| Description: | In this arpillera we follow the Poverty to Prison pipeline in four acts read left to right, top to bottom: (1) young people are unable to find employment at the factory, (2) They return home to their unhappy parents and there is no food on the table, (3) The young man becomes a thief to provide for his family, (4) The young man is imprisoned.
In an attempt to correct high inflation, economic “shock therapy” was implemented in 1975. These extreme free market policies focused on privatisation, ending price controls, and cuts to government spending, especially public services. Many ordinary people were suddenly thrown into poverty, with little social safety net to support them. Unemployment increased drastically, reaching 18.7% within the year (The Nation, 28/08/1976, "The Chicago Boys in Chile: Economic Freedom's Awful Toll") and poverty along with it, as inflation continued rising.
The severe financial hardship left families unable to afford basic necessities, such as food, water, and electricity. It’s unsurprising that under these conditions some people, such as the young man depicted here, felt they had no choice but to risk their freedom and resort to crime. (HM1125) |
