The Rise of the Far Right in Impoverished Areas: How Fear, Insecurity, and State Abandonment Fuel Kast’s Support

With just days remaining until the runoff election on Sunday, December 14, where Jeannette Jara, the candidate from the coalition United for Chile, will face José Kast, the far-right representative of the Republican Party, an uncomfortable question emerges for Chile’s center-left and left: how do we explain the support for Kast among impoverished sectors in regions afflicted by inequality, drug trafficking, insecurity, and decades of state neglect?

Far from the caricature of the “poor voting against their interests,” this support stems from more complex processes that intertwine emotions, everyday experiences, and a political void that the far right has effectively filled.

Fear and Insecurity: The Political Emotion Guiding the Vote

In many impoverished areas, insecurity isn’t just a headline; it’s a daily reality: theft, gun violence, drug territorial control, a lack of safe spaces, and a state that arrives late, fragmented, or simply does not show up. This already tense environment becomes even more sensitive when the public debate is filled with exaggerated claims that amplify fear. A recent example occurred during the last presidential debate when José Kast claimed that “when there are 1,200,000 people murdered each year… there is no merit.” The figure, which would equal 6% of the population disappearing each year, has no relation to official data.

According to records from the Center for the Prevention of Homicides and Violent Crimes of the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention, 1,207 homicide victims were reported throughout 2024, with 511 in the first half of the year. The gap between these numbers and what Kast stated is enormous: his claim multiplied the actual figure by nearly a thousand. In a social climate marked by security concerns, such statements not only distort the debate but also serve as emotional fuel for those who already live in fear.

In this context, the Republican’s rhetoric—hardline policies, increased penalties, border closures, military presence, and a call to “take back the streets”—can seem appealing as it promises immediate protection, even if it is more performative than effective in practice. French sociologist Loïc Wacquant, in works such as “Punishing the Poor”, describes how in deeply unequal societies, the state tends to withdraw from social responsibilities while reinforcing its punitive face: fewer rights, more punishment. It’s no surprise, then, that impoverished sectors see a hardening of penalties as a form of defense in a hostile environment, even when those promises are based on inflated or outright false figures. This is the terrain where Kast’s support is nurtured: a real fear, fueled by a narrative that magnifies the threat.

Gramsci and Common Sense: When Top-Down Discourse Becomes “Natural” Below

To understand why these discourses resonate, it’s helpful to refer to Antonio Gramsci. In his “Prison Notebooks”, the Italian thinker argues that ruling classes do not only govern by force, but they also manage to impose their worldview as “common sense.”

In Chile, after decades of neoliberalism, ideas such as:

each person “manages on their own,”
success is solely an individual responsibility,
“the hard hand” is the only possible response to crime,
the state is inefficient by definition.

When Kast speaks of merit, order, punishment, and “decent people,” he connects with this already established common sense. The vote from impoverished sectors for Kast is not an irrational accident; it exists within a political culture where many believe there is no other option but to adopt a tougher stance.

State Void and Political Abandonment: When No One Shows Up, Anyone Can Enter

Another key element is the state abandonment. In many areas, the social state barely exists: waiting lists in health services, poor transport, precarious schools, informal or poorly paid jobs, and programs that fluctuate with the changing government.

Conversely, the police state is present: checks, raids, sporadic but visible presence.

In this context, the far right presents itself as the one coming to “restore order where no one else dares.” The promise may be fragile, but it is concrete and direct.

Progressive politics, on the other hand, often offers long-term structural measures, institutional reforms, new constitutions, and technical languages. For a family fearing for their children when they go to the store, that promise sounds distant.

Laclau and the “Decent People”: Identity Before Wallet

Argentinian theorist Ernesto Laclau, in “The Populist Reason”, posits that politics is also organized around identities, not just economic interests. Populist leadership constructs a “people” and an “enemy.”

Kast’s discourse builds a “people” made up of:

hard-working individuals,
those who “put in the effort,”
law-abiding citizens,
those wanting order,
and those feeling mistreated by traditional politicians and a “progressive” elite that “does not experience what they live.”

On the other side are the “enemies”: criminals, drug traffickers, certain migrants, activists, feminists, “Octoberists,” among others.

For part of the impoverished sectors, this narrative provides moral recognition: it treats them as “decent people” rather than a problem. The vote of vulnerable sectors for Kast is not solely driven by economic factors. It is driven by the feeling that someone values their way of life and their fears.

Penal State, Media, and Misinformation: An Explosive Mix

French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in “On Television”, warns how the media can simplify reality and reinforce stereotypes that benefit certain powers. When the television agenda concentrates on violent crimes, extreme cases, and fear-based narratives—something various surveys and studies have recorded in Chile—the overall opinion tends to shift toward more authoritarian positions.

Adding to this are WhatsApp chains, fake news and fear campaigns surrounding migration, crime, or “loss of values,” allowing the far right to gain ground with little discursive resistance. The left and center-left, in many instances, have arrived late to contest these narratives in the same territories and platforms where the far right is active.

They Do Not Vote “Against Themselves”: They Vote Based on What They Feel is Most Urgent

One of the most common analytical traps is to assert that “the poor vote against their interests.” This idea assumes that the only valid interest is economic. However, for many people, the most urgent interests are:

being able to get home safely,
ensuring their children are not ensnared by drug dealers,
not losing what little they have,
feeling seen and taken seriously,
living in an environment with clear rules.

If progressive politics fails to address these specific fears and demands, others will. Today, in many vulnerable territories, that “other” is the far right, and the results can be seen in the vote from impoverished sectors for Kast.

The Challenge: Contesting Common Sense and Returning to the Territories

If support for Kast among vulnerable sectors is growing, it’s not only due to his communication skills but also because of a political and state void that has persisted for decades. It is not enough to criticize the vote; we must address why that vote has become plausible.

The challenge for those defending democracy and social rights includes:

being present in the territories, in a stable manner and not just during campaigns;
offering security without militarizing daily life;
ensuring basic rights are tangibly guaranteed;
contesting the common sense that normalizes harsh measures and inequality;
building a project that speaks in a language understandable to those facing precariousness every day.

Until that happens, the vote from impoverished sectors for Kast will continue to be a symptom of a deeper issue: the failure of a model that has left neighborhoods isolated and allowed the far right to speak first.

La entrada The Rise of the Far Right in Impoverished Areas: How Fear, Insecurity, and State Abandonment Fuel Kast’s Support se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.