Truth-Telling and Transitional Justice in Chile
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Bates College SCARAB Honors Theses Capstone Projects 5-2019 Truth-Telling and Transitional Justice in Chile: Healing for Women Survivors of Trauma Through Testimonial Art Collectives Olivia Snow Fried Bates College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scarab.bates.edu/honorstheses Recommended Citation Fried, Olivia Snow, "Truth-Telling and Transitional Justice in Chile: Healing for Women Survivors of Trauma Through Testimonial Art Collectives" (2019). Honors Theses. 298. https://scarab.bates.edu/honorstheses/298 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Capstone Projects at SCARAB. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of SCARAB. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Truth-Telling and Transitional Justice in Chile: Healing for Women Survivors of Trauma Through Testimonial Art Collectives An Honors Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Politics Bates College In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts By Olivia Snow Fried Lewiston, Maine March 20, 2019 ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Jacob Longaker, for providing me with advice and support whenever I needed it. Your guidance has been critical throughout this process. I would also like to thank Stephanie Pridgeon and Jim Richter for being influential professors throughout my time at Bates. Thank you to Mark Sinclair for assisting me during my field research in Chile and to the IFSA/Butler study abroad program. My experience studying human rights and meeting survivors and activists has largely inspired this thesis. Thank you to Eli Vilches González and Fabby Vilches for making Valparaíso a second home to me. Listening to Fleetwood Mac isn’t the same without you both. Thank you to my parents for always instilling in me that I am fully capable of accomplishing anything. Your unconditional support is undoubtedly the reason I was able to pursue this project. To my mom—thank you for enthusiastically being part of this project with me. Whether it was reading through my chapters or staying on the phone with me to sort out my ideas for hours, your heart is in this project just as mine is. Lastly, I would like to dedicate this project to the members of Colectiva Bordadoras por la Memoria and Las Arpilleristas. Your emotional resilience and strength inspire me and countless others. iii Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Truth and Transitional Justice .................................................................................................................. 2 Truth and Trauma ..................................................................................................................................... 4 TRCs and Trauma ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Transitional Justice Politics Struggle with Trauma Redress .................................................................. 11 My Project .............................................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1: Repressive State Apparatus in Chile ........................................................................... 27 Gender and State-Imposed Social Order ................................................................................................ 27 Systematic Sexual Violence through Torture ......................................................................................... 31 Economic Reform, Poblaciones, and the Feminization of Poverty ........................................................ 37 Disappearances ....................................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 2: Healing from Violence ................................................................................................ 48 Feminine Survival Strategies .................................................................................................................. 48 Is Trauma Political? ................................................................................................................................ 57 Women as Productive Mourners of the Dead ......................................................................................... 64 Chapter 3: Truth and Reconciliation Commissions ...................................................................... 69 TRCs Heal Emotional Wounds .............................................................................................................. 69 TRCS Do Not Heal Emotional Wounds ................................................................................................. 78 Women in TRCs ..................................................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 4: Colectiva Bordadoras por la Memoria ........................................................................ 93 History of Bordadoras ............................................................................................................................. 95 Analysis of Bordadoras Today ............................................................................................................... 97 Chapter 5: Arpilleristas de… ...................................................................................................... 115 History of Arpilleras ............................................................................................................................. 115 Analysis of Arpilleras Today ................................................................................................................ 121 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 139 Delineating Truth-Telling Processes .................................................................................................... 141 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................. 149 Appendix: Figures ....................................................................................................................... 152 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 158 iv Abstract This project focuses on transitional justice processes that utilize testimony and truth- telling to heal trauma and negative emotions after violent state conflict. Using Chile as a case study, I compare state-sponsored Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) to unofficial testimonial methods, such as women’s embroidery and tapestry groups. I find that TRCs further marginalize women by excluding their subjective experiences of suffering from official history, and by preventing cathartic reconciliation. I argue that Las Arpilleristas and Colectiva Bordadoras por la Memoria represent complementary transitional justice methods to TRCs as they transform emotional pain into political solutions through testimonial artwork. The collectives accomplish three objectives where TRCs fall short: First, they more effectively heal emotional wounds through feminine group solidarity and support. Second, they provide women an outlet for illustrating subjective experiences unaddressed by the state. Lastly, the collectives productively and strategically politicize mourning for the dead. Through centralizing trauma and healing as a crucial goal for transitioning states, my project challenges normative conceptions of how to establish truth and who we consider to be political actors in charge. I conclude that transitional justice should account for feminine healing strategies to provide a holistic model for how gender sensitive truth-telling forums should function. v Table of Figures Figure 1: Embroideries presented at exhibition "Grávidas Mariposas...Yo Soy." ..................... 152 Figure 2: Embroidery of “El Alma Lleno de Banderas” presented Victor Jara exhibition. (Photo OF) .............................................................................................................................................. 152 Figure 3: Embroidery of "Luchín" presented at Victor Jara exhibition. (Photo OF) .................. 153 Figure 4: Embroidery of "Plegaria a un Labrador" presented at Victor Jara exhibition. (Photo OF) .............................................................................................................................................. 153 Figure 5: Information on the lives of ten disappeared pregnant compañeras distributed at "Grávidas de Mariposas...Yo Soy." ............................................................................................ 154 Figure 6: María Alicia, Arpillerista, leading an exhibition of her work at la ex-clínica Santa Lucía (Photo MA). ...................................................................................................................... 154 Figure 7: "Chiloe: Without Contamination" arpillera made at Puerto Montt event (Retazos de Memoria) ....................................................................................................................................