Search

In order to understand the way in which people self-identify in society and as a contribution to debates about class identity in Latin America, in this article the authors assess how individuals categorize themselves and others socially, and discuss whether a significant portion of the population classifies itself as middle class. They address the question of whether or not individuals' representation of their social position is linked to social class, examining whether that position incorporates a socio-economic dimension, a hierarchical dimension, or even an element of moral value. The authors focus on how individuals name their own social position by means of a vignette-based survey applied in 2016 to a randomized sample of 2000 people in Chile. The results show that the theoretical notion of class is still of relevance to subjective positioning criteria, and that such criteria are specific to individuals who self-identify with lower or higher social positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing a pragmatic sociology perspective, this article presents the results of a study carried out in Chile in a context characterized by growing public debate about social inequalities and increasing criticisms from ordinary people. Using a methodology based on a classificatory card game, we seek to understand how people describe society, its hierarchies, and the groups that compose it, as well as the arguments used to justify or criticize inequalities. We analyze the principles and values that organize the representations of Chilean society and focus on the dynamics of class and gender that feed those classifications. This exercise helps show that social critique and legitimation of inequality can operate simultaneously but at different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharp social inequalities in Latin America persist not only as a result of structural elements, but also because people justify and legitimate them in everyday life. Thus, to overcome inequalities it is necessary that individuals subjectively perceive them as unjust. This is an issue that is especially relevant in Chile, one of the first countries to experience neoliberalism in the 1970s. More than social inequalities as such, which are widely studied by Latin American sociology, this article analyzes social justice as a subjective judgment about inequalities. On the basis of the findings of an empirical game-based research project, the article examines the justice criteria used by ordinary people regarding differences between members of society. The authors argue that according to these subjective criteria, social justice refers to aspects that differ from neoliberal discourse about distributive justice based on equality of opportunity and that procedural justice is also key in ordinary discourses about social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sobre la base del concepto amplio de capacidades propuesto por Amartya Sen y mediante los datos de la Encuesta Nacional de Estratificación Social (ENES) de 2009, en este artículo se explora la influencia del sexo en las diferencias de capacidades de los individuos consideradas importantes para lograr resultados que determinan sus niveles de bienestar o deprivación. En términos de capacidades, se investiga la habilidad de los individuos para tener control material, cultural, social y político de su vida y entorno, distinguiendo la situación de hombres y mujeres. Una vez construidas las medidas individuales de capacidades, se probó la hipótesis de la desventaja femenina a través del ajuste de modelos multivariados en los que se incluían controles relevantes. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que en Chile existen diferencias no despreciables en capacidades entre mujeres y hombres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages existing research on informal institutions in Latin America, by analyzing informal institutions related to public appointments in Chile with particular reference to what is known as the cuoteo. We extend the analysis from the national to the regional and local levels by considering how these informal institutions shape politics. Our research reveals that the nature and function of the cuoteo change according to the level of government at which it operates. Through this analysis we show how the decline of the cuoteo can lead to the erosion of its ability to contribute to the operation of high-quality formal institutions. We combine a review of literature with the analysis of 132 interviews in six regions of Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on informal political institutions has focused on the national level, disregarding sub-national contexts where one can expect increased informality. This article analyzes locally allocated Chilean public investment to understand how informal institutions affect regional development and local democracy. Based on 59 interviews with key stakeholders and national authorities, this research analyses the flow of the decision-making process on funds for regional investment. The results show that local bureaucrats introduce innovations to cope with the weaknesses of formal decision-making regulations, and that these may become informal institutions that complement or accommodate the process to obtain the outcomes expected under the formal rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]