Social Policies in Chile
Spatial Practices and Configurations in Contemporary Latin American Culture

The Chilean “welfare state” was generous and expanding until the 1973 coup d'état. During the dictatorship, this traditional system was destroyed, and a dual and residual system was imposed by force. Since the restoration of democracy, and especially since 2000, the Concertación governments have attempted to expand its coverage again, seeking to (re)establish a more universalist coverage system. In this book, Ana María Farías significantly questions this common notion. She does so with historical rigor and a comparative approach, meticulously reconstructing the development and evolution of the Chilean social protection system, from its origins to the present day.