The invention of the seizure, or how land occupations were transformed in Santiago de Chile between 1945 and 1957 = La invención de la toma, o cómo se transformaron las ocupaciones de terrenos en Santiago de Chile entre 1945 y 1957

When and why did the “tomas” (land occupations) begin? Despite the widespread belief that La Victoria, in 1957, was the first “toma” in Chile, and even in Latin America, many scholars affirm that this phenomenon began in the mid-forties. In this article, through a press analysis and a review of documentary sources, we study the land occupations that were carried out in Santiago de Chile between 1945 and 1957. Our hypothesis is that the "toma" was invented in the mid-fifties, when land occupations, which previously were realized silently, started to be displayed in the public space. In this way, it became a claim-making performance. This shift in the mobilization of the “pobladores” (a term that stand for low-income neighborhood residents, squatters and homeless) can be explained by the political context, as well as by the changing role of the state in relation to housing and urban growth.