"You are the ones who know, we have the megaphone” Cross-fertilization lessons from the movement against the private pension system in Chile

This presentation aims to show how two different activist cultures within the movement against the private retirement model in Chile, can build an effective relationship and even start to change themselves, in order to produce a rich, complex and massive movement. On the one hand, I reveal a trade-union based activist culture, which performs as ‘the brain’ in the movement, bringing the knowledge, the experience, and the platform for organization. On the other hand, a citizen-driven activist culture, performing as ‘the megaphone’, which provides the communication channels from the digital world, the massiveness, and the resonance with a larger audience. By using some concrete examples about the organization and execution of the first national massive rally of the movement, also known as 24J (July 24, 2016), I argue that the process of meeting of these two activist cultures is essential, first of all, for a successful rally, and secondly, for the effective production of this social movement. This uncovers various problems, tensions, and finally, some learnings for surpassing them. In the end, both activist cultures become inextricably necessary for the movement, providing different approaches to its claims and the enemy, its tactics, its visions about the social and politics, providing a rich and unique collective critique to the Chilean model of society. This opens an interesting debate about to which extent social movements should -still only- rely in traditional organizations as trade-unions, or, if it is enough -as nowadays movements- to just build a movement from the cybersphere. I finally propose to discuss to go beyond a single-based approach which highlights just one angle, and rather consider an interdependent one