Democratisation from the margins: the role of cultural policy in post-authoritarian Chile (1990-2010)

While the scholarly literature on cultural diversity, community arts or cultural heritage suggests that culture is relevant to favour or deepen democracy, cultural policy has been little discussed in transitology studies. This thesis proposes to fill this gap by exploring the role of cultural policy in Chile’s process of transition from authoritarian rule to democracy. After Pinochet, the country was characterised by an authoritarian resilience caused by the military regime’s institutional legacy, the existence of elite pacts sealed during the procedure of regime change and a strong influence of conservative sectors in society. This had the consequence for the centre-left coalition that took power in 1990 to have a limited room for manoeuvre in key domains of governance such as economy and transitional justice. This thesis’ main argument is that culture was one of the marginal and alternative policy areas that could favour democratisation in Chile in three areas: elite autonomy, memory, and citizenship. The research shows that cultural policy was utilised to validate the centre-left coalition as an independent and democratic political force, favour civil society’s discussions on the past, deal with the emotions related to the authoritarian era and enhance community development. Overall, this thesis constructs democracy as both a legal and symbolic regime and demonstrates that cultural policy can contribute to democratisation at an institutional and emotional level.