Open the Alamedas avenue. Cultural festivals and public space in the construction of an imaginary of democracy

This article pays attention to the rol that cultural festivals have played in the building of a social imaginary of democracy, in the Social Democrat governments after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1989). Unlike marches and political demonstrations (that were suppressed and criminalized) these cultural uses of the streets were one of the few ways in which the subjects exercised massive forms of sociability, strengthening citizen ties, and a significant key in the building of political legitimacy. Taking the analysis of two contemporary festivals as a starting point, this paper seeks to develop a reflection on how these exceptional cultural dynamics played a role in instituting an imaginary of democratic life, offering spaces for a symbolic problematization of us.