Social history

Hello classmates today I will talk about a "free topic".

It is really difficult to me to think about something free, specially in this few minutes. But I think that the History (as a discipline) is something interesting to talk about, and specially because I have been reflecting about it these days.

First of all I have to say that I am not a specialized on this area and my opinions have not been discussed with more people. 

This term I started being "ayudante" (something like the assistant of the students of a course) of the course Social History of Chile. In this course students prepare a investigation about a "social subject". That means that everything that they search and investigate about it has to focus on the social group that is the central affected and involved on the process and facts, not on the government or on the macro economic or politics that determine their acts.

This central thing of the social history is something that I knew since I took that course last year. But at this time it makes much sense to me. Because when you study a social science you can realize about a lot of social problems related with a macro structure (the social capitalism system), but the subjects about how to work or how to make reading on the direct reality are few.

I think that the way that the history works it's great methodologically, and it's similar to some Anthropology technique (interviews). But there is a huge difference with the social sciences, and it is on the politic objective that the social and the economic history put at the beginning. The history want to recover a voice, recognizing that this voice have been silenced for someone or something. And that process of silence (oppression) include an important subject, that lived that. His life is something to recover and the way to make history is from that or those subjects, the historic and politic subjects.

About this year :)

This year have been specially rushed and tiring, because of the long strike at the university and the new assignments with a lot of homework (specially reading work).

At the beginning, on holidays, I went to the south of Chile with some friends and my boyfriend. It was relaxing and exciting because of the places we knew. The most exciting thing was the bus and ferry trip to Chaitén, it was around beautiful natural and huge hills and different animals (particularly dolphins).

About the academic year, it has been tiring. I have had a lot of reading work for the most of the assignments, and specially at the end of the term (I think because of the strike), when I slept few hours repeatedly times.

I think that this year has been a huge year of knowledge, specially on the politic thing. I have strengthened my work on two politic organizations on the university and that is one think that makes me fell calm about something bigger (related with the social and change work) that I think that is important and urgent to do. 

An important new of this year was a family "change". My mom left our home and went out of the city with my father. It is something gradually and it has been a change about the organization with my sister to maintain our home (something that at this time has been toooo difficult)

I expect for the rest of the year something more quit, time to relax (out of this city) and an accordance feeling.

Regards! 

Clotario Blest

Hello classmates!

Today I am going to talk about a person that I think was great.  His name is Clotario Blest Riffo and he was a leader union (he found the CUT) and an important leading figure along his life.

Clotario was a life leader because everywhere he was he tried to make something about the conditions of the people there, trying to organize them or make something about their relationships with their employer.

He was a union leader because he believed on the power and potential of the working class to make the revolution and stop the rule. It is an important point because Clotario united that aspiration with a Christian belief and that was a revolutionary thing on his time. Besides he believed on the autonomy of the workers on his dispute and emancipation, putting the traditional party away.  

There a lot of things to say about his life and his thoughts, so i will list some landmark to make this easier. When he was on the seminary was expelled because he organized a strike opposed to the authorities. On the 30’s he found the group “germen” related with the ideas of “la teología de la liberación”. When he started working with public workers he understood that his organizational work will be difficult. Since that day he started organizing workers with things out of the formal politics: the football.A few years later he found the ANEF and more later the CUT.  

I think that Clotario was an important person because he thought about the revolution and the organization as a way of life. He was so disciplined about the things that he thought that were important to be a tenacious person and he actually did that until the day he died.

If I could talk to Clotario I would like to ask him about his training and about the educational ways he used with the workers.