This chapter explores the contemporary landscape of socio-environmental mobilisation in Chile, focusing on the diverse ways communities engage with formal and informal legal systems to resist extractive projects. It argues that mobilisation unfolds in a context of legal pluralism, where multiple, overlapping normative orders—including state law, Indigenous law, human rights frameworks, and community-based norms—interact and sometimes conflict. Through an analysis of protest tactics, legal claims, and institutional engagement, this chapter examines how Chilean communities navigate this complex legal terrain. Particular attention is given to how communities frame their grievances not only in environmental terms, but also as violations of cultural rights, territorial autonomy, and democratic participation. This chapter shows that contention often transcends street protests and enters legal arenas, but also that law itself is a contested space shaped by power asymmetries, institutional limitations, and historical legacies. By analysing these dynamics, this chapter highlights the strategic and ambivalent nature of legal mobilisation, demonstrating that while legal avenues can empower communities, they can also reinforce existing inequalities and co-opt resistance.

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Socio-Environmental Mobilisation in Chile: Between Contention and Legal Pluralism

  • Sebastian Smart

摘要

This chapter explores the contemporary landscape of socio-environmental mobilisation in Chile, focusing on the diverse ways communities engage with formal and informal legal systems to resist extractive projects. It argues that mobilisation unfolds in a context of legal pluralism, where multiple, overlapping normative orders—including state law, Indigenous law, human rights frameworks, and community-based norms—interact and sometimes conflict. Through an analysis of protest tactics, legal claims, and institutional engagement, this chapter examines how Chilean communities navigate this complex legal terrain. Particular attention is given to how communities frame their grievances not only in environmental terms, but also as violations of cultural rights, territorial autonomy, and democratic participation. This chapter shows that contention often transcends street protests and enters legal arenas, but also that law itself is a contested space shaped by power asymmetries, institutional limitations, and historical legacies. By analysing these dynamics, this chapter highlights the strategic and ambivalent nature of legal mobilisation, demonstrating that while legal avenues can empower communities, they can also reinforce existing inequalities and co-opt resistance.