Activist Trajectories of Older Women in Post-Dictatorship Chile

Abstract

Old age among older women is usually described as a stage in which multiple changes, losses and gender discrimination are experienced. However, little has been explored about the biographical experience of aging. In this article, we identify how older women activists of the Agrupación Bordadoras por la Memoria in the city of Valparaíso, Chile, narratively construct trajectories of political action. We conducted a qualitative study with biographical interviews following proposal of life narratives. Their biographical itineraries show a continuum in their political action and a questioning of the neoliberal system. Through their embroideries, they contribute to the struggle for memory and social justice. They re-signify their activism in old age, including new repertoires of action and projects, through practices of sorority. We conclude the importance of disputing old age from the conventional life cycle, making room for agentialized feminine trajectories.