| Abstract: | This article addresses the question of how the socialization of people into a social movement occurs under repressive dictatorships. It takes as a case the socialization of shantytown women into the anti-Pincohet pro-democracy movement in Chile. Using ethnographic data gathered in Chile and Europe, the article concludes that socialization in repressive regimes can occur when organizers gather recrutis into groups that do not have political change as their stated goal. Within these groups socialization occurs as a result of intentionally educational activities by the social movement organizers. These can take the form of the giving of talks, the introduction of informative publications, the use of the group as a model for how society should work, the organizing of testimonial get-togethers, and the inviting of other victims of the dictatorship to the groups to relate their experiences. Socialization also occurs as a result of processes that are not intentionally educational, including the directing of artwork production, the sharing of grievances by group members, and the involvement of group members with other social movement organizations. |
