HOW TO GET TO THE CONFERENCE?

How to get to Cambridge and to Free School Lane (Department of Sociology)?

 

Getting to Cambridge

Cambridge is easily accessed by road, train and bus:

• Train: There is a regular service to Cambridge from London. Further timetable information is available from National Rail, thetrainline.com, and takethetrain.co.uk. Buses run from the main train station to the city bus station on Drummer Street every ten minutes and there is a taxi rank outside the station.
• Car: The main routes into Cambridge and locations of University and College buildings are marked on the University map. Very limited parking is available for visitors on University and College sites and in the city as a whole. Please call the office that you are visiting in advance for information about the availability of parking. Parking within the city is very limited, so use Park & Ride sites instead of bringing your car into the city centre.

See for more information: http://www.cam.ac.uk/visitors/gettingto.html

We encourage all participants to buy your tickets in advance (since they are cheaper).

Getting to Free School Lane (see map bellow):

Cambridge Railway Station

Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2JW

From the railway station to the department:

·         By Taxi: it will cost you around 6 pounds (4 minutes)

·         Walking: it will take around 25 minutes

Station Road turn right in Hills Road-Regent Street (is the same street) turn left in Downing St (then it calls Pembroke St) and turn right in Free School Lane

·         By Bus: (citybus1, 2, and 3) it will cost around 1 pound (12 minutes).

Tell to the driver the Grand Arcade Stop (St Andrew’s Street). Once you drop down the bus return walking a few meters to Downing Street. In Downing St (then it calls Pembroke St) turns right in Free School Lane Street.

The Department of Sociology
University of Cambridge,
Free School Lane
Cambridge
CB2 3RQ

 http://www.cam.ac.uk/map/v4/drawmap.cgi?mp=nmus;xx=84;yy=195;mt=c;tl=Faculty%20of%20Politics%2C%20Psychology%2C%20Sociology%20and%20International%20Studies

¿Qué cambia con el fin del CAE?

Nueva columna de José Ossandon sobre el CAE y el sistema de financiamiento a la educación, usen el link abajo para leerlo en ciperchile.cl

¿Qué cambia con el fin del CAE?

http://ciperchile.cl/2012/05/02/%C2%BFque-cambia-con-el-fin-del-cae/

El CAE, sostiene el sociólogo José Ossandón, fue una solución de mercado para un sistema educativo que se veía como un mercado. Ahora que el CAE ha muerto y sobre su lápida se ha escrito que fue una pésima política pública, cabe la pregunta de si las propuestas gubernamentales para su reemplazo no se nutren del mismo viejo principio que dio vida al CAE: “para problemas de mercado nuevos mercados”. Ossandón analiza en esta interesante columna la historia del “capital humano”, uno de los conceptos que influyó en la idea –hoy en cuestión- de que organizar la educación como un mercado terminaría por producir bienes de mejor calidad y distribuidos de manera más eficiente.

Otra columna sobre el CAE y el sistema de financiamiento a la educación, esta vez por José Ossandon:

¿El CAE está volviendo más pobres a los pobres?

http://ciperchile.cl/2012/04/23/%C2%BFel-cae-esta-volviendo-mas-pobres-a-los-pobres/

Una de las convicciones más arraigadas entre los economistas es que quien llega a la educación superior necesariamente mejora sus ingresos. Sostenida como verdad incuestionable, esa idea ha servido para implementar políticas como el Fondo Solidario y el CAE y para alegar que el estudiante universitario debe pagar. Un reciente estudio del CEP puso en duda esta afirmación, mostrando que la promesa de mejores ingresos no se está cumpliendo. En este interesante texto el sociólogo José Ossandón va un paso más allá. Sostiene que la convicción económica de “más estudios igual más ingresos” llevó al fisco a diferenciar entre los pobres y los que eran pobres hoy pero mañana, gracias a sus estudios, se podrían volver de clase media o alta. A estos últimos se los dejó solos, por la probabilidad estadística de que dejaran de ser pobres. Pero no han dejado de serlo. Y peor, están endeudados a 25 años. Para Ossandón con el CAE podemos estar presenciando los efectos de la peor política pública jamás diseñada: la que hace más pobres a los pobres.

"Cae el CAE, en la búsqueda del tiempo perdido"

También queremos compartir esta columna de opinión de Nicolás Grau,  ex presidente de la FECH, sobre el cambio anunciado al financiamiento de la educación y la salida de los bancos del financiamiento de la Educación Superior. Una medida que resulta una respuesta directa a las demandas del movimiento estudiantil.

Cae el CAE, en la búsqueda del tiempo perdido

http://ciperchile.cl/2012/04/24/cae-el-cae-en-la-busqueda-del-tiempo-perdido/

Nicolás Grau fue presidente de la FECH en 2006 y se opuso al CAE que por entonces el Presidente Ricardo Lagos y su ministro Sergio Bitar presentaban como el único camino para incorporar a los jóvenes más pobres a la Educación Superior. Ayer el ministro Harald Beyer clavó un puñal en el corazón de ese sistema, anunciando que los bancos no participarán más del CAE. La salida de la banca, dice Grau, es un gran avance, “gran triunfo del movimiento social”, pero apenas nos devuelve al escenario de 2005, cuando la educación ya era desigual y un gran negocio. Con todo, la decisión del Presidente Sebastián Piñera deja abierta una paradoja: la derecha ha terminado poniendo Estado donde la Concertación puso mercado. A Grau le parece que “la Concertación, como en tantas otras áreas, le debe una explicación al país”.

“Movimiento estudiantil y transformaciones sociales en Chile: una perspectiva sociológica”

Queremos compartir un nuevo artículo académico sobre el movimiento estudiantil,de Nicolas Fleet de la Universidad de Cambridge, recién publicado en la revista POLIS. Usen el siguiente enlace para leerlo: http://www.revistapolis.cl/30/art04.htm

“Movimiento estudiantil y transformaciones sociales en Chile: una perspectiva sociológica”

El objetivo de este ensayo es esbozar un marco comprensivo amplio, a partir del análisis de las transformaciones sociales que se han venido desarrollando en los últimos treinta años en el país, para poder así, en este contexto, resignificar las orientaciones del actual movimiento estudiantil. Para ello, desarrollaré cuatro hipótesis generales que permiten replantear la coyuntura de la movilización en el contexto mayor que se propone.

Primero, el momento actual expresa una crisis de legitimidad; segundo, el movimiento estudiantil, particularmente en referencia a la educación superior, se corresponde con la ampliación del segmento de nueva clase media (incluyendo la masificación de la categoría intelectuales en relación al trabajo profesional) en Chile. Tercero, las orientaciones del movimiento apuntan a ejercer control reflexivo, a través de medios administrativos, sobre la organización de la educación y de esta manera sobre las bases de formación y reproducción de la nueva clase media; cuarto, la clase de sectores medios y trabajadores intelectuales potencialmente irrumpen para plantear un proyecto alternativo de sociedad.

The Economist's article of discontent

In case you have missed it, this article provoked a strong reaction by the Chilean government and the right-wing parties behind Sebastian Piñera's administration. A summary and critique of the current social and economic challenges for Chile, the article discusses the paradox behind the country that was for so long held as an example of economic growth and political stability.

Here is the link to the article, please visit The Economist website:
http://www.economist.com/node/21552566

A second article was published on the students' movement, discussing the above mentioned paradox, that as the country has grown economically politicians are struggling to cope with social protests and demands. The article is also available from The Economist's website at: http://www.economist.com/node/21552573

Camilla Vallejo the "World's Most Glamorous Revolutionary"

Here is an article from the NYT Magazine on Camila Vallejo, who they label as the "World's Most Glamorous Revolutionary" - and the leader of  the protest movement that shattered's Chile's image as one of Latin America's political and economic success stories. 

Here is a short extract:

"In what became known as the Chilean Winter, students at university campuses and high schools across the country organized strikes, boycotted classes and occupied buildings. The protests were the largest since the last days of the 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who in a 1973 military coup overthrew Latin America’s first democratically elected Marxist president, Salvador Allende. The students’ grievances echoed, somewhat, those of their counterparts across the Mideast or in Zuccotti Park. Chile might have the highest per capita income in the region, but in terms of distribution of wealth, it ranks as one of the most unequal countries in the world. A university education in Chile is proportionally the world’s most expensive: $3,400 a year in a country where the average annual salary is about $8,500."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/magazine/camila-vallejo-the-worlds-most-glamorous-revolutionary.html?ref=magazine

CONFERENCE POSTER AND DETAILS

Hello everyone, we are pleased to be finally able to share the poster of the conference with you. Please feel free to pass it on, and let people who may want to attend know about the event. Do not forget to RSVP! See you at the conference!

PROVISIONAL AGENDA OF THE CONFERENCE

Dear all,

here is the provisional agenda for the day of the conference. We hope this will give you an idea of the exciting discussions we will have on that day. We are currently taking care of the final details for each panel, but we are very glad to count with very interesting panellists. Looking forward to meet you there!

Chile’s Winter of Discontent: The Breakdown of a Paradigm in Latin America?

Cambridge University, May 11^th 2012 – Seminar Room, Free School Lane (Sociology)

Conference Convenors: Carmen Sepúlveda Zelaya, Tomás Undurraga, Andrés Villar-Gertner

Agenda

9.00-9.20 Registration

9.20-9.30 Welcome and Introduction

9.30-10.30 Guest Speaker Presentation: Laurence Whitehead (Oxford University) “Chile after the Concertación: the Return of More Normal Conflicts”

10.30-10.45 Tea/Coffee Break

10.45-12.15 Panel 1:  “Social movements: emergence, learning process and impact”

12.15-12.30 Tea/Coffee Break

12.30-13.30 Guest Speaker Presentation: Eduardo Silva (Tulane University) “Contentious Politics in Chile?”{TBC}

13.30-14.15 Lunch Break

14.15-15.30 Panel 2: “Chile's education system: revisiting equity and equality, class issues and ideas”

15.30-15-45 Tea/Coffee Break

15.45-17.15 Panel 3: “The Chilean Political System and Neoliberalism: resistance, disaffection, public and private interest”

17.15-17.30 Tea/Coffee Break

17.30-18.15 Guest Speaker Presentation: Gabriel Palma (Cambridge University) “How the ‘new left' in Chile lent a helping hand to those resisting evolutionary change: the distributional stalemate during the 20-years of Concertación rule"

18.15 Closing Remarks  

Chilean winter of discontent: are protests here to stay?

Here is the link to a very interesting piece in Open Democracy, by Sofia Donoso and Kirsten Sehnbruch. They discuss the way in which the 'governance formula' chosen by Concertacion governments  has affected the way in which citizen's participation is understood and incorporated in democracy in Chile. We will have the pleasure to count with Sofia's participation at our conference.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/kirsten-sehnbruch-sofia-donoso/chilean-winter-of-discontent-are-protests-here-to-stay

Aysen: the rise of a Patagonian social movement and new challenges for Chile's government in 2012

The region of Aysén has come to occupy the headlines of newspapers since February when the people of Aysén decided to mobilise and protest against what they consider the abandonment of their region by the state. Although the mobilisations and protests were sparked by the rising price of fuel, Aysén's Social Movement has also denounced the lack of investment in the region and inequality of wages affecting the region's infrastructure, as well as the quality of its education and health systems among many other topics affecting the people of Aysén. 
But on Friday March 16th, 2012, in a very controversial decision, the government opted to enforce the state’s security law on protesters after failed meetings with the local social movement. This legal decision means the leaders of the social movements can be criminalised for calling upon other citizens to organise and protest if the state considers such actions as affecting the daily running of basic services and activities in the region. The decision has proved highly controversial posing new questions for the future of social and political movements in Chile, as well as for the functioning of democratic institutions in the country.

Here is an article from El Mostrador on the application of the "Ley de Seguridad del Estado" http://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2012/03/15/la-moneda-confirma-tesis-de-la-mano-dura-y-finalmente-invoca-ley-de-seguridad-contra-manifestantes-de-aysen/

Entrevista a Francisco Figueroa, ex vicepresidente de la FECH sobre el movimiento estudiantil en el 2012

El movmiento estudiantil en el 2012: entrevista a Francisco Figueroa ex vicepresidente de la FECH

Call for Papers en Español

CALL FOR PAPERS (en Español)

EL INVIERNO DE DESCONTENTO CHILENO: ¿EL FIN DE UN PARADIGMA EN AMERICA LATINA?

11 de MAYO 2012, UNIVERSIDAD DE CAMBRIDGE, de 9.30 a 18.30

Durante las dos últimas décadas, el paradigma económico neoliberal chileno ha sido considerado un modelo latinoamericano de estabilidad política y desarrollo socioeconómico. A pesar de los importantes avances económicos y políticos, en los últimos años, sin embargo, la ciudadanía ha empezado a manifestar de modo creciente señales de malestar.

Desde inicios del 2011, el descontento se ha hecho visible a través de una serie de movilizaciones políticas y sociales en oposición a diferentes posturas del gobierno sobre diferentes temas que afectan a la educación, el medioambiente, las libertades civiles y derechos sexuales, temas de género, minorías étnicas, y participación política. La ciudadanía se ha tomado las calles en grandes números, convirtiendo la movilización social una nueva forma de expresión política. Esto se ve manifestado de modo más particular en las incesantes protestas organizadas por los estudiantes a lo largo de los más de seis meses, y a los que la prensa popular apodó como “invierno del descontento”, estableciendo una nueva crítica social al modelo neoliberal.

¿En qué modo explicamos la manifestación masiva de descontento? ¿Cuáles eran las condiciones que impidieron que fuerzas similares se manifestaran durante las dos últimas décadas? ¿Y por qué se manifiestan ahora?  ¿Cuál es y será el impacto de estos nuevos movimientos sociales en la política chilena? ¿Cómo se canalizarán estas demandas? ¿Cómo se vinculan estos elementos domésticos a la agenda internacional en debate a lo largo del 2011? 

Esta conferencia de un día invita a académicos y estudiantes de postgrado a discutir los temas que emanan de los recientes eventos que conforman el “invierno del descontento” chileno.

Se ruega hacer llegar por email resúmenes de no más de 300 palabras al comité organizador  a chilesdiscontentconference@gmail.com junto con un breve CV o biografía antes del 1 de marzo, 2012. Preguntas y dudas sobre la conferencia deben ser enviadas a la misma dirección email. Aquellos posibles contribuidores seleccionados serán notificados el 15 de marzo 2012.

Se ruega hacer  llegar los artículos seleccionados para la conferencia no más tarde del 20 de abril, 2012. El documento debe tener no más de 8000 palabras incluyendo notas y bibliografía.  

Tras la conferencia, esperamos poder hacer una compilación de los mejores papers presentados con el fin de publicarlos sea bajo forma de libro o edición especial de un periódico del área más relevante.

Para más información sobre la conferencia por favor visitar nuestro blog:  http://chileswinterofdiscontentconference.blogspot.com/

Estos son algunos de los temas posibles o sugeridos, sin ser ésta una lista restringida:

×          Movimientos sociales y nuevos actores    

×          Educación

×          Representación política

×          Políticas de género y sexualidad

×          Inequidades sociales         

×          Minoría étnicas y reconocimiento legal

×          Temas y políticas de salud

×          Sistema electoral y partidos políticos

×          Cobertura de los medios de comunicación           

×          Mercados laborales

×          Relaciones internacionales de Chile

Presentadores: Profesora Maxine Molyneux, Directora del Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London. TBC.

Organizadores

Andrés Villar, International Studies, University of Cambridge

Carmen Sepúlveda, Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London

Tomás Undurraga, Sociology, University of Cambridge

Sexual Diversity and Sexual Rights: When Chile Marched for Equality

One of the most conflictive issues on the agenda for the government in 2011, was related to its promises to allow homosexual citizens to marry, establishing in this way a real equality in front of the law. But due to internal tensions with the most conservative factions within the governing coalition, especially with the extreme right party UDI closer to conservative Catholic circles, the government started to backtrack from its promises.

MOVILH, the widest organisation defending LGBT rights for the past twenty years in Chile, launched a campaign called "El amor es amor" (Love is love) http://www.movilh.cl/elamoresamor/ rallying people from across the political spectrum, as well celebrities and regular citizens to bring attention the the issue of equality, and remind the the gorvernment of the promises it had made during its electoral campaign.

As a way to gather wider support a "March for Equality" was organised, and received wide coverage in the news. The support by celebrities and politicians proving to be an effective way to campaign.  MOVILH also showed how the issue was a cross-cutting concern across ideological lines.

Here are two videos regarding the campaign and the march.

And some images from the march:

Superheroes dance for the right to education

Here is another example of the creative ways in which students made their opinions heard in public spaces over 2011. Enjoy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/8647035/Chile-superheroes-dance-for-education-reform.html

2011 a year to remember for citizenship and youth

2011 o la vertiginosa fusión del tiempo

http://www.elquintopoder.cl/fdd/web/ciudadania/opinion/-/blogs/-o-la-vertiginosa-fusion-del-tiempo

This is an article published yesterday by elquintopoder.cl - it reflects on the symbolic value of the 2011 social  and political mobilisations in Chile. The author reminds us that despite being now in 2012, the importance of 2011 will shape the historic evolution of Chile, in particular for its youth, the force behind the protests.
" A year of furious and insolent male and femal citizens, toppling the cathedrals of prudence, the sophism of governance and "the policing of thinking"..."

When pictures speak by themselves...

Because sometimes images speak by themselves...this is a collection of pictures from the media on the internet covering the most important protests that have taken place in Chile in the last year. From education, to indigenous rights, the  environment and minorities' rights these are all issues that have become part of the new political agenda and raise many questions concerning Chile's societal and political development.

Chile's right to education: a thriller?

Many have heard of the students' protests in  Chile last year. This was a long and draining process for the students' movement who asked for an education of better quality and free. Despite the long months of mobilisation, students found new and original ways to demonstrate their anger and frustration to the government. One of them was the flash mob in front of the presidential palace denouncing the 'thriller' behind the right to education...watch this video...

Call for Papers

Dear all here is the call for papers for the conference. Please feel free to circulate the information and contact us if you have any question.  

CALL FOR PAPERS 

CHILE’S WINTER OF DISCONTENT: THE BREAKDOWN OF A PARADIGM IN LATIN AMERICA?

11^TH MAY 2012. UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 9.30 -18.30 

During the last two decades, Chile’s neoliberal economic paradigm has often been considered a Latin American model of political stability and socioeconomic development. Despite Chile’s remarkable economic and political advances, the citizenry has nevertheless started to manifest growing signs of malaise within recent years.

Since early 2011, discontent has been made visible through a series of political and social mobilisations opposing the government’s stand on different issues affecting education, the environment, civil liberties and sexual rights, gender issues, ethnic minorities, and political participation. Chilean citizens have been taking to the streets in great numbers, making social mobilisation a new form of political expression. In particular, the relentless protests led by students for more than six months – dubbed ‘Chile’s winter of discontent’ in the popular press – have established a new social critique to the neoliberal model.

How do we explain this widespread manifestation of discontent? What were the conditions that prevented similar forces from arising in the past two decades? And why have they arisen now? What is and will be the impact of these new social movements in Chilean politics? How will these demands be channelled? How are these domestic events linked to the international agenda debated globally during 2011?

This one-day conference invites scholars and postgraduate students to discuss a new range of issues that have been recently unveiled surrounding the 2011 ‘Chilean winter of discontent’.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted to chilesdiscontentconference@gmail.com with a short bio or c.v before March 1, 2012. Questions about the conference should be sent to the same email address. Potential contributors will be notified by March 15, 2012.

Please send your paper by no later than April 20, 2012. It should have a length of no more than 8000 words including footnotes and bibliography.

After the conference, we aspire to compile the best papers presented with the aim of publication in either a book or a special issue of a journal in a relevant studies’ area.

For more updates on the conference please visit:  http://chileswinterofdiscontentconference.blogspot.com/

Possible themes include but are not restricted to:

×          Social movements and new actors

×          Education

×          Political representation

×          Gender policies & sexuality

×          Social inequalities

×          Ethnic minorities & legal recognition

×          Health issues

×          Electoral system & political parties

×          Media coverage

×          Labour markets

×          Chilean International Relations 

Speakers include: Professor Maxine Molyneux, Director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London. TBC.

Convenors

Andrés Villar, International Relations, University of Cambridge

Carmen Sepúlveda, Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London

Tomás Undurraga, Sociology, University of Cambridge

Welcome!

Welcome!
This is the official page for the "Chile´s Winter of Discontent" Conference to take place at Cambridge University in May 2012.
We want to use this page as a mean to keep updated all scholars and students interested in this event over the next months. We hope to able to post our 'Call for Papers' soon, so please keep visiting the page for more information and updates on the event and its logistics.

Best,
Andres Villar
Carmen Sepulveda
Tomas Undurraga