Barricades, Molotov Cocktails, Fires, and Explosive Attacks.: Contributions to a Typology of Political Violence in Contemporary Chilean Anarchism (2004–2019)

Abstract

The resurgence of anarchism in Chile at the beginning of the twenty-first century led to a reconfiguration of its political practices and of the subjects who carried them out, situating the movement within a new cycle of social conflict. In this context, political violence constituted one of the repertoires through which contemporary anarchism articulated its antagonism toward the State and its institutions. Based on a historiographical analysis grounded in the triangulation of judicial sources, written press, and materials produced by the movement itself, this article identifies, describes, and characterizes different typologies of anarchist political violence developed between 2004 and 2019. The temporal delimitation responds to analytical criteria linked to the specificity of this historical cycle and does not imply the closure of the phenomenon. The proposed typological approach allows these practices to be understood not as a homogeneous or linear process, but rather as a field of experiences shaped by continuities, tactical transformations, and internal disputes. In this way, the article contributes to the recent history of Chilean anarchism and to the historiographical study of political violence in the present time.