Generational Brokerage: Lessons from Chile's Feminist Movement

The academic literature has long recognized the cyclical patterns of mobilization, demobilization, and resurgence that characterize social movements (Meyer and Tarrow 1998; Tarrow 1989; 2012). Despite this, systematic analysis of how movements' successes, failures, and interactions with political institutions shape future mobilizations is lacking. Specifically, the transmission of political learning within social movements—how experiences from past protest waves inform current and future actions—remains underexplored. Addressing this gap is crucial for understanding how participation in waves of protest influences a movement’s expectations, strategies, and outcomes over time. This involves examining not only the organizational structures, discourses, and demands of movements but also their relationships with political institutions.

In this paper, I introduce the concept of generational brokerage to explore the mechanisms through which political learning is transmitted across generations within social movements. Generational brokerage refers to the role of activists with longstanding involvement in movements as bridges between different waves of mobilization, passing on key lessons, strategies, and insights gained from their experiences. This transmission is critical for ensuring continuity and adaptation within movements, particularly in how they organize, frame their demands, and engage with political institutions.

To illustrate the analytical utility of generational brokerage, I draw on a life-story approach with veteran activists from Chile’s feminist movement. These activists have navigated multiple waves of mobilization, from the struggles against dictatorship to contemporary movements for gender equality. Their narratives provide a rich source of insight into how feminist organizations have internalized the political lessons from past mobilizations and how these lessons are being adapted to address the challenges of the present. This analysis not only sheds light on the feminist movement in Chile but also offers broader implications for understanding intergenerational political learning within social movements more generally.