‘Chile woke up’ (and I can fall asleep no more): The fantasmatic organisation of the desire for change

Abstract

In this article, I adopt the psychoanalytic notion of fantasy to challenge mainstream conceptualisations of the desire for social change. Recent anti-neoliberal uprisings across the world have been interpreted as expressions of the vitalist force of bodies beyond symbolic mediation. This obfuscates the ambivalent unconscious dynamics in the identification with emancipatory events. To counter this, I develop a psychoanalytic conceptualisation of the desire for change. I show the benefits of my approach through an empirical interpretation of the fantasmatic organisation of this desire in the context of the 2019 Chile revolt. By questioning the alleged straightforwardness of the desire for change, my study contributes to a more nuanced approach to emancipatory events.