3. The Cultural Dimension: A Nation in Search of Identity Between the Competing Narratives of the “Center-Right” and the “Center-Left”

This chapter, the cultural dimension, focuses on the era of President Sebastián Piñera (2010–2014), the first center-right government since the postdictatorial transition to democracy in 1988–1989. It explores the trends and changes in social psychology and collective mentalities since the start of Piñera’s tenure, as well as the competition between different public narratives over the past couple of years about what a “good society” in Chile could and should look like. Since Piñera was the first Chilean president to fully grasp the rising importance of social psychology and collective narratives as “contextual political factors,” questions of identity have become crucial elements of public discourse in today’s Chile.