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The Paradox of the Neoliberal Developmentalist State: Reconstructing the Capitalist Elite in Pinochet’s Chile

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Dominant Elites in Latin America

Part of the book series: Latin American Political Economy ((LAPE))

Abstract

The Pinochet dictatorship is often seen as the world’s first orthodox neoliberal experiment, characterized by the dramatic withdrawal of the state from social and economic life. However, it has also been characterized as ‘state developmentalism without a developmental state’. How do we explain this seeming paradox, between neoliberalism and state developmentalism, between a state that is simultaneously subsidiary and developmentalist? Based on 15 months of fieldwork, including archival research and numerous interviews, this chapter argues that the paradox vanishes when the military regime is conceptualized in terms of class restructuring rather than economic development. More than economic development as such, the principal objective of the Pinochet government was the construction of a capitalist elite capable of subordinating the state and integrating civil society into its hegemonic networks.

This chapter is based largely upon 15 months of doctoral fieldwork in Santiago, Chile, between 2010 and 2011. During this time, the author carried out a comprehensive examination of archival and secondary sources at the National Library, including an in-depth review of the leading trade journals and publications of the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (National Agricultural Society—SNA) and the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (Chilean Federation of Industry—SOFOFA). In addition, the author carried out 12 interviews with former and high-ranking members of the Pinochet government and the post-1990 democratic governments, as well as academics and key civil society actors. The author previously carried out 8 months of research in Temuco, Chile, for his Master’s thesis, and has lived and worked in Temuco and Santiago, Chile, for 7 years. In 2015, the author returned to Chile for a month, at which time he updated several aspects of his doctoral fieldwork and reviewed the most recent and relevant research.

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  1. Willow Springs Strategic Solutions, Cochrane, AB, Canada

    Timothy D. Clark

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  1. Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Liisa L. North

  2. Willow Springs Strategic Solutions, Cochrane, Alberta, Canada

    Timothy D. Clark

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Clark, T.D. (2018). The Paradox of the Neoliberal Developmentalist State: Reconstructing the Capitalist Elite in Pinochet’s Chile. In: North, L., Clark, T. (eds) Dominant Elites in Latin America. Latin American Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53255-4_2

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