WOMENS MOVEMENTS, THE STATE AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN CHILE

This article examines one attempt by feminists to engage with the stat e through an analysis of SERNAM, the Chilean women's bureau establishe d in 1990 by the centre left civilian government. It argues that it is impossible to understand SERNAM's achievements without placing the an alysis in the wider context of the Chilean transition to democracy, ch aracterized by negotiated pacts and the lack of a radical agenda for c hange. Some Chilean feminists decided that it was essential to influen ce the unfolding political process through the political parties of th e centre left. SERNAM was established as a result of their activities but has found it easier to achieve outcomes fitting in with the agenda of the government, i.e. associated poverty alleviation, rather than m easures which threaten to alter gender relations directly.