A Chilean Free-Market Miracle? The Effects of Neoliberal Economic Changes on Small-Scale Fishermen on the island of Chiloe

Abstract

How are culturally distinct regions affected by free-market forces? It is with this question in mind that I set out this past summer to study the impact of neoliberal economic strategies on the island of Chiloe in southern Chile. In particular, I looked at how Chile's thirty-year policy of export-oriented resource extraction has affected- and been perceived by workers and families involved in the fishing industry of Chiloe. Throughout my eight-week stay in the country I gathered enough preliminary data to suggest that Chile's economic policies have had mixed results for fishermen in Chiloe: while major national and international companies have flourished, small-scale independent fishermen have faced increasing restrictions on where, when, and how they can fish. Furthermore, many of the islanders I spoke to linked these changes to a broader, more fundamental impact on Chiloe's overall culture - a gradual but perceptible shift from collectivity to individualism.