The rise and fall of the Chilean constitutional subject (2019-2022): Ethnographic fieldnotes on constituent power

Authors

  • João Vitor Cardoso

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.207.07

Abstract

In an effort to explore constitution-making as an object of ethnographic inquiry, this research breaks up disciplinary boundaries both in substance and method. More specifically, it aims to explore the concept of the constitutional subject within the Chilean constituent context between 2019 and 2022. From this perspective, the use of ethnography as a strategy to capture this figure allows for a study of the constitution-making process in line with Michel Rosenfeld’s theory of the constitutional subject, thereby exploring the negation expressed through the repudiation of national symbols embedded in public spaces; the use of indigenous movement flags as an intersectional metaphor; and the passage of abortion as a metonymic process. In so doing, this work delves into the symbolic and aspirational appeal of the constituent process in Chile, illustrating what theorists refer to as the «identity of the constitutional subject». The study then concludes by highlighting the need to shed light on the extent to which constitution writing can catalyze ethnocultural conflicts in the construction of an encompassing constitutional identity, which appears to be a problem subject to certain contextual constraints.

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Published

2025-03-27

How to Cite

Vitor Cardoso, J. . (2025). The rise and fall of the Chilean constitutional subject (2019-2022): Ethnographic fieldnotes on constituent power. Revista De Estudios Políticos, (207), 207–242. https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.207.07

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ARTICLES