ONLINE CURRENTS VOL3 - Flipbook - Page 53
Somehow, from a news story of social disenfranchisement and public rebellion, emerged a
remarkable text to establish Chile as an “ecological nation.” 21
By any measures, Chile and its politics had reached a point of global inflection. It was one
which by some measures had begun with a lone student vaulting a metro turnstile, for some
through women rejecting the patriarchal status quo, and for others it was seeing a group of
some of the last remaining indigenous communities in the country declare that their people
could no longer be summarily executed in public by the authorities.
It was a huge story, one that by any measure started small, but gained traction incident after
incident.
On Sunday 4th of September, the new Chilean constitution was voted down by 62% of
the vote.
Reasons for the rejection included the scale of articles on the ballot (388 article and 57
transitional clauses22 ), meaning that most voters could find something they disagreed with,
the fact that newly proposed abortion and equality rights were rejected by what remains a
strong Catholic country, and the compulsory voting system.
The text has now returned to legislators for a redraft, but what is certain is that whatever form
of the document is returned for the next plebiscite, the relationship between humans and the
environment are sure to remain front and center of Chilean politics.
It started with disobedience.
It began with a student; with a woman; with a native American.
That is a future we can get behind.
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