Religious Eternity and Political Times. Temporal Structures of Chilean Politics in Jaime Guzmán’s Thinking

Abstract

Based on theories about the role of temporal structures in shaping power relations and discourses, this article analyses the meanings and forms of articulation of historical time in Jaime Guzmán’s political thought. This article shows that there is a twofold temporal structure in his thought. The first is an underlying structure that remains constant among his first and last writings, underpinned by the religious anthropology that prevails in Guzmán, which drives the search of a lasting political order that could offer guarantees for spiritual life. The second structure is varying, where past, present, and future are seen as source of meaning depending on the pragmatic needs emerging from the political context. In methodological terms, his writings are reviewed considering the following four contexts: The context prior to 1973, the justification of military coup, the preparation of the Constitution of 1980, and the transition to democracy.