ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a description and an analysis of efforts, over the last 30 years, within the formal educational system (the state) and the informal sector (the civil society) to promote equal educational opportunities for Chilean citizens. Although informal and formal initiatives in the areas of youth development, adult education among peasants, workers, and women, indigenous first-nations, and human rights have not coalesced in a progressive educational movement, collectively and individually each represents concerns, issues, and goals similar to those that have driven the multicultural education movement in the United States. These are all efforts that recognize that equitable educational practices must be rooted in the historical, cultural, and social specificity of distinct social groups. These are projects that seek to position each of these groups to be on an equal status as they embark in a common national project that purports to further democratic participation, equity, pluralism, and social and economic justice for each group and individual.
