ABSTRACT

This chapter examines social integration by studying the social networks embedded in the daily life of poor people in Santiago, Chile. It presents the social and political context in which these networks operate. The chapter examines the characteristics of the social networks of the poor and place them within a system of informal social exchanges. It then considers the opportunities that kinship, friendship, and political networks offer for social integration. The Chilean case is especially suitable for studying the impact of economic restructuring on social integration. By the 1990s, 34" of Latin American urban households were poor. Poverty and decades of military dictatorships have undermined the social fabric of Latin American societies. Many Latin American scholars have studied family survival strategies, the range of actions adopted by family groups to sustain their daily life. Scholarship on this area of "social reproduction" has expanded from a focus on the poor to encompass a wide range of groups and practices.