Interpretaciones causales del estallido social en Chile producidas por las ciencias sociales

Rodrigo Asún; Enzo Zurita; Karina Navarro; José Isla

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Social science-produced causal interpretations of Chile’s social uprising

Authors

Rodrigo Asún Universidad de Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0903-1789
Enzo Zurita Universidad de Chile https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3948-7223
Karina Navarro Universidad de Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2370-6909
José Isla Universidad de Chile

No. 84 (2025): Cinta de Moebio

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Abstract

This article analyzes the response of the social sciences to the Chilean social uprising of 2019, focusing on the epistemological assumptions that shaped the production of explanations about this event. Drawing on a systematic review of articles published between 2019 and 2023 that sought to explain the uprising, it identifies the main causes attributed to it, the interpretive frameworks mobilized, and the projections derived from these interpretations. The findings show that dominant causal explanations focused on the neoliberal system, social discontent, and the crisis of the political system. However, this narrative was largely constructed through essayistic approaches, strongly anchored in the local context and making limited use of specialized literature on collective action and protest. Moreover, there is a tendency to naturalize certain causes as self-evident, without sufficient conceptual problematization or systematic empirical support, which favors the uncritical reproduction of normative assumptions. From an epistemological perspective, the article argues that these features reveal persistent tensions within Latin American social sciences between analytical explanation, normative commitment, and public intervention. It concludes by highlighting the need to move toward more reflexive and analytically demanding approaches, capable of distinguishing between structural conditions, causal mechanisms, and contingent events when addressing phenomena of high political complexity.

Keywords:

social uprising , causal explanation , neoliberalism , sistematic review , knowledge production

How to Cite

Asún, R., Zurita, E., Navarro, K., & Isla, J. (2026). Social science-produced causal interpretations of Chile’s social uprising. Cinta De Moebio. Revista De Epistemología De Ciencias Sociales, (84), 1–17. Retrieved from https://cintademoebio.uchile.cl/index.php/CDM/article/view/82920