Why do you study Sociology?
I chose sociology because I was interested in studying the sociological factors that enabled (or hindered) memorialisation in Chile and other transitional justice contexts worldwide.
What first attracted you to the course at Oxford?
What attracted me most about the course and the Department was my supervisor, Professor Leigh Payne.
She is a leading expert in transitional justice, and I admired her contributions regarding the study of reparations, guarantees of non-repetition, justice, truth-seeking, and memorialisation in countries affected by dictatorial regimes in their recent past.
I was also attracted by the Department’s international atmosphere and world-class academic research.
What is your research about?
My thesis investigates the conditions that explain the survival of pro-dictatorship memorialisation in democratic Chile (1990 – 2020).
A pro-dictatorship memory site is a monument, memorial or symbolic marker (e.g. a street name) built to celebrate a past authoritarian government.
In Chile, these sites either praise the military coup of 11th of September 1973, glorify General Augusto Pinochet’s 17-year dictatorship (1973 – 1990), or celebrate Military Junta members and civil collaborators.
The results highlight the continued relevance of veto players in the maintenance of pro-dictatorship memorialisation. The findings also emphasise the prominence of civil society in advancing both their survival and elimination.
Who is your academic hero?
Professor Steve Stern. He is a historian who has written extensively about Chile’s dictatorship and the memory struggles regarding its recent past.
