INTHE FOOTPRINT OF PEASANT POLITICIZATION: LABOR CONFLICT, ANTAGONISMS AND PEASANT RESISTANCE (CURIC & Oacute;, 1934-1938)

In this article we propose to examine the problem of peasant politicization, in a period that has been understudied by national historiography. We intend to show how the peasants of Curic & oacute; antagonized the rural landowners, long before the left parties took an interest in rural & aacute;reas. In order to do that, we present a broad conceptualization of politicization, which emphasizes its informal and less organized dynamics. These conflicts, mostly of a labor nature, were shaping an awareness of the conflict and, therefore, a political subjectivity that allowed them to distance themselves from the prevailing hegemonic consensus in the Curico's countryside. Starting from a detailed reading of the judicial files of the Labor Court of Curic & oacute;, we will elucidate the two main routes of rural politicization: the judicialization of the labor conflict, understood in terms of a new political opportunity opened by the promulgation of the Labor Code; and the culture of indiscipline, unproductiveness and daily rebellion that characterized the socio-productive relations between bosses and peasants.