ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ways in which Chilean society responded to the dramatic economic, political, and social transformations that took place during the Pinochet regime. It focuses attention on opposition politics as exemplified by political parties and by the grass roots. Opposition parties had to cope with repression and persecution as they searched for an end to the dictatorship. Over time, there were striking changes in party ideology and organization as well as numerous efforts to forge large anti-Pinochet coalitions. Ordinary working-class and middle-class people responded to the economic and political changes that the military regime wrought by forming a network of grassroots economic and political organizations, women’s organizations, and labor unions, which, ultimately, were all joined by a common goal: to end the dictatorship. These grassroots organizations evolved into a massive social movement in favor of democracy and proved to be critical players in the popular mobilization period of 1983-1986.
