'Young people committed to the motherland’: Middle-class masculinity, radicalization, and the fragmentation of the ‘Integral Chileans’ in the 1970s

This chapter focuses on the transformation of left-leaning middle-class youth as part of the transnational politicization that occurred in Chile during the long sixties and the ensuing dictatorship. Based on oral testimonies from members of the middle classes, I introduce the notion of the “Integral Chileans,” whose fragmentation will be explored in terms of the shift in their identity from the ideal, educated professional man to the idealistic, proletarianized middle-class individual who would join in the march along the Chilean road to socialism as a part of his revolutionary experience. The 1973 coup d’état and the subsequent military dictatorship resulted in a transformation of both expressions of civic agency, and masculine performances compared to the period prior to the interruption of democracy. This study exposes the local radicalization of the leftist Integral Chilean men, along with their reinvention through dialogue within the regional arena.