The Right to Dignity: Housing Struggles, City Making, and Citizenship in Urban Chile

Low-income residents of Santiago, Chile, known as pobladores, have long advocated for the right to housing as part of la vida digna. Anthropologist Miguel Pérez conducted fieldwork among these pobladores from 2011 to 2015 and found that they were part of an emerging social movement that demanded dignified living conditions, the right to remain in their neighborhoods of origin, and recognition as citizens entitled to basic rights. This ethnographic account raises questions about state policies that conceptualize housing as a commodity rather than a right and how poor urban dwellers seek recognition and articulate political agency against the backdrop of neoliberal policies. Pérez's book reveals how housing activists develop new imaginaries of citizenship in a country where the market has been the dominant force organizing social life for almost forty years, and how low-income residents can struggle against the commodification of rights by claiming the right to dignity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 26 April 2022
Publisher: Stanford University Press

In the impoverished neighborhoods of Santiago, Chile, low-income residents, often referred to as "pobladores," have endured a marginal existence, persistently advocating for the fundamental right to housing as an integral component of "la vida digna" (a life with dignity). Spanning from 2011 to 2015, anthropologist Miguel Pérez conducted extensive fieldwork among the pobladores of Santiago, immersing himself in the lives of urban dwellers and activists who were actively engaged in a burgeoning social movement. This movement sought to secure dignified living conditions, the right to remain in their neighborhoods of origin, and broader recognition as citizens entitled to basic rights. Through this ethnographic account, Pérez raises critical questions about state policies that perceive housing as a commodity rather than a fundamental right. He delves into the ways in which poor urban dwellers navigate the complexities of neoliberal policies while striving for recognition and exercising political agency.

By examining how Chilean pobladores construct their identities as political subjects, this book unveils the mechanisms through which housing activists forge new imaginaries of citizenship in a nation where the market has exerted a dominant influence over social life for nearly forty years. Pérez explores the boundaries and possibilities of urban movements, considering the role of poor people's participation in subsidy-based programs and their ability to resist the commodification of rights by asserting the right to dignity. This demand, rooted in a moral category, would ultimately serve as the catalyst for Chile's historic 2019 social uprising.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503631526