The Plurinational State in the Chilean constitutional process
An analysis of discursive positions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23311558 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Héctor Turra Chico (0000-0002-6164-1210, Universidad Católica de Temuco, corresponding author), Gabriela Alonso-Yañez (0000-0002-0434-8624, University of Calgary), Rachel Washburn (0000-0001-6726-3364, Loyola Marymount University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Policy Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1946-0171 • E-ISSN: 1946-018X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/19460171.2026.2709137 |
| OpenAlex | W7171493514 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
The plurinational state (PS) became one of the most contested elements in Chile’s 2022 constitutional proposal, despite being framed by its proponents as a project of recognition, coexistence, and historical repair. We examined how Indigenous demands were translated, reframed, and contested as the PS entered formal constitutional politics. Drawing on Situational Analysis, we analyzed the discourses regarding the PS during the constitutional process. We used a positional map framed on two larger axes of concern: whether the PS was understood as consistent with the diversity of Chilean society, and the extent to which it was perceived as producing social unsettledness. The PS was simultaneously constituted as historical repair, unfair privilege, legal and social threat, and elite political imposition. We also focused on a meaningful discursive silence regarding how Indigenous communities themselves envisioned the PS. The article provides a contemporary analysis of how discourse shaped the intelligibility of constitutional change, Indigenous rights, and political legitimacy during Chile’s constitutional process.
Discourse analysis · Elite · Indigenous · Indigenous rights · Legitimacy · Politics · Silence · State (computer science) · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Politics and Society in Latin America · Populism, Right-Wing Movements
Grounded Theory
Buen Vivir
Situational Analysis in Practice
Políticas indígenas en Chile (siglos XIX y XX). De la asimilación al pluralismo (el caso mapuche)
La Violencia Política Estatal Contra El Pueblo-Nación Mapuche Durante La Conquista Tardía De La Araucanía Y El Proceso De Radicación (Chile, 1850-1929)
Unsettling the boundaries of Latin America
‘We’re a bit browner but we still belong to the white race’
Untangling Elite Opposition to Indigenous Rights
Emotions in Politics
Claims of Misrepresentation
Implementation of indigenous public policies and tensions to governance
Can the bereaved speak? Emotional governance and the contested meanings of grief after the Berlin terror attack
Indigenous regionalism in the Andes
Men Too
Testing Democracy’s Promise
Buen Vivir (living well) in Ecuador
Chile's 2019 October Protests and the Student Movement
Chile's Constitutional Chaos
Lessons from a Late Adopter
Is it Worth the Risk? Grievances and Street Protest Participation During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Chile
Indigenous Voices and Votes
Interindi
Un indigenismo indígena y extra estatal a mediados del siglo XX
Introduction
Contested Sovereignties
Does Multiculturalism Menace? Governance, Cultural Rights and the Politics of Identity in Guatemala
A de-monumentalizating revolt in Chile. From the whitened nation to the plurinational political community
The Mapuche People in Post-Dictatorship Chile
Situational Analyses
Neoliberal Multiculturalism and Changing Colonial Racial Hierarchies in International Development
Indigenous Territorial Autonomy in Latin America
Still Seeking Recognition
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |