Elizabeth Maier

Women's Activism in Latin America and the Caribbean: Engendering Social Justice, Democratizing Citizenship Elizabeth Maier

Jacket Description/Flap: In "Women's Activism in Latin America and the Caribbean" a group of interdisciplinary scholars analyze and document the diversity, vibrancy, and effectiveness of women's experiences and organizing in that area during the past four decades. Most of the expressions of collective agency are analyzed within the context of the neoliberal model of globalization that has seriously affected most Latin American and Caribbean women's lives in multiple ways. Geared toward bridging cultural realities, this volume represents women's transformations, challenges, and hopes, while considering the analytical tools needed to dissect the realities, understand the alternatives, and promote gender democracy. Review Quotes: "This is a very exciting collection that will fill an important gap in what has emerged in comparative studies of women and Latin American democracies. Maier and Lebon provide provocative overview essays, and the chapters trace a range of cases from Argentina and Brazil to Nicaragua and Venezuela, showing how institutions, leaders, and culture all shape the opportunities and challenges women face."--Jane Jaquette"editor of Feminist Agendas and Democracy in Latin America" (09/03/2009) Table of Contents: Foreword / Sonia E. Alvarez -- Preface -- List of Abbreviations -- Part I. Setting the Stage -- Introduction: Women Building Plural Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean / Nathalie Lebon -- 1. Accommodating the Private into the Public Domain: Experiences and Legacies of the Past Four Decades / Elizabeth Maier -- Part II. Women, Work, and Families: The Structural Context of Globalization -- 2. Women's Work and Neoliberal Globalization: Implications for Gender Equity / Alice Colon, Sara Poggio -- 3. Female-Headed Households and Poverty in Latin America: A Comparison of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic / Helen Safa -- 4. A Top-Down- Bottom-Up Model: Four Decades of Women's Employment and Gender Ideology in Cuba / Marta Nunez Sarmiento -- Part III. Women's Agency for Plural Democracy and Full Citizenship -- 5. The Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo Speak / Graciela DI Marco -- 6. Gender Politics in Nicaragua: Feminism, Antifeminism, and the Return of Daniel Ortega / Karen Kampwirth -- 7. Haiti: Women in Conquest of Full and Total Citizenship in an Endless Transition / Myriam Merlet -- 8. From Urban Elite to Peasant Organizing: Agendas, Accomplishments, and Challenges of Thirty-plus Years of Guatemalan Feminism, 1975-2007 / Ana Lorena Carrillo, Norma Stoltz Chinchilla -- Part IV. Broadening the Circle of Women's Activism: New Meanings from Intersecting Oppressions -- 9. Women's Movements in Argentina: Tensions and Articulations / Graciela Di Marco -- 10. Advocating for Citizenship and Social Justice: Black Women Activists in Brazil / Kia Lilly Caldwell -- 11. Itineraries of Latin American Lesbian Insubordination / Norma Mogrovejo -- 12. Respect, Discrimination, and Violence: Indigenous Women in Ecuador, 1990-2007 / Mercedes Prieto, Andrea Pequeno, Clorinda Cominao, Alejandra Flores, Gina Maldonado -- Part V. Shaping Public Policy with a Gender Perspective -- 13. Peace Begins at Home: Women's Struggles against Violence and State Actions in Costa Rica / Montserrat Sagot -- 14. New Challenges in Feminist Practice: The Women's Institutes in Mexico / Maria Luisa Tarres -- 15. Women's Struggles for Rights in Venezuela: Opportunities and Challenges / Cathy A. Rakowski, Gioconda Espina -- 16. Trickling Up, Down, and Sideways: Gender Policy and Political Opportunity in Brazil / Fiona Macaulay -- Part VI. The Politics of Scale: Local, Regional, and Global Feminist Agency -- 17. From Insurgency to Feminist Struggle: The Search for Social Justice, Democracy, and Equality between Women and Men / Morena Herrera -- 18. The Latin American Network of Catolicas por el Derecho a Decidir / Marysa Navarro, Maria Consuelo Mejia -- 19. Constructing New Democratic Paradigms for Global Democracy: The Contribution of Feminisms / Virginia Vargas -- Part VII. Concluding Considerations -- 20. Concluding Reflections: Renegotiating Gender in Latin America and the Caribbean / Elizabeth Maier -- Notes on Contributors -- Index. Marc Notes: Bibl. ref. & index.; Co-pub. with El Colegio de la Frontera Norte A. C.; Avail. in cloth. Publisher Marketing: "This is a very exciting collection that will fill an important gap in what has emerged in comparative studies of women and Latin American democracies. Maier and Lebon provide provocative overview essays, and the chapters trace a range of cases from Argentina and Brazil to Nicaragua and Venezuela, showing how institutions, leaders, and culture all shape the opportunities and challenges women face."-Jane Jaquette, editor of Feminist Agendas and Democracy in Latin America Women's Activism in Latin America and the Caribbean brings together a group of interdisciplinary scholars who analyze and document the diversity, vibrancy, and effectiveness of women's experiences and organizing in Latin America and the Caribbean during the past four decades. Most of the expressions of collective agency are analyzed in this book within the context of the neoliberal model of globalization that has seriously affected most Latin American and Caribbean women's lives in multiple ways. Contributors explore the emergence of the area's feminist movements, dictatorships of the 1970s, the Central American uprisings, the urban, grassroots organizing for better living conditions, and, finally, the turn toward public policy and formal political involvement and the alternative globalization movement. Geared toward bridging cultural realities, this volume represents women's transformations, challenges, and hopes, while considering the analytical tools needed to dissect the realities, understand the alternatives, and promote gender democracy. ELIZABETH MAIER is a researcher and professor of gender studies at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Colef) in Mexico and former chair of the Gender and Feminist Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association. NATHALIE LEBON is an assistant professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies and affiliated with the Latin American Studies program at Gettysburg College. Review Citations:

Choice 11/01/2010 (EAN 9780813547299, Paperback)

Choice 11/01/2010 (EAN 9780813547282, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Maier, Elizabeth Elizabeth Maier is a professor at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Colef) in Mexico and former chair of the Gender and Feminist Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association. Contributor Bio:  Lebon, Natalie Nathalie Lebon is an anthropologist and assistant professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Gettysburg College, affiliated with the Latin American Studies Program. Contributor Bio:  Alvarez, Sonia E is associate professor of politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz.