Peter Winn’s 1989 Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Socialism is revered for shining a light on the local struggle of Chilean textile workers seeking to establish an independent union at their Santiago factory – a struggle that quickly propelled them beyond their own locality, their own passivity, the patriarchal power of a ruthless employer, straight to the heart of global, age-old questions pertaining to the very meaning of ‘change,’ how it is brought about, and who controls its scope and approach.
The U.S. Presidential campaign of 2008 was also a battle to define and control “Change.” Both Barack Obama and John McCain realized the country’s thirst for it. Both tried to define it. Presumably, President-elect Obama will attempt to control it. Yet if we are to take seriously the lessons of the Yarur Textile workers, and the lessons of history, we are reminded that “needed change” has a funny way of forging its own destiny.
Let all of us,
especially the CIA, heed these lessons.
(For more on Peter Winn's "Weavers of Revolution, please read Stan Ridgeway's review.)