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7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
1/14
European Review o Latin American and Caribbean Studies
66
June
1999
I
5-18
Changes
n
Chilean Social Structure
Class Structure and Income Distribution
between 1972 and 1994
Max Koch
1
As in many
other
countries since the 1960s, Chile has go ne through great politi
cal upheaval and social mobilization.
Whether
left-wing
or
right-wing parties,
student
or
campesino movements, all relevant political and social actors in
tended to carry out thorough societal reforms.
Eduardo
Frei s Revolucin
en
Libertad (1964-1970) was seen by his contemporaries as
proof th
at far-reaching
reforms could be established without revolutionary uprising. The supposed
lack
of
impact of these reforms prepared the ground for Salvador Allende s
Unidad Popular (1970-1973). His government accelerated
the
existing struc
tural interventions until it was deposed in a bloody coup d tat. It was now the
turn of the right to transform Chile into a laboratory (1973-1990). However,
this time the transition was to a neoliberal doctrine
th
at took place under the
protection of an authoritarian and virtually all-powerful state which oppressed
any opposition to the now dominant monetarist principles.
Regardless of one s stand
on
the discussion of development strategies, it
is
astonishing th at social scientists have paid so little attention to the social struc
ture of Chile. Since the beginning of the 1980s, when Javier Martlnez and Eu
genio Tironi (1982 und 1983) published their very important studies, the shift in
Chilean social structure has remained an almost unanalyzed sociological ob
ject. With this paper I hope to make a contribution towards closing the gap in
research.
Political and Economic Development
f
er
the
Great
Depression
of
1929-1931, which considerably weakened the
traditional Chilean export sectors such
s
copper, nitrates and other mineral
resources, Chile, s
other
Latin American countries, favoured industrial im
port substitution (ISI). The state played the key role in the gradual substitution
of industrial imports with domestic products. Industrialization was encour
aged, for example, by restrictive customs duties for foreign products, inexpen
sive loans for domestic investors and state-run infrastructural measures. In
1939, CORFO
(Corporacin
de
Fomento
de
l
Produccin)
became the centre
of industrial policy and founded large state-run businesses in all important
economic fields.
t
the same time, the welfare state was expanded. Since the
1920s, when the national system of social security was introduced, the budget
for social benefits had
been
increasing. Gradually, an entire infrastructure of
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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6 Max Koch
social services was created for education, health and social security. This period
of reforms reached its peak under the governments of Frei and Allende.
The Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei (father
of
the current president),
won the elections in 1964. EconomicaIly, he proposed state interventions con
sisting of agrarian reforms, partial nationalization
of
the copper mines, admin
istrative con trol
of
monopolies and inftation as weIl as export subsidies.
On
a
politicallevel, Frei began
to
implement constitutional reform and to democra
tize the educational system. While the political goals of Frei s
Revolucin en
Libertad
can be judged as being largely successful, the economic goals
we
re
harder to accomplish. This was due, among other factors, to the resistance of
the opposition which considered the planned reforms as either going too far
(right-wing opposition) or as not going far enough (left-wing opposition).
In 1970, Salvador Allende was elected president
of
Chile. His coalition of
different left-wing parties, the Unidad Popular (1970-1973), intended nothing
less
than
to overthrow capitalism using democratic structures and procedures.
The most radical reforms were the complete nationalization of the copper re
sources and
Gran Mineria,
the acceleration of agrarian reforms, and the pur
chase of large companies and banks. In order to rapidly achieve these structur
al changes, the government took the risk of an expansive monetary policy. The
state s precario us financial situation was aggravated when the price
of
copper
on the world markt feIl dramatically during the early 1970s. This negative de
velopment culminated in the growth of the black market and a
rate
of inftation
of
over 500
per
cent. s a consequence, the democratically elected government
of Salvador Allende was destabilized and finally overthrown in the coup d etat
of
September 1973.
2
Up to this point in time, neoliberal doctrine had existed solely in the theory
of the Chicago School.
3
According to this theory, economy and society should
be based
on
market forces and on the private sector. Not only was a break to be
made with the supposedly unconstitutional economic and social policy of
Uni-
dad Popular but also with industrial import substitution in general. The most
important aspects of the new wave of reforms were the privatization
of
public
firms and the deregulation
of prices and capital and labour mark ets. In the field
of industrial relations, all that had been achieved in terms of labour legislation
since the introduction of
Cdigo del Trabajo
in
93
was reversed. The author
itarian factory regime (Diaz 1989) was institutionalized by force and initially
without any legal foundation in the Plan Laboral in 1979. In particular, job
protection against dismissal was abolished and the bargaining power of trade
uni ons was greatly weakened.
The
most important consequence was the hyper
ftexibilty
of
the workforce (GeIler
et
al. 1994).
The state relinquished con trol of social benefits to a considerable extent.
The military government reduced financial support for the extremely poor
(Jocalizacin).
The shift of socio-political regulation from the state to the mar
ket was accomplished by: a drastic reduction of the budget for social affairs;
transferral
of
important social services such as health, pensions, and sections of
the educational system to the private sector; decentralization of the remaining
social benefits policies to local government (municipalidades); and introduc
tion of market principles in the distribution of public spending.
The most important effect of these turbulent political and economie devel
opments between 1964 und 1990 consisted of a shift between two capitalist
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Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe
66 junio de 1999 I 7
modes of regulation, the first being state-protected and oriented towards the
internal market, the latter open and oriented towards the world mark et.
The Transformation of odal Strncture
In first decade of the military regime (1973-1983) Chile
opened
its economy
towards the
world market.
There
was almost no economie growth in this period
and therefore, the left mocked the reforms as modernizations
on paper
only .
The
social consequences, nonetheless, were far-reaching. The social structures
th at
had
come into being under import substitution we re dismantled.
The
most
outstanding features of these reforms we re a large in ere ase in
open
and hidden
unemployment, the de-monitization of wages, de-industrialization and growth
of the informal sector.
However, these trends did not continue. Instead, the economy recovered,
and, from approximately 1988 onwards, began to expand. Unemployment was
reduced, wages improved, a certain level of reindustrialization occurred and
informal employment decreased.
The
period of destructuring social space was
followed by its restructuring.
The
most intensive phase of this process
of
struc
tural change took place around 1982 and came to an end by the 1990s.
4
Population and mployment
As illustrated in Table
1
the total population in general and, even more rapidly,
the number of economically active people increased throughout the entire pe
riod. Table 1 also shows the decisive conjunctural points in recent Chilean
history. Although the total population and the number of those economically
active did continually increase, the percentage of people employed in 1982 was
only minimally more than in 1972. In
order
to assess the real extent of the
employment crisis one has to take into account the fact that
the
participants in
the 1975-1988
job
creation programmes
Programa ocupacional para jefes de
hogar
and
Program a de empleo minimo were also counted as employed . For
example, in 1982, 439,000 people were employed in these programmes, so that
the real unemployment rate
of th at
year was almost
32
per
cent.
fter
nine
years of the dictatorship the labour market was literally broken.
However, by the mid-80s, clear indications
of
economie recovery and res
tructuring
of the labour market became apparent. Official unemployment had
Table :
Population and employment (x 1000 and share)
Year
Population Economically Share Employed Share Unemployed Share
active
1972 10185
2981
29.2 2888
96.9
93
3.1
1976 10510 3182 30.3
2779 87.3 403 12.7
1982 11398 3661 32.1
2944 80.4
718
19.6
1986 12163 4270 35.0 3896
91.2 374 8.8
1990 12902
4728 36.6 4460 94.3 268 5.7
1994 13732
5300 38.7 4988 94.1
311
5.9
SOU/ ce: INE, different volumes.
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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8
Max Koch
decreased to 8.8 per cent by 1986 allowing the job creation programmes to be
disbanded in 1988. In
the
1990s, the rate of unemployment fluctuated at around
6 per cent. In this context, a phenomenon th at has been an important object of
academie dispute about the development theory in the 1980s should be dis
cussed: the decreasing tendency of bath the share and absolute number of
employed wage labourers within the occupational system (see Table 2). Chile
also followed this developmental pattern as this percentage decreased from
almost 70 per cent in 1972 to 48 per cent in 1982. In absolute terms the number
of wage labourers decreased from 2,070,000 in 1972 to 1,771,000 in 1982. This
was mainly due to dras tic cuts in the public sector (-75,000) and a large reduc
ti on in the number of industrial workers (-65,000) (for aseetoral observation,
see Dfaz 1989). However, th ere are indications of recovery in employment
levels from the mid-80s shown by growth in wages. In 1986 the growth of wage
labourers regained the level of the 1970s and has remained stabie up to the
present day.
Table
: Destructuring
and
Restructuring Social Structure in Chile: 1972-1994 (relative
share in occupational system)
Transformation of occupational and social structure 1972 1982 1990
1994
Unemployment
3 1
19.6 5.7 5.9
Job creat ion programs 0.0
11.0
0.0 0.0
Level of wage labourers in employment 69.4
48.4 64.8
64.6
Industrialization
24.6
12.7 16.0
16.4
Growth of informal sector 20.9 30.2
18.8 19.2
Middle and higher educational qualifications 49.3 60.5
73.0 77.3
Source
Different materials
from
Instituto
Nacional
de Estadfstica (INE) and Universidad de
Chile
Social Space and Social Class A Theoretical Approach
t is necessary at this point to define how the concept of class is used here and
how it is placed within the context of the current debate
on
social structure. In
the last fifteen years the international discussion has split into two directions.
There is a growing number
of
social scientists who are proclaiming a society
'beyond status and class' (Beek 1992)
or
even
the
death
of
class' (Pakulski
Waters 1996). Ta their mind, neither the concept of stratification nor the con
cept of class
is
able to portray reality any langer; rather, a steady process of
'individualization' is leading us towards a 'capitalism without class'. Instead of
sticking to the idea
of
antagonism between the classes of
capitalawners
and
wage labourers,
or
conceiving social structure in terms of a stratum-like order
according to income, education and prestige, it would be much more adequate
to realize a pluralized structure of inequalities among the members
of
society.
Consequently, the new approaches in social analysis deal with comprehensive
data such as the development of population and demographic changes; family,
household and biography; level of welfare and social inequality; work and edu
cation. However, it should be mentioned that these approaches contain more
and less than traditional class analyses. For example, Stefan Hradil (1987), who
has influenced the German discussion, seems to be content with the statement
of social inequality. In view of the complexity of advanced societies, he favours
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
66
June
1999
I 9
an
exclusively descriptive
approach
to model
social structure. His
attempt is
limited
to
empirical y marking
out
the
spectrum of
social inequality
and
to
wards this aim he does
not
consider it necessary
to
develop
aspecific theoret-
ical approach.
Furthermore, he
does
not mention
any kind
of
conflict,
whether
economic, political,
or
cultural.
Conversely,
the defenders
of
class theory, in Marxist
nd Weberian
tradition,
do
not
hesitate
to
cling
to
their
of en
'verified
and
veritable' theories. For ex
ample,
Thomas
Hagelstange
(1988)
states th
at
we might
continue
to
derive
class positions directly from Marx's critique of political economy. Unfortunate-
ly,
his
detailed
study
on
the
development of
class structures in
the European
Union and
in
North America is
restricted to class
positions. In
this structure
of
relative positions
there are neither
indications
about the character of
class
relationships nor
conflicts
due to
class antagonism. In addition, Hagelstange
does
not
offer anything in how to
manage
other factors
of
social stratification
such as
gender or
race within a class-based concept. Non-economic dimensions
that
play
an important role
in
the reproduction of
a given class society
remain
a
serious deficiency in Marxist theory.5
Thus,
whereas recent
sociological contributions
to
the
analysis
of the
social
structure have revealed a lack of theoretical explanations and a tendency
to
empiricism,
the
discussion
among
class theorists has revolved for far
too
long
around th
at
which Marxists used
to
cal
the correct
deviation'. Theoretical
constructions have
been taken
for
granted
regardless
of their
empirical impact.
In my work I have therefore elaborated further
on Pierre
Bourdieu s
theory of
social space because i t helps a
great
deal
when
trying
to
find a way
out of
this
fruitless dispute. In
order
to develop an empirical y applicable
model to
por
tray social class,
gender
and
income for Chile
between
1972 and 1994,
I
wil
briefly comment
on
his construction
of
social space.
6
For
Bourdieu,
the
social world - and in particular class as a fundamental
mode of social division - exists t Vice: there is firstly the objective distribution of
material powers (history reflected in distinct fields
of
society),
and
secondly
the
symbolic
representation of
th s distribution in form
of
social taxonomies
and
mental
classifications (history
is
embodied
in different forms
of
'habitus').
Thus,
Bourdieu
grasps
the
social space as a kind
of
topology, as a 'multi-dimen
sion al space
of
positions ' with certain principles
of
differentiation
and
distribu
tion
(Bourdieu
1985, 724). This space
of
social positions is
made
up
by the
distribution
of
the
different forms
of capital. He
aims to enlarge Marx's notion
of capital
when
he claims
that
economic capital itselfhas
become
differentiated
(Bourdieu 1986):
owner-occupied flats, possession
of an
upper category car
or
yacht, or holidays in
three
star hotels are indicators of economic capital, which
- as a consequence -
can no
longer
be
understood exclusively
by the
possession
of
the
means of
production. Social origins
and
social careers also provide non
economic types ofresources: social
and
cultural resources,
that is
to
say,
cultur-
al
capital
either
in objectivated, institutionalized
or embodied
form, which may
serve to achieve
and
to stabilize
one s
status.
Regarding the
expansion
of the
education system
(an
important
feature
in
the
Chilean experience
of the
last
three
decades),
the
reproduction
of
social
power
must
be especial y emphasized.
The
intrinsic effect
of
this expansion
is
not in
the
first case an
opening
in
the
sense of an overcoming of class society,
but
a change in
the mode of reproduction of
wealth
and
capital within
the
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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10 Max Koch
ruling c1ass that is, from a directly bequeathed mode into one mediated by
diplomas.
The next problem Bourdieu raises is the way in which the variety of classify
ing variables can be taken into consideration within the construction of ob
jective classes. To grasp the multi-dimensionality of current class positions, he
operates with a three-dimensional term
of
class, made up primarily by the
volume of capital (high or low) and by the structure of capital (economic or
cultural). A third dimension
is
a temporal one: intra- and inter-generational
up- and downward mobility of the various occupational groups. Above all it is
this final dimension that permits the connection of class analysis with current
trends in society.
In addition to this theoretical classification of classes, Bourdieu uses in his
empirical work a range of 'secondary factors' such as gender, race or region.
All these factors inftuence the agent's fate, and, in Bourdieu's words, they are
part of their 'real' definition; yet they remain secondary within a class analysis
and do
not
have to be considered in their 'nomina ' definition. In other words,
the theoretically constructed categories we use in practical research work al
ways have to be controlled empirically by other variables. In the sense of Max
Weber's differentiation between 'Nominaltypus' and 'Realtypus', it is, above
all, the empirical
dist nce
to the theoretically derived class structure that has to
be in the centre of the researcher's interest. This is of special importance for the
notion of the relation of class and gender; the decision for class as an analytical
key concept in the analysis of social inequality can only be justified by controll
ing it empirically in relation to gender. In
order
to differentiate the inftuence on
stratification of both class and gender, individual work income
is
an important
indicator which will be used in the next section.
The class model which I developed for my research of stratification in Chile
follows the classic tradition from Marx to Martfnez insofar as it considers the
possession of the means of production: big and small employers on the one
hand, and wage labourers on the other hand. Wage labourers are differentiated
by their respective positions in the work process due to their supply of cultural
capital operationalized in various educational qualifications. Furthermore, I
will consider the horizontal differentiation of the work itself: whether it can be
regarded
as belonging to the manual, commercial or service sector.
In
the
lower sphere
of
social space, ' the lower classes', are unskilled commer
cial occupations (UCO, e.g. shop assistants, typists), unskilled services (USO,
mostly private services like cleaners and waiters) and unskilled manual occu
pations (UMO, simple manual work in the fields of mining, industry and agri
culture).
The
'middle classes' are composed of those with vocational training
or technical qualifications and master craftsmen: skilled commercial occupa
tions
SCa),
occupations with medium and higher administrative and distrib
utive functions such as credit and financial assistants, foreign trade assistants,
SCO - ski lIed commercialoccupations
SMO skiJled manual occupations
SSO - skiJled service occupations
UCO - unskilled commercial occupations
UMO
- unskilled manual occupations
USO - unskiJled services
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Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe 66 junio de 1999 I 11
bookkeepers, data processing operators, skilled service occupations (SSO, e.g.
photographers, doctors receptionists, laboratory assistants) and skilled
manual occupations (SMO). In the upper region ofthe occupational hierarchy
are the academies (the culturally qualified ), the professionals who normal
ly require a university degree (academic professions with a social science ori
entation), the engineers (highly trained specialists who solve technical and
natural science problems),
and
managers who control the productive process
and are active in businesses with at least 10 employees. Small Employers are
those who employ less than 10 employees.
Class Structure and Income Distribution: Empirical Evidence
Table 3 illustrates the changes in the occupational and class structure between
1972
and
1994. In this period the number ofthe economically active more than
doubled (N). During the entire period, more than 10 per cent were self-em
ployed, while around 90 per cent we re wage labourers. The percentage of large
employers (managers) increased to more than 2
per
cent, while small employ
ers fluctuated to below 10
per
cent. Thus, structural change did not lead to a
diminishing of self-employment as had been predicted by class theorists in the
1960s and 1970s. Small employers we re not proletarianized nor did they as
cend the socialladder to the bourgeoisie
to
any considerable extent.
Table 3:
The Space of Occupational Positions: Quantitative Destribution
of
the
Economically Active by Social Class
Class/Occupational Position
1972 1976 1982 1986 1990 1994
Managers 1.0
1.4 1.4 1.7 2 5 2.3
Small Employers
10.5 10.0 9.7 8.4 8.8 9.3
Academics
6.2 7.3 9.0 11.6 11.8 13.4
Professionals
3.9 3.9 5.0 6.6 7.2 7.2
Engineers
2.3 3.4 4.0 5.0 4.6 6.2
Middle Classes 37.8 35.0 36.6 33.0
34.6
35.4
SCO
7.8 7.2 12.4 9.5 9.3 9.4
SSO
16.5 14.9 12.4 11.4
12.3
12.5
SMO
13.5 12.9 11.8
12 1
13.0 13.5
Lower Classes 44.5 46.2 43.3 45.3 42.3 39.6
UCO
7.8 8.2 9.8 9.3
8.9 11.2
USO
16.1
20.6 19.8
20.4
17.7
14.6
UMO
20.6 17.4 13.7 15.6 15.7
13.8
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
N (1000)
972.0 1009.0 1069.0 1335.0 1613.0 2001.0
Souree Universidad de Chilc.
When considering wage labourers, the data from the Universidad de Chile
permits
more
detailed observations.
t
can be seen immediately that de-indus
trialization did
not
continue.
In
fact, the productive sector (SMO und
UMO
decreased from
34 1 per
cent in 1972 to 27.3
per
cent in 1994. However, aftel
reaching its lowest level in 1982, the productive sector has risen steadily. Fur
thermore, a move towards higher education within the manual working con
text can be obsel ved: whereas in 1972 the majority of manual workers had low
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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12 Max Koch
level qualifications, in 1994 almost 50 per cent of manual workers had basic or
middle level education.
As
regards qualified manual workers, re-industrial
ization has already been accomplished: in 1994 the SMO-share had returned to
1972 levels. Commercial work (SCO and
UCO
rose from 15.6 to 20.6
per
cent.
t
is interesting to note that in this work context, more employment was created
for the lesser qualified than for the better qualified.
The sbare of tbe service sector (SSO and USO) in the work force remained
stabIe (one third) until1982 and then decreased to
27 1 per
cent in (1994).7
t is
necessary to distinguish between the developments in the qualified and less
qualified sections of the service sector. Until the post-crisis period of 1986, the
number of unqualified services (of which the majority consisted of simp
Ie
per
sonal services, sucb as domestic help and shoe cleaners) increased, but with the
recovery of economy, they again decreased
to
14.6
per
cent in 1994 (tbe lowest
level during the period of this study). Conversely, the qualified section of this
labour context initially suffered from rationalization and then, in 1982, from
the crisis. Although there is new demand for these jobs due to tbe restructuring
ofthe
economy, their share is still 4
per
cent below that of 1972. In the first place
the so-caIled undesirable jobs in the service sector have survived and not so
many weIl-paid jobs requiring high level skilIs.
Observation
of
movements witbin the different classes of wage labourers
shows a tremendous rise in the number of workers with an academic education.
Between 1972 and 1994, tbeir relative share more
than
doubled, while in abso
lute terms the number
of graduates increased from about 75,000 to 270,000. In
the same period, the percentage of less qualified workers who have little inftu
ence on the labour process decreased by 5
per
cent. Conversely, the middle
classes remained stabIe. Therefore, the jobs created during the structural
change we re not simple manual work,
rather
they required a high level of
education.
One
could speak of an intellectualization of the work force, since
the occupational system demanded higher education to an increasingly greater
extent. This development had, of course, an impact
on
the educational system:
on the one hand, it
bad
to supply the occupational system with weIl qualified
labour and on the
other
hand, social agents had to adjust their educational
strategies to the new situation.
f one considers gender in the observation of the Chilean occupational sys
tem (Tables 4 and 5), one immediately se es that it consists of two thirds men
and merely one third wamen. f employed, women are under-represented
in
all
attractive occupational positions: only 7.6
per
cent are self-employed, in com
parison to almast 14
per
cent
of
men. In particular, the share
offemale
manag
ers throughout the whole period
of observation was below 0.5 per cent. Con
versely, male managers increased to over 3
per
cent. The distribution of female
labour in the lower classes is also characteristic. Whereas the percentage of
men in unattractive professions remained relatively stabIe (between 31 und 34
per
cent), in 1986, that of wamen was still more than 60
per
cent, decreasing to
51.9
per
cent in 1994. Thus, the working class was composed largely
of
wamen,
with manual labour remaining a male domain. Conversely, one woman in
three, and in the lower classes, one woman in two worked in tbe unqualified
service sector (USO). In 1990, 77
per
cent of this occupational group consisted
of empleadas domsticas At the beginning
of
the 1990s, 151,000 of a total of
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European Review
o
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
66 June 1999
I 13
Table
4:
The Space of Occupational Positions: Men
Class/Occupational Position
1972 1976 1982
1986
1990
1994
Managers
1.7
2.0 2.1 2.6
3.6
3.1
Small Employers 13.0 12.1 10.8 10.8
10.4
10.7
Academies
6.2
6.9 8.6 10.3
10.9
13.5
Professionals 3 3 2.7 3 5 4.0 5.4 5.3
Engineers
2.9
4.2
5 1
6.3
5.5 8.2
Middle Classes 44.4
39.4 43.1 40.5
42.5 42.3
SCO
7.5
7.6
13 1
10 1 9.8
9 1
SSO
16.3 13.3 12.1 11.7 12.4 11.6
SMO 20.6 18.5 17 9 18.7 20.3 20.6
Lower Classes
34.7
39.6 35.4 35.7 32.5 31.4
U O
6.0
6 5
7.2 5.7 4.8 6.9
USO
6.6
15 1
11.8 12.9 9.4 8.4
UMO
22 1
18.0 16.4
17 1
18.3
16 1
Total 100.0 100.0
100.0
100.0 100.0 100.0
N (1000) 600.0 658.0 659.0 813.0 979.0 1238.0
Souree
Universidad de Chile.
Table 5:
The Space
of
Occupational Positions: Women
Class/Occupational Position
1972 1976 1982 1986 1990
1994
Managers 0.1
0.3 0.3
0.4
0.8 0.4
Small Employers 6.4 6.1 7.6 4.6
6.3 7.2
Academics 6.2 8.1
9.8 13.6 13.1 13.5
Professionals
5.0 6 3 7.6 10.5 10.0
10.2
Engineers
1.2 1.8 2.2 3 1 3 1
3.3
Middle Classes
27.2 26.7 26.2 21.1 22.2 26.9
SCO
8.4
6.4 11.2 8.6 8.6 10.0
SSO 16.9
17.9
13.1
10.9
12 1
14.9
SMO 1.9
2.4 1.9 1.6 1.5
2.0
Lower Classes 60.1 58.8
56.1 60.3 57.6 51.9
U O 10.6 11 5
13.9 15.0 15.3 18.5
USO
31.3 31.0
32.6 32.2
30.6
23.3
UMO 18.2 16.3 9.6
13 1 11.7 10 1
Total 100.0 100.0
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
N (1000)
372.0
351.0
409.0
521.0 633.0 762.0
SOUTee Universiuad de Chile.
633,000 female wage labourers worked as nannies
or
as domestic help in pri
vate households.
One positive aspect is the fact that women are equally represented in the
field of academies . In fact, the percentage of th s group within the occupation
al system had doubled for both sexes by 1994. However, the same gendered
distribution of work can also be found in this inftuential occupational section:
in 1994 two thirds of all men were working in professions requiring a scientific
education (engineers), wh ere as this was the case for only one third
of
the wom
en. Women were more likely to be profesionales with social science university
degrees (professionals): administrative managers,
asistentes sociales
library
supervisors, and psychologists.
Table 6 illustrates the distribution of individual income
9
of
the various social
classes.
The
changes in the average income, evaluated using a relative percent-
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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14 Max Koch
age
of
the income of different classes and occupational groups, are directly
affected by economic factors: the 1974-75 recession led to a reduction of aver
age income (1976), and average income doubled during the first boom (1982).
The crisis of 1982-83 also had a powerful impact on income: between 1982 and
1986, average income decreased from 313 to 193 dollars per month. he in
come level
of
1982 was
not
regained until the 1990s. In regard to wage levels,
therefore, this was truly a lost decade .
Table 6:
Class
Positions and Individual Income 1972-1994
(US from 1994)
Class/ Occupational Position
1972 1976 1982 1986 1990 1994
Managers
772
996 2090
959
2046 2223
Small Employers
330 336 536
337 562
499
Academics
500
429
932 522
705 654
Professionals
356 298 632 350 484 589
Engineers
649 579 1317 747 1056 728
Middle Classes
188
131
258 158 234 289
SCO
166 114 252 149 219
304
SSO
232 173
352
211 323
335
SMO
155
112
198 130 181 249
Lower Classes 116
76
151
97
145
199
UCO
191
135
246 147
196
235
USO
86 57
130
81 124
179
UMO
115 70 127
89 141
190
Average
170
156 303
193 318 361
SOllrce Universidad de Chile.
he
differences in income between the various groups correspond with theo
retical predictions: businessmen and managers in large companies earned a
great deal more than those with smaller businesses. Significantly, the difference
in income between these groups increased steadily: a manager in 1972 earned
six times more than a worker in the lower classes, whereas in 1994, he or she
earned eleven times more. In comparison to the ave rage income, the wage gap
factor was 4.5 in 1972 and 6.1 in 1994. Therefore large-scale entrepreneurs and
managers can be viewed as the principal beneficiaries of Pinochet s modern
izations . Furthermore, the greatest redistribution of income from the lower to
the upper classes took place in the late
1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, af er the
structural crisis had abated, the income
of
entrepreneurs was only five times
more than the average income, barely more than 1972. he crisis therefore led
to a temporary reduction of income inequality on a very low level. t was not
until the transition to an active world market strategy (from 1986) that differ
ences in income increased dramatically.
he
class model is also applicable to wage labour: academics have a three
times higher individual income at their disposal than the middle classes and
earn four or
five
times more than the lower classes. Unlike the comparison of
managers and wage labourers, the income difference does not increase
through the course of time. A phenomenon weil known to sociologists can be
found when regarding academics: graduates with a natural science
or
technical
orientation often earn twice as much
as
those with social science specialities.
Also an analysis of the middle and lower occupational spectrum demonstrates
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos
y
del Caribe 66,
junio
de 1999 15
the importance of the ownership of educational capital.
From
1982, the qual
ified workers in every occupational group
earned
more than unskilled wor kers.
The consideration of female versus male employment in the analysis of in
come distribution (Tab les 7 and 8) indicates that women
earn
far less for the
same work than men. Therefore the average income of women is half of that of
men,
and
so many more women live in poverty. Specifically in the case
of
wom
en, the distribution of
income follows the theoretically expected path.
Throughout the whole period, within the same class, men have a higher income
than women. t the same time the initial decision to give class analytical pri
ority
and to
treat gen
der
as a secondary factor is justified in view
of
the fact
that
at
no point does a lower-ranked male occupational group
earn
more than a
higher-ranked female group.
The
finding th at women s income, like that of
men, doubles when ascending from the lower and middle classes to the aca
demies and managers is in line with the cultural capital thesis.
On
the who
Ie
economie restructuring and class structure has had a tremen
dous influence on the distribution of income. During the crises of 1974-75 and
Table 7:
C1ass
Position and lndividual lncome 1972 - 1994: Women
Class/ Occupational Position
1972
1976
1982
1986
1990
1994
Managers
565 463 1184
1523 854 1000
Small Employers 220 205
427 204 352
296
Academics
304
248
614 360
518 470
Professionals 223 230 517 308
416 458
Enginers
412 311 956 542
848
509
Middle Classes
155 130 290
146
228 258
SCO
100
93
260
133
176 232
SSO
193 146 344 165 277 289
SMO
91 107 187
100
206 180
Lower Classes 90 73
177 106
151
188
UCO
180 153 317 182 237 254
USO 62 45 120 79 111 147
UMO 88 68 179 83 141 162
Average
130
111
269 161 235 255
Source:
Universidad
de
Chile.
Table 8:
Class
Positions and lndividual lncome
1972
- 1994:
Men
Class/ Occupational Position
1972 1976 1982 1986 1990 1994
Managers
776 1036 2216 944 2220
2451
Small Employers
365 395
638 403
649 588
Academies
591
556 1237 715
877
783
Professionals 435 390 874 483 597 763
Engineers 683
663
1482
863 1148
795
Middle Classes
207
158
332
200 282 317
SCO
221
150 327
198
342 379
SSO
262 213
464 287 390
386
SMO 164 138
270 155
201 263
Lower Classes 147
109 222
118
168
236
UCO
211
146
247 132 153 232
USO
134
104
208 109 172
252
UMO
135
98 220
121
170
229
Average
200 218 442
264
420
468
Sow ce:
Universidad
de Chile.
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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16 Max Koch
1982-83 the ave rage income reached its lowest point. Conversely, the highest
values were measured at
the
end of periods of economic growth (1982 and
1994). As income differences became more pronounced in the last 25 years, so
has class stratification. Even when the criteria elaborated from class theory are
equally relevant to female employment, gender domination has also played a
crucial role on the wage levels
of
women.
onclusion
The shift from import substitution to an open economy which is integrated into
the world market has had a de ep impact
on
social structure.
The
crisis of 1982-
84 was the turning point for all the indicators of social change considered in this
analysis. Between 1973 and 1984, the social structure of Chile experienced a
period of destructuring, but since 1985 there has been a restructuring of social
space. In detail, the development of the population and the economically ac
tive showed an increase of wage labourers within the labour force af er 1983.
The quantitative distribution of the economically active over class and occupa
tional position indicates that throughout the whole period of observation
10
per cent we re self-employed. The number
of
large-scale entrepreneurs and
managers more than doubled. One of the most striking shifts within the work
force is the
intellectualization
which can be seen when regarding academics .
The
expansion ofthe intelligentsia within the occupational system was almost
exclusively carried out at the expense of the unskilled lower classes. The pro
ductive, commercial and service industries showed a tendency towards de-in
dustrialization until the mid 1980s. This shift in turn reached its conclusion and
then changed into re-industrialization from which skilled industrial workers in
particular benefited.
The distribution of income illustrates the class barriers
of
Chilean social
space. Both the criteria
number
of employees in the case of entrepreneurs and
educational capital in the case of wage labourers had an important signif
icance for the distribution
of income. Even though the effe cts of structural
change are more or less the same for men and women, the Chilean labour
market could not be fully understood without the consideration of gender.
Women with the same skills as men work in lower occupational positions and
are paid less. Only 30 per cent of women are active in the occupational system,
and of these, between 50 and 60 per cent work in the lower spectrum ( lower
classes ). The unskilled service sector
is
still a female domain, particularly basic
private services. The lower average income of women has led to over- propor
tional poverty.
When the
junta
stepped down, it had not only transformed the country polit
ically and economically, it had also provided Chile with a qualitatively new
social structure. lts essential characteristics are the structural strengthening of
the class position of entrepreneurs and the weakening ofwage labourers. In the
1960s, social structure was subdivided quite clearly into wage labourers with
relatively high homogeneity and considerable class consciousness in the formal
sector, informal
cuentapropistas
the landed gentry and the industrial bour
geoisie. However, these sociological categories are less useful today. Converse
ly the restructuring phase
of
Chilean social structure is generally characterized
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European Review
o
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
66, June 1999 I
17
by a differentiation of all social sectors. Compared with the class-based politi
cal struggles of the 1960s and the early 1970s, collective organization of the
different interest groups is less likely today. Although the majority of wage
labourers have suffered from the increasing flexibility and deregulation of la
bour, this has not led
to
increased solidarity
but rather to
rising competition
amongst the workers themselves. Hence, the reinforcement of class inequality
and the differentiation and individualization
of social agents in current neolib
eralism must be understood
as
two sides of the same coin. The social structure
of Chile, following the neoliberal transformation, can be understood as having
evolved into a flexible and pluralist class society.
Max och
is a researcher
at
the Department of Sociology, Freie Universitt
Berlin. One major research project concerned changes in Chilean Social Struc
ture, and was carried out in cooperation with the Programa de Economfa del
Trabajo (Santiago de Chile). This project was sponsored by the Deutsche For
schungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
The
report of the study was recently published in
German ( Unternehmen
Transformation. Sozialstruktur und gesellschaftlich
er
Wandel in Chile , FrankfurtiMain: Vervuert 1998). Another research project
concerns aspects of social exclusion and marginalization in a comparative per
spective.
Notes
1. The empirical work was carried
out
in
1995 1996
when I was a fellow at the
Program a de
Econom[a del Trabajo
in Santiago de Chile. The research project was financed by
Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft
2.
t is not my aim here
to
discuss in detail the different factors that led to the coup. These
historical events th at culminated in the democratic crisis in 1973 are presented by Garretn
(1993) and Larrain/Meller (1990).
3. When Margaret Thatcher proclaimed her visions of an economy freed from bureaucratie
obstacles of the Fordist welfare state and built on the ambition of the individual in her 1979
electoral campaign, she was ab Ie to e1aborate on the experience of the Chilean laboratory .
See Valds 1989 and OsoriolCabezas 1995 for the important infiuence the University of Chica
go
had
on Chilean economists.
4.
Elsewhere I have commented
on
two
other
tendencies which particularly indicate the new
type of Chilean capitalism: the development of tertiarization and growth of the informal sector
(see Koch 1998a, chapter 4.4 and 4.5 and Koch 1998b,
p.
206 ff. .
Up to
1982, tertiary and
informal occupations increased, but trom then on they decreased in their relative share in the
occupational system respectively. In regard to the informal sector, a significant aspect was a
change in its intern al composition: while in the 1970s sm all businesses and cuentapropistas
made
up the lion s share, in the 1980s, wage labourers made up the larger share. Furthermore,
due to fiexible labour legislation there was no longer a large wage gap between formal and
informal employment. Formality no longer necessarily indicated good jobs
and
inclusion, and
informality no longer indicated undesirable on es and exclusion. This finding corresponded
with the observation of a new characteristic of poverty: whereas in the 80s poverty mainly
coincided with unemployment, in the 90s, two thirds of the poor have work and are active in
the formal occupational system.
5.
Erik Olin Wright s approach
is
a very important exception to this rule. He not only attempts to
systematically consider factors such as education in his theoretical approach, he also aims to
con trol his models empirically. Some of his theoretical assumptions, however, are problem
atic. His game-theoretical approach and his notion of exploitation according to Roemer s
7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena
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18 I
Max Koch
general theory has
not
turn
out
to be convincing in the debate so far (see Wright
et
al. 1989 and
Koch 1994, p 87ff.).
6 For more detailed presentations of his approach, see Bourdieu 1985, 1986 and Koch 1996.
7 Additionally, it should be mentioned that the majority of market-oriented services here are
listed under 'commercial work'. Personal and public services are counted as 'service work'.
8
Nothing could objectify male domination of Chilean labour market more characteristically
than the number of
empleados domsticos:
n
1990 there we re
395
masculine
nanas
in greater
Santiago; that is 0.04
per
cent of all economically active men.
9
With thanks to the
departamento de economia
of the Universidad de Chile for supplying me
with the income distributions in US$ for all years adjusted
to
the level of 1994. I would like to
qualify this by stating
that the
per capita income comes from different sources, including state
transfers and capital income. Since the latter is typical for managers, the dollar values which
appear
in Table 6 do
not
express the real income inequality within this class. n reality there are
dollar billionaires in current Chilean capitalism whose income sterns not from 'wage labour ' in
the statistical sense, but from interest and dividends.
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U
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P
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