Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena

7/24/2019 Cambios en La Estructura Social Chilena

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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


2/14

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.


4/14

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


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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


6/14

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


8/14

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


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


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-


10/14

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


11/14

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


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


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.


12/14

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


13/14

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


14/14

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.

eferences

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U

1992, Risk Society. London.

Bourdieu,

P

1985, The Social Space and the Genesis of Groups, in: Theory and Society, Vol. 14,

723-744.

- - 1 9 8 6 The

Forms of Capitai'. In: J.G. Richardson (Ed.),

Handbook

of

Theory and Research

in the Sociology

of

Education.

New York. Pp. 241-258.

Daz, A. 1989, 'Reestructuracin industrial autori taria en Chile'. In: SUR. Proposiciones 17 San

tiago de Chile.

Garreton, M.A. 1993,

La

crisis de la democracia, el golpe militar y el proyecto contrarrevoluciona

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