Americas

Citation:

Menjivar, Cecilia. 2008. “Violence and Women's Lives in Eastern Guatemala: A Conceptual Framework.” Latin American Research Review 43 (3): 109-36.

Author: Cecilia Menjivar

Abstract:

In this article, I outline a framework to examine women's lives in eastern Guatemala, how multiple forms of violence coalesce in their everyday lives, and how these become normalized so as to become invisible and "natural." Women in western Guatemala, mostly indigenous, have received the attention of scholars who are interested in unearthing the brutality of state terror and its gendered expressions in Guatemala. My discussion builds on previous research conducted among indigenous groups in Guatemala and renders a depiction of the broad reach of violence, including expressions that are so commonplace as to become invisible. I argue that an examination of multiple forms of violence in the lives of women in eastern Guatemala, who are nonindigenous, exposes the deep and broad manifestations of living in a society engulfed in violence, thus depicting the long arm of violence.

Topics: Gender, Women, Violence Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Guatemala

Year: 2008

Citation:

Baldez, Lisa. 2003. “Women’s Movements and Democratic Transition in Chile, Brazil, East Germany, and Poland.” Comparative Politics 35 (3): 253–72.

Author: Lisa Baldez

Topics: Civil Society, Democracy / Democratization, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Political Participation Regions: Americas, South America, Europe, Central Europe Countries: Brazil, Chile, Germany, Poland

Year: 2003

Citation:

Weissman, Deborah M. 2004. “The Human Rights Dilemma: Rethinking the Humanitarian Project.” Columbia Human Rights Law Review 35 (April): 259–336.

Author: Deborah M. Weissman

Abstract:

This Article provides an interpretive account of the human rights discourse at a time when the U.S. legal community is deepening its relationship with these issues. It maps the context of the human rights project over the past one hundred years, with a critical eye and as a cautionary tale. It reviews the historical circumstances and the ideological framework in which human rights have been appropriated as an instrument of national policy, often to the detriment of humanitarian objectives. It considers the role of law, not only as an instrument by which colonial rule was maintained but as a system that has claimed center stage in the human rights project, often producing outcomes inimical to human rights.

It demonstrates that the disparity in power between colonizer and colonized continues to affect the ongoing development of human rights norms and has resulted in the production of legal remedies that are often incapable of safeguarding international human rights. It uses comparative legal discourse as a way to illustrate how the human rights project stipulates the need to rescue people of other cultures from themselves. The Article argues for a shift in methodological and attitudinal approaches to human rights work and suggests that commitment to human rights must be guided by an awareness of the power relationships from which remedies originate. It contends that without such awareness, humanitarian enterprises may inadvertently result in baneful consequences and implicate the human rights project in the very wrongs it seeks to correct.

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Gender, Women, Humanitarian Assistance, International Law, International Human Rights, International Organizations, Rights, Human Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2004

Citation:

Booth, Bradford, William W. Falk, David R. Segal, and Mady Wechsler Segal. 2000. “The Impact of Military Presence in Local Labor Markets on the Employment of Women.” Gender and Society 14 (2): 318–32.

Authors: Bradford Booth, William W. Falk, David R. Segal, Mady Wechsler Segal

Abstract:

This article uses Public Use Microsample (PUMS) data drawn from the 1990 census to explore the relationship between military presence, defined as the percentage of the local labor force in the active-duty armed forces, and women's employment and earnings across local labor market areas (LMAs) in the United States. Comparisons of local rates of unemployment and mean women's earnings are made between those LMAs in which the military plays a disproportionate role in the local labor market and those in which military presence is low. Results suggest that women who live in labor market areas with a substantial (5 percent or greater) military presence have, on average, lower annual earnings and higher rates of unemployment than their counterparts who live in nonmilitary LMAs. The argument is made that through the interaction of several socially situated conditions-including gender, family, labor markets, human capital, and place-the military emerges as a source of inequality in labor market out-comes for women working on or around military installations.

Topics: Gender, Women, Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2000

Citation:

Noonan, Rita K. 1995. “Women Against the State: Political Opportunities and Collective Action Frames in Chile’s Transition to Democracy.” Sociological Forum 10 (1): 81-111.

Author: Rita K. Noonan

Abstract:

While transitions to democracy have been hailed as the most important phenomena of this century, few scholars understand the role that women have played in these metamorphoses. This article uses an historical in-depth case study to examine how and why women mobilized against the state in Chile. Previous social movement theories have not attended adequately to cultural and ideational elements (e.g., gender ideology), much less these factors in the Third World and authoritarian context. In contrast, the present study modifies and extends the concepts of political opportunity structure and collective action frames, suggesting that the manner in which ideology and cultural themes are framed may provide opportunities for protest, especially in the authoritarian context. Specifically, the rise and fall of broader mobilizational frames or master frames shapes how movement-specific frames compete, decay, and transform, as some master frames create space for certain ideas (e.g., feminism) while others do not. New hypotheses regarding the use of collective action frames in a nondemocratic setting are offered.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Political Participation Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Chile

Year: 1995

Citation:

Montecinos, Verónica. 2001. “Feminists and Technocrats in the Democratization of Latin America: A Prolegomenon.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 15 (1): 175-99.

Author: Verónica Montecinos

Abstract:

Women's movements made important contributions to ending the period of authoritarian rule in Latin America, but their participation in the reconstruction of democratic politics has been more limited than expected. This paper argues that the enormous influence exerted by technocratic elites in the democratization process in Latin America has represented an obstacle to the improvement of women's status in the region. Gender-biased assumptions and practices have been only partially addressed, in part because the policy-making process is under the control of economists, a professional group with a particularly unfriendly stand towards gendered analysis. It is suggested that reforms within economics may help in the task of making democracy more responsive to the demands of women.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Feminisms, Gender, Gender Analysis, Governance Regions: Americas, Central America, South America

Year: 2001

Citation:

Matear, Ann. 1997. “Gender and the State in Rural Chile.” Bulletin of Latin American Research 16 (1): 97-105.

Author: Ann Matear

Abstract:

This paper focuses on SERNAM, the state institution responsible for the incorporation of gender into public policy in Chile, and the actions taken by the state to benefit women employed in the modern agricultural sector. It charts the emergence of the demands for such an institution by the women's movement, and the creation of SERNAM as an integral part of the transition to democracy. In particular, the paper analyses the Programme for the Children of the Temporeras, which is a unique state-led initiative to provide childcare facilities to enable women to enter the seasonal labour market during the summer months. The paper explores the complex relations between gender, the state, capitalist agriculture and patriarchal structures, with the aim of highlighting the sometimes unexpected convergence of interests, and the points of conflict.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Governance, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Chile

Year: 1997

Citation:

Sarvasy, Wendy. 1997. “Social Citizenship from a Feminist Perspective.” Hypatia 12 (4): 54-73.

Author: Wendy Sarvasy

Abstract:

In this article I construct a feminist notion of social citizenship from early twentieth-century feminism in the United States. Arguing that there are four aspects to the interconnection between women's citizenship and social democracy-new modes of citizenship, a socialized view of rights, new spaces for participation, and a female-privileged definition of gender equality-I suggest that such a concept could help us move from a welfare state to a feminist social democracy.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Political Participation Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 1997

Citation:

Baines, Beverley. 2005. “Using the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to Constitute Women.” In The Gender of  Constitutional Jurisprudence, edited by Ruth Rubio-Marín and Beverley Baines, 48–74. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Author: Beverley Baines

Abstract:

After examining the role of feminists in the development of the equality doctrine under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, this chapter assesses Charter sex equality and related jurisprudence from 1985 to 2003. My objective is to reveal the initial impact on women of adopting a rights protecting regime. This impact falls into three categories (i) naming male privilege, (ii) contextualizing women, and (iii) transforming society. The results show much work remains to be done if we expect equality doctrine to transform women’s lives.

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada

Year: 2005

Citation:

Powell, Catherine. 2005. “Lifting Our Veil of Ignorance: Culture, Constitutionalism, and Women’s Human Rights in Post-September 11 America.” Hastings Law Journal 57: 331-383.

Author: Catherine Powell

Topics: Gender, Women, Governance, Constitutions, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2005