Solidarity work for Chile - from resistance struggle to human rights activism

The military coup in Chile in 1973 was met by strong protests in Norway, especially among political youth activists. The solidarity movement for Chile followed in the footsteps of previous 1960s' protest movements and was ideologically grounded in the trendy anti-imperialism of the times. The activists built an umbrella organization with local branches and shared the same protest repertoire of information campaigns and street demonstrations. Although the Chile movement was plagued by internal rivalry and leftist sectarianism, it may be argued that something new occurred. Human rights, especially the concern for political refugees, came to influence the movement's thinking and praxis. Solidarity work connected to "establishment" institutions and fell in line with official foreign policy. The profile of the protest as a contentious movement waned. Instead, a new organizational form for solidarity work emerged, the transnational advocacy network, which came to replace the classical protest movement previously characteristic of solidarity movements.