Political habitus in the Antofagasta region: A methodological proposal

Abstract

This paper studies the structuring of political subjectivity in the Antofagasta Region of northern Chile in a prototypically neoliberal socioeconomic context. Using a sample of thirty life stories and by means of sociological discourse analysis, we construct a set of types called political habitus. The analysis identifies four fundamental life experiences that structure these political habitus: the relative positioning in the historical conflict (coup and military dictatorship), the social class, the social trajectory and the spatial trajectory. We conclude that the relationship with the social order is pre-discursive. Hence, it is necessary to add the biographical analysis of political provisions (individual structures of political subjectivity) to the analysis of political discourse (social structures of political subjectivity).