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WOMEN & GUERRILLA

MOVEMENTS

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ILEANA RODRIGUEZ: CORRECTING THE

ERASURE OF WOMEN AS ACTORS IN

REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATION

• WOMAN AS “REVOLUTIONARY PUSSY”• FEMINIZATION OF EPISTEMOLOGIES

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ELIZABETH BURGOS DEBRAY & RIGOBERTA MENCHU

• CONSTITUTION OF WOMAN AS SUBJECT

• NARRATIVE OF RESISTANCE• HOW WELL DOES KAMPWIRTH DO

THIS?

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THEORIES• ESCOBAR & ALVAREZ

– TRADITIONAL ACTORS, – Revolutionary Upheaval– MARXISM & FOCO STRATEGY

• FEMINIST CRITIQUE• NSM (NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS)

• ESCOBAR: CULTURAL & POLTICAL STRUGGLES– IDENTITY– STRATEGY– DEMOCRACY

• DORE, CHINCHILLA, STARN

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SO WHAT HAS CHANGED?

• THEORISTS?• OLD / NEW ACTORS?• NEW KINDS OF MOVEMENTS?• HOW WOULD KAMPWIRTH RESPOND?• STRUCTURE, AGENCY, & COLLECTIVE

IDENTITIES

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JOAN CAIVANO & THAYER HARDWICK

• NATURE, STRUCTURES, GOALS, & STRATEGIES

• GUERRILLAS, LEFTISTS, CONSERVATIVES

• 1970-80s GUERRILLAS OPPOSE DICTATORSHIPS– PINOCHET– WOMEN FILL VACUUM– REPRESSION CROSS-CUT CLASS LINES

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PARADOX:• OPEN DEMOCRACIES – WOMEN LACK

EQUITY IN GENDER RIGHTS• CLOSED MILITARY DICTATORSHIP –

HI LEVELS OF FEMALE MOBILIZATION• OBJECTIVE OF ENDING

DICTATORSHIP OBSCURED FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES

• INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF GENDER ROLES

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CENTRAL AMERICA• WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS GREW

OUT OF GUERRILLA MOVEMENTS– RARELY ENTERED WITH FEMINIST

GOALS IN MIND

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WHAT FACTORS RADICALIZED WOMEN TO

JOIN GUERRILLA MOVEMENTS?

• MASS MOBILIZATION STRATEGY– FSLN (30%) & FMLN (40%) VS. CUBA (5%)

• LIBERATION THEOLOGY– “PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR”– CEBs

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NICARAGUA• SANDINISTAS (FSLN) VS. SOMOZA• AMPRONAC AMNLAE

– LOYALTY & MACHISMO– DAISY ZAMORA:

“IT’S ABSOLUTELY TRUE THAT THE REVOLUTION OPENED UP A NEW SPACE FOR WOMEN. WE FOUGHT ALONGSIDE OUR MALE COMRADES & THAT PRODUCED AN EXPLOSION OF NEW POSSIBILITIES. BY THE END OF THE WAR THE OLD ORDER HAD BEEN COMPLETELY DISRUPTED, AND ALL THE WOMEN WHO HAD TAKEN PART HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP CONSTRUCT A MORE JUST SOCIETY. I THINK THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THIS NEW SPACE WASN’T ACCOMPANIED BY A NEW MENTALITY ON THE PART OF MOST OF THE MALE-DOMINATED LEADERSHIP”

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AUTONOMY?

• DIVISION AMONG WOMEN:– SUPPORT OF FSLN VS. AUTONOMY– THE FATE OF AMNLAE

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EL SALVADOR• CO-MADRES

– SIMILAR TO MOTHERS OF THE PLAZA DE MAYO

– KIDNAPPINGS, TORTURE, RAPES– MERGING OF FEMININE & FEMINIST

INTERESTS

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DIGNAS• DIGNAS & THE FMLN

– STRUGGLE FOR DIVERSITY, AUTONOMY, PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY

– ENCUENTROS, COALITION BUILDING– AUTONOMOUS ORGANIZATION– CLASS DIFFERENCES

MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF WOMEN’S OPPRESSION

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DOBLE MILITANCIA• SUPPORT REVOLUTION & PROMISE OF A

NEW SOCIETY?• WORK FOR FEMINIST CAUSES IN AN

AUTONOMOUS ORGANIZATION?• GUATEMALA & URNG• COMANDANTE LOLA:

“IT WASN’T THAT WE DIDN’T CONSIDER GENDER ISSUES IMPORTANT, BUT THAT OUR LIFE WAS VERY HARD, FULL OF ACTIVITY DIRECTLY RELATED TO COMBAT, TO THE RECRUITMENT OF MILITARY UNITS”

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AUTONOMOUS WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS AND NGOS

• RETURN TO DEMOCRACY• CUTS IN SOCIAL SPENDING• NGOs

– SKILLS GAINED BY WOMEN IN REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS

– STATE FAILURE TO PROVIDE BASIC SERVICES

– ENCUENTROS & REGIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENTS

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NGOS CONFRONT GOVERNMENTS ON GENDER

ISSUES• GUATEMALA: GOVT. VS. NGOs• NICARAGUA, EL SALVADOR,

GUATEMALA– WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

• YET AUTONOMY MAY MARGINALIZE WOMEN & DIMINISH INFLUENCE ON POLICY

• PLAYING “MALE POLITICS”?16

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IRONY:

• UNLIKE POLITICAL PARTIES AND SINGLE-ISSUE NGOS, WHICH ARE ROOTED IN SELF-INTEREST POLITICS,

• WOMEN’S SOCIAL MOVEMENTS UNDER THE DICTATORSHIPS WERE CHARACTERIZED BY SOLIDARITY AND COLLABORATION

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