community models for the boys and girls in their classes by embodying the positivity they find in the vibrancies in Mariposa.

Outcomes Valpo Surf Project offers an excellent view of how United States NGOs should 16

approach organizing residentially segregated communities in a foreign country. The group has successfully united the community and provided very good role models for at risk youth.

The community now interacts more often, there are more community friendships, the kids are speaking English better, fewer kids are getting in trouble, and there is a better sense of community pride. All of these outcomes were the goals of Valpo Surf Project.

The Valpo Surf Project wants to build the youth in the community to eventually come back in reinvest in their community. The children are simply too young at this point to make serious impacts in the policy that is causing income inequality and residential segregation.

For the Valpo Surf Project to be a full success, the directors would like to see the youth move into higher education and begin working in professions that will support communities facing problems resulting of inequality. The directors all believe that the kids were showing much more interest in education, which they felt is a good sign for the group. The students are still young and their larger goals should begin to be realized in the following years.

The Valpo Surf Project has pioneered foreign community organizing in Chile that has seldom been attempted in the past. There are no other groups currently existing in ValparaĂ­so that are operated by US citizens. They use a good strategy that would be an excellent model for other groups looking to achieve similar goals. The recommendations highlighted earlier are the main concepts that the directors highlighted as aspects that should be carefully considered when starting a foreign NGO.

Junta De Vecinos A Junta de Vecinos is a meeting of ten or more households in any one neighborhood in Chile. Juntas de Vecinos are used to apply for federal funding for specific community projects. Almost every neighborhood in ValparaĂ­so has at one time had a Junta de Vecinos, but some are much more active than others. The juntas form for isolated short-term projects 17

that directly benefit the community. Several Juntas de Vecinos may exist in a single neighborhood and after project completion they often dissolve. Common projects range from street improvement, community center construction, plaza construction, and other changes to communal spaces.

The goal of a Junta de Vecinos is community improvement solely directed by community members. The projects are aimed at rebuilding broken parts of the community.

They function best in communities that have strong interpersonal relationships. Each Junta de Vecinos project is separate and each community has at least one Junta de Vecinos; the goal of the Junta de Vecinos is not to benefit all marginalized people, but rather just the marginalized people of that specific community. Many Juntas de Vecinos have successfully improved communities Priscila Campusano and Sandra Rojas are professors of SIT: World Learning as well as community leaders. They spoke about community participation and community pride in terms of Juntas de Vecinos. Campusano explained simple tactics to bring people to the first meetings as well as how to bring them to the second. Rojas discussed why some Juntas are more successful than others. She expressed that good community leaders and traditional community values were the most critical factors in creating healthy Juntas de Vecinos.

Successes The Junta de Vecinos is a way for communities to self-improve the negative conditions caused by residential segregation. The Juntas allow the communities to be independent and strong enough to improve their situation through their own work. The Chilean government offers financial grants for the community projects of Juntas de Vecinos.

As a result of these grants, the Juntas do not need to fundraise for their existence; they are based completely on volunteer work and the money received from the government grant.

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The community has full freedom to improve anything they want in their community as long as they have ten households participating. The Juntas, when successful, are able to create a culture of leadership and positive role models for the rest of the community. The Juntas de Vecinos are an excellent option for communities trying to improve their living conditions.

Challenges The Juntas de Vecinos are often very difficult to organize because of the current culture in ValparaĂ­so and the inherent structure of the system. Both Rojas and Campusano said that there is often very little interest in the communities who do not have a wellestablished Junta de Vecinos. Additionally, the people organizing the Juntas do not necessarily have any experience in community organizing. A failure of a Junta de Vecinos project can be devastating to community morale and the possibility for future projects.

Furthermore, if the Junta de Vecinos is able to complete a project, it can be extremely difficult to maintain the community support for a follow-up project. Rojas said that people are generally satisfied after you finish a single project and do not immediately begin looking for another, as do NGOs. Community interest is constantly an uphill battle for the organizer Since the government only requires involvement of ten households in order to apply for project funds the Juntas often fracture when disagreements arise. Rojas said that there are often several Juntas de Vecinos in one community that do not like to interact. These segmentations can be very divisive for communities. Often arguments between the Juntas counteract each other and prevent any projects from being completed at all. Additionally, when the groups do not collaborate none of the projects are completed as well as they could have been had the Juntas de Vecino joined efforts.

Initiation Tactics

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Priscila Campusano said that empowering the community to make the first step to come to the first meeting could be the most difficult part of the process. As a solution, Campusano always frames the meetings as a communal dinner in somebody’s home. In Latin culture, sharing meals is a very important social activity where the people bond closely.. She begins every new project with this simple community building activity and first spurs the idea for the project. She comes prepared with her pitch and prepares to get all present parties on board. Most people agree to join the project after she shares a meal with them.

Campusano builds strong community ties to develop a community identity. She maintains her relationships with everyone by visiting their houses on certain evenings and having conversation with them. She was very clear that all relationships are best when they are more than just professional, but rather close friendships where they can talk about more than just the community project. The creation of strong community ties builds a community identity that is more willing to fight for the betterment of its living conditions. Strong community identity and pride are an important step to rebuilding a fractured society.

Building Community Leaders Rojas felt that one of the most critical aspects to organizing the Junta de Vecinos is the leaders in the community. Communities need strong leaders in order to begin the projects. She said that leaders in communities are confident, social, good listeners, intelligent, experienced, and always from the neighborhood. The role of leaders is not simply to push the project forward, but also to serve as a role model for the youth. If there are not leaders in a community the youth grow up with habits that do not promote community power and will continue to reinforce the weaknesses and build more likeminded youth.

She said that the Juntas de Vecinos are impossible without strong community leaders and therefore the strongest Juntas de Vecinos are some of the ones that have been 20

historically successful. The old Juntas have been building community leaders for decades and have histories, role models, and physical proof of success to show the growing youth in the neighborhood. Community leaders build community strength, which will lead to more completed projects, thus improving the living conditions in a residentially segregated community.

Keeping Traditions Rojas explained how keeping the community’s history and traditions alive improve the community morale. Rojas recounted an effort in a neighborhood to restore the church and community center, the two oldest buildings in the town. The buildings served as local meeting spots, but had become dilapidated due to lack of maintenance. The community joined together to retake their community and rebuild their patria. Rojas said that rebuilding the historical buildings in a community opens up the dialogue of traditions within the community. She said that most Latin Americans are extremely proud of their country and origins and therefore most of their community projects work to preserve their identities. The community value of traditions inspires the community to maintain itself and improve the living conditions.

Outcomes A Junta de Vecinos can result in community improvement as well as development of stronger community relationships. Both of these achievements result in stronger communities with better living conditions and a higher likelihood of future organizing. The Junta de Vecinos is an excellent model for building communities because they must do all the work themselves. The personal investment in the community builds pride in their home while also improving its physical condition. These are extremely positive outcomes for any

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organization. This system of Junta de Vecinos is specific to Chile, but should be available in the United States as well because if its applicability and ability for success. There are minimal options in the USA for communities to apply for federal grants for community projects. If this option were available, there would be many more communities attempting to self-improve their situations.

However, a failure of a Junta de Vecinos can be detrimental to the future of organizing within the community. Many of the people organizing for what may be their first time are already marginalized groups that have never experienced much hope or optimism in the possibility of improving their living space. In the event of a failure the marginalized people will become even more disenfranchised and disempowered and potentially prevent them from ever organizing again. The lack of an employed organizer predisposes a Junta de Vecinos to the possibility of failure without revival.

All being said, the Junta de Vecinos is an excellent source of opportunity for communities to self-improve. The projects completed have shown that communities have the power to pull themselves out from the situations that were caused by income inequality.

Student Education Movement Students want education reform because a lot of the youth are receiving very unequal education opportunities. Municipalities fund high schools and the areas of higher income receive more funding through the tax system and therefore have superior facilities. As a result of unequal secondary school systems, the wealthier students more frequently continue into higher education while the low-income students go directly into the low-income workforce. The fact that the low-income students are continually receiving worse education further polarizes the wealthy from the poor. Unequal education perpetuates the system of wealth dominance and income inequality as well as all the effects bound to these conditions.

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From income inequality results residentially segregated communities that will continue to receive bad education and perpetuate the cycle of poverty and wealth dominance. The students of Chile find this situation unacceptable and are therefore demanding that the state improve education standards nationwide.

The education movement in Chile, a long fought battle, erupted in the fall of 2011 with massive protests attended by up to 100,000 people in the streets of Santiago. All across Chile universities and secondary schools were overtaken and occupied by large groups of students calling for education reform. The students demand free education, of high quality, and excellent accessibility for all. In the 2012 academic year, the protests have subsided after their boom in 2011, but the students still frequently promote their beliefs and protest on the city streets.

Universidad de Santa Maria and Universidad de Santo Tomas are two active universities in ValparaĂ­so. The students spoke of ideal societies and the means to achieve those ideal societies by uniting the people of Chile in a cultural and political revolution.

Many of the students shared collectivist ideals and preached about leftist governments that aided the self-realization of their citizens. These students involved felt that organizing individual communities is only the first step to larger political change on the national scope.

They were advocates of a large cultural shift, clear goals and focus, and an activation of the youth. All of the students spoke of unequal education as dictated by the residentially segregated nature of modern day Chile.

Successes The Chilean students have been a global model of youth activism for the past year.

They proved to the world that mass protests can still happen as they once did decades ago and they proved that they can change policies with the movement. In May, Chilean President Miguel Juan SebastiĂĄn PiĂąera announced policy reform raising taxes as a means 23

to make university more affordable and accessible through government scholarships.

The Chilean student movement has a huge active youth population as a result of years of organizing. The youth have taken charge of their lives and spoke out against government negligence of their people and the effects of systemic residential segregation.

Students in many parts of the world are speaking about similar policy reform with ideals similar to the Chileans. The policy change was not the end to the movement, but did slightly improve the education for low-income communities.

Challenges The Chilean student movement has a divisive effect between the people and the state as well as moments of violence against the state. Many students despise President Piùera for his neo-liberalist policies that favor industry privatization over citizen aide as well as his unwavering dedication to Pinochet’s constitution. The students show their distaste for the government at the end of their protests with violent outbursts. The protests always begin with extremely peaceful marches, but quickly turn into a fight of police versus students with tear gas against stones. The violent outbreak turns away groups of students not interested in using violence. While for others, the fight is a natural defense of their civil liberty to occupy the streets and use them as a platform for free speech.

Mass Cultural Shift The students have for years been calling for a radical shift in political views for those Chileans who have not already done so. The student movement is extremely idealistic with mixes of Marxism, communism, anarchism, socialism, and other collectivist beliefs. There are huge advocacy groups that advertise on the campuses with literature about what the movement wants, the theories that support the demands, and ways to become involved.

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They are extremely well informed and speak with incredible conviction about the theories that prove their demands as the only option.

Chilean students believe that free, accessible, high quality education will equalize communities and lead to an end of residential segregation. The students protesting often come from low-income families and residentially segregated areas and are saying that they are not receiving the opportunities they desire. They are calling for all people to learn about collectivist theory so that the whole country can rise together and build a better nation.

Clear Goals and Focus The Chilean students have extremely clear goals and focus. The clarity of their goals makes it very easy for those interested to join. The clear goals also make it easier for the government to create policies that fit the demands of the students. Chilean students stay on point and do not compromise for the government concessions. The movement is committed to continuing their fight until education is free, high quality, and accessibly to all. The clarity of their goals improves the efficiency of their social movement organizing that that they may achieve their goals more quickly.

Youth Activation The youth in any community can either be a driving force or an apathetic division. In many of the communities in ValparaĂ­so it was only the adults organizing for community improvement. The student movement, however, has the youth in participation. The youth always has the most progressive thought in any population and they have the energy to push the ideologies forward in hope of political change. If untapped, the youth can become a lazy population with little or no interest in activism. The student movement embraces youth and almost exclusively uses themselves as the resources to create their desired political change. The students in the movement are often speaking about getting expanding further 25

to uninvolved communities to bring the young energy. The student movement is about taking control of your life and government alongside your brethren as a means to build a better society for everybody. Many involved believe that only the youth has the ability to return equality and desegregate the nation.

Outcomes The goals of the student movement are huge and idealistic and therefore will be extremely difficult to achieve, however, their ability to mobilize massive groups of people displays an incredible ability to organize. The students’ are especially hard to achieve because they the ideological polar opposite of every government administration since Augusto Pinochet. The government has made small adjustments to education funding as well as increased the amount of government scholarships, but is a very long way from making education free, accessible, and of a high quality. However, the students have displayed an incredible ability to mobilize and make their movement visible.

The student movement is currently decelerating, but is still following a common social movement trend of peaks and troughs. Social movements will commonly hit breaking points where everybody involved will become extremely active for a period of time. However, this period of high activity is commonly followed by a lull. The Chilean student movement has reached a lull since the surge in 2011, but this is by no means indicative to the end of the movement. More likely there will be large amounts of small scale organizing happening within individual schools until the next breaking point is reached and the students all become highly active again and form large protests.

In sum, the student movement has achieved very little politically, but as a social movement long-term goals need a very long time to be realized. However, the students need to be patient and continue with their current method of organizing. Long term diligent organizing is the only way that the Chilean government will begin to make policy that ends

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residential segregation.

Synthesis This project examined a Chilean directed NGO, a United States directed NGO, Juntas de Vecinos, and the Chilean Student movement as they organized in a neo-liberalist society.

Each of the groups was organizing against the effects of residential segregation along socio-economic lines. The communities under study all shared common struggles against the adverse effects such as poor sanitation, strong isolation, broken infrastructure, and weak education. Each group addressed their problems with actions autonomous from the state and with direct assistance from the state. Case studies were performed on each group as a means to display their success and challenges of community organizing as well as effective community organizing strategies.

Valpo Interviene is a community organizing group from Playa Ancha, ValparaĂ­so, Chile. The group has eight directors, all of them from ValparaĂ­so. They focus on community beautification through community work. This group highlighted delegation of responsibility, horizontal power structure, and collaboration as the key aspects to successfully organizing communities. Their organizing theory has resulted in physical improvement of the substandard community conditions originally caused by their residential segregation.

Valpo Interviene has seen that its organizing strategies are effective because of the visible and physical improvement in the communities. Their model is extremely effective for bringing communities together to solve issues of poor sanitation. Their project model is easily transferable and should be used by every community organization with trash issues in the community. However, their initiatives are mainly focused on the visible issues of poor sanitation. While this approach fixes the problems within the community in regards to bad sanitation systems and environmental consciousness, they do not directly affect systemic 27

issues of income inequality and residential segregation. Hopefully in the future the group will begin to gravitate towards community organizing that can affect the policy that created the insufficient sanitation systems in the first place.

Valpo Surf Project is a community organization that works in Cerro Mariposa, ValparaĂ­so Chile. The group is operated by three recently college graduated Americans.

They focus on community integration within the city, teaching English as a second language, and community development. The directors highlighted building and maintaining credibility, fundraising internationally and locally, deep understandings of the culture as the core factors to successfully organizing in Chile. As a result from their organizing the students have positive role models and have displayed maturation and appreciation for education, which should ultimately lead to further community reinvestment to improve community living standards.

Valpo Surf Project has done a wonderful job entering a foreign community and has seen that community flourish since their arrival. They are a great model for any United States citizen looking to become involved in a foreign community. Though they are far from achieving their long-term goals, they have improved the community and appear to be going in the right direction. The fact that the students are doing better in school and show more interest in education proves that the group has been a positive influence in the community.

The Valpo Surf Project should be the model for any foreign born NGO looking to organize in foreign countries.

Juntas de Vecinos are another method of community organization that occur in many neighborhoods and cities in Chile. They are always operated by community members in conjunction with each other in efforts to rebuild their neighborhood. The groups apply for government funds for specific projects that can be accomplished within the community.

This is a very good and effective strategy in communities with strong role models and a history of community organizing. Some members explained how to start the Juntas from the ground up, the importance of community leaders, and the value in preserving traditions and

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values.

Juntas de Vecinos is an excellent system that should be applied to all cities across the globe. This system provides the ability for any community to build themselves up and improve their own conditions. There is no outlet like this available in the United States and it prevents communities from being self-sufficient and self-improving. There is certainly room for improvement within the system, but the concept as a whole is extremely transferable to any community. The system promotes community togetherness as well as combats the effects of residential segregation and therefore should be spread as a model.

The Chilean student movement is a massive social movement that had a dramatic increase in activity in the past year. Students are calling for high quality of education that is also free and easily accessible to all. This group displayed mass cultural movement, clear focus and goals, and youth activation as the keys to successfully organizing communities.

This group is excellent for building awareness of the effects of residential segregation as well as performing action to fix the problems it causes.

The Chilean student movement is idealistic, uncompromising, loud, and effective.

They serve as role models for all other students who hold similar values. The students strongly grip to their ideals, dedicate their time, and risk their health and safety to achieve those goals. The largest success of this movement has been the massive outreach it has achieved. As a result of the movement many more people in across the globe are aware that residential segregation affects education quality. Additionally, the movement provides an outlet for students to organize and improve the education conditions in their community as well as others.

The beauty in this project is that every group had successes to show for their diverse sets of strategies. No one group uses the same main strategies as a means to organize their communities. Each group was successfully organizing change in their communities with visible improvements. Additionally, each group either began within the last two years or seen a sudden jump in interest. The increase in political activation of Chile’s population

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shows optimistic opportunity in the near future. The effects of socio-economic residential segregation will decline and the overall integration of segregated neighborhoods into the Valparaíso metropolitan center will increase as the people unite and take control of their government and community-improvement opportunities. These progressive groups currently have the opportunity to seize the moment and carry the momentum into economical, political, and cultural transformation.

i

Amato, Peter W. "A Comparison: Population Densities, Land Values and Socioeconomic Class in Four Latin American Cities." Land Economics 46.4 (1970): 447-55. University of Wisconsin Press. Web. <http://0www.jstor.org.oasys.lib.oxy.edu/stable/3145515>. ii Harvey, David. “Neoliberalism as Creative Destruction.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 610 (2007): 22–44. iii McEwan, Patrick J., Miguel Urquiola, Emiliana Vegas, Reynaldo Fernandes, and Francisco Gallego. "School Choice, Stratification, and Information on School Performance: Lessons from Chile." Economía 8.2 (2008): 1-42. Brookings Institution Press. Web. <http://0-www.jstor.org.oasys.lib.oxy.edu/stable/20065523>. iv Ibid. v "Censos De Poblacion Y Vivienda | Instituto Nacional De Estadasticas | INE 2012." Censos De Poblacion Y Vivienda.

N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2012. vi Índice Temático | Instituto Nacional De Estadasticas | INE 2012." Indice Tematico. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ine.cl/canales/menu/indice_tematico.php> vii Ibid. viii Aguilera, Pilar; Fredes, Ricardo; Dorfman, Ariel. Chile: The Other September 11. Melbourne: Ocean, 2003. ix Winn, Victims of the Chilean Miracle: Workers and Neoliberalism in the Pinochet Era, 1973–2002 x Ibid. xi Amato, Peter W. "A Comparison: Population Densities, Land Values and Socioeconomic Class in Four Latin American Cities." Land Economics 46.4 (1970): 447-55. University of Wisconsin Press. Web. <http://0www.jstor.org.oasys.lib.oxy.edu/stable/3145515>. xii Aguilera, Pilar; Fredes, Ricardo; Dorfman, Ariel. Chile: The Other September 11. Melbourne: Ocean, 2003. Print. xiii Fiedler, Sergio, Dr. "Contemporary Chilean History." Universidad De Santa Maria, Valparaíso. 6 Mar. 2012. Lecture. xiv Harvey, David. “Neoliberalism as Creative Destruction.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 610 (2007): 22–44. xv Ibid. xvi Olavarría, Margot. “Protected Neoliberalism: Perverse Institutionalization and the Crisis of Representation in Postdictatorship Chile.” Latin American Perspectives 30.6 (2003): 10–38. xvii Wratten, Ellen. Urban Poverty: Characteristics, Causes and Consequences. IIED, 1995. xviii Fiedler, Sergio, Dr. "Contemporary Chilean History." Universidad De Santa Maria, Valparaíso. 6 Mar. 2012.

Lecture.

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Works Cited

Aguilera, Pilar; Fredes, Ricardo; and Dorfman, Ariel. Chile: The Other September 11.

Melbourne: Ocean, 2003.

Amato, Peter W. "A Comparison: Population Densities, Land Values and Socioeconomic Class in Four Latin American Cities." Land Economics 46.4 (1970): 447-55. University of Wisconsin Press. Web. <http://0-www.jstor.org.oasys.lib.oxy.edu/stable/3145515>.

"Censos De Poblacion Y Vivienda | Instituto Nacional De Estadasticas | INE 2012." Censos De Poblacion Y Vivienda. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/censos_poblacion_vivienda/censo_pobl_vivi.php>.

“Chilean Student Movement: Erin Carrasco Lopez,” Personal Interview. 4 July 2012.

“Chilean Student Movement: Ignacio Vieytes,” Personal Interview. 10 July 2012.

Fiedler, Sergio, Dr. "Contemporary Chilean History." Universidad De Santa Maria, Valparaíso.

6 Mar. 2012. Lecture.

Harvey, David. “Neoliberalism as Creative Destruction.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 610 (2007): 22–44. Índice Temático | Instituto Nacional De Estadasticas | INE 2012." Indice Tematico. N.p., n.d.

Web.

14 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ine.cl/canales/menu/indice_tematico.php> “Junta de Vecinos: Sandra Rojas,” Personal interview. 1 August 2012.

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“Juntas de Vecinos: Priscila Campusano,” Personal interview. 3 August 2012.

Olavarría, Margot. “Protected Neoliberalism: Perverse Institutionalization and the Crisis of Representation in Postdictatorship Chile.” Latin American Perspectives 30.6 (2003): 10–38.

Rojas, Sandra. "Human Rights in Chile." Universidad De Santa Maria, Valparaíso. 13 Mar. 2012. Lecture.

Tomic, Patricia, Ricardo Trumper, and Rodrigo Hidalgo Dattwyler. “Manufacturing Modernity: Cleaning, Dirt, and Neoliberalism in Chile.” Antipode 38.3 (2006): 508–529. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

“Valpo Interviene: Sebastian Becerra.” Personal interview. 16 June 2012.

“Valpo Inteviene: Camilo Cajigaz,” Personal interview. 20 June 2012.

“Valpo Surf Project: Henry Meyer,” Personal interview. 17 July 2012.

“Valpo Surf Project: Wylie Todd,” Personal interview. 17 July 2012.

Winn, Peter. Victims of the Chilean Miracle: Workers and Neoliberalism in the Pinochet Era, 1973–2002. Duke University Press, 2004. Print.

Wratten, Ellen. Urban Poverty: Characteristics, Causes and Consequences. IIED, 1995. Print.

Zunino, Hugo Marcelo. “Power Relations in Urban Decision-making: Neo-liberalism, ‘Technopoliticians’ and Authoritarian Redevelopment in Santiago, Chile.” Urban Studies 43.10 (2006): 1825–1846. Web.

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