Voices and experiences of girls, boys and young people in the social and political crisis in Chile

Abstract

Since October 2019, Chile has experienced one of the greatest socio-political crises since the return to democracy in 1990, giving rise to a major social uprising, which was abruptly halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this social outburst, children and young people played a leading role, but their opinions and experiences have remained invisible. This paper seeks to make known those voices that were expressed in the social uprising, presenting a qualitative study that analyses the expressions of children and young people who participated in children’s assemblies and children’s councils in different areas of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, making cross-references with existing available information on the main effects that the pandemic has had on the daily lives of this age group. A contextual and theoretical analysis was carried out, highlighting children’s participation and agency, from a rights-based and relational approach. The themes that appear most strongly in the discourses of children and young people are the demands for greater social rights, equality, participation, memory and intergenerational care.