Space, Strategies, And Alliances In Mobilization: The 1960 Metalworkers' And Coal Miners' Strikes In Chile

Abstract

Geography is a central factor influencing political opportunities, alliances between movement organizations and elites, and contentious repertoires. Scholarship incidentally refers to the relationship between geography and social protest, though recent work gives space greater theoretical importance. I bridge key concepts in social movement theory with work on space and protest through an analysis of a 1960 metalworkers' strike in Santiago, Chile and comparison with a contemporaneous provincial coal miners' strike. This article presents evidence that (1) characteristics of the built environment and everyday spatial routines in specific locales influence activists' tactical repertoires; (2) local political opportunities and alliance patterns significantly affect movement strategy and protest outcomes: and (3) social movement organizations operate within a nested opportunity structure in which local, regional, national, and international actors and opportunities interact in the context of con-tentious episodes. The findings have implications for studies of tactical repertoires and policing, comparisons of local movements, and nested opportunities in centralized and federal states.