CONCEPTUALIZATION OF POLICE VIOLENCE BASED ON THE PRACTICES OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

I present a research study aimed at understanding the discourses and practices regarding police violence that human rights defenders in Chile have. Using an ethnographic methodology (2020-2022), I worked with defenders from a state institution, a civil organization that supports victims, and another civil organization that monitors protests. I conducted 16 interviews, document reviews, and daily activities observations. The integrated ethnographic analysis aimed to understand how discourses and practices maintain and promote certain social relations. This research allowed me to identify practices directed toward the State, society, and the organizations themselves. The meanings of these resistance practices come together in three interrelated areas that characterize this institutional violence: invisibilization, naturalization and impunity. I conclude that filing complaints and educating to promote cultural changes create paths to face the causes of police abuses associated with the productive role of the police in a racialized and classbased order.