Latin America’s New Left and the Politics of Gender

Kampwirth, Karen

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-0359-3_1

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Ortega and his conservative religious allies have discredited local feminists as outsiders peddling a suspicious agenda (Kampwirth ). Most feminist organizations have maintained an autonomous position vis‐à‐vis the state since the early 1990s and remain highly critical of Ortega.…”

Section: Comparative Analytical Approach and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Making and Unmaking of Feminicidio/Femicidio Laws in Mexico and Nicaragua

Moral¹,

Neumann²

2019

Law Soc Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines the contested process of law‐making related to the killing of women which resulted in the criminalization of feminicide (feminicidio) and femicide (femicidio) in Mexico and Nicaragua, two countries in which feminists engaged in legal activism to increase state accountability for gendered violence. Through comparative analysis, we demonstrate the importance of (1) the interaction between shifting local political conditions and supranational opportunities and (2) the position of feminist actors vis‐à‐vis the state and its gender regime in shaping regional variation in the making of laws concerning gendered violence. In Mexico, the criminalization of feminicidio resulted from a successful naming and shaming campaign by local feminist actors linked to litigation in various supranational arenas, and the intervention of feminist federal legislators. In Nicaragua, the codification of femicidio resulted from the state's selective responsiveness to feminist demands in a moment of narrow political opportunity within an otherwise highly consolidated regime. We also examine the unmaking of these laws through their perversion in practice (Mexico) and their intentional undermining (Nicaragua) at the hands of the state. Our analysis demonstrates how states' decisions to enact legislation against gendered violence does not occur solely because they are invested in international legitimacy, but also in response to states' shifting acceptance of the legitimacy of supranational authority itself.

show abstract

Section: Comparative Analytical Approach and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 2012, Ortega's party has controlled 134 out of 153 total municipalities. Most feminists have been excluded from the formal political process, relying primarily on social mobilization to pressure authorities (Kampwirth ). Such was the case of Law 779.…”

Section: Comparative Analytical Approach and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Making and Unmaking of Feminicidio/Femicidio Laws in Mexico and Nicaragua

Moral¹,

Neumann²

2019

Law Soc Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When Ortega took power, hope for health reform was high (Nading, 2013). The FSLN has implemented social programmes, such as eliminating fees for healthcare, and more funding for the health ministry was promised -all aiming in part to fulfil the promise made to help the poor and provide equitable access to healthcare (Guevara, 2014;Kampwirth, 2011;Nading, 2013). Ortega revamped public health campaigns as luchas populares (popular struggles) (Nading, 2013).…”

Section: Citizens' Expectations: a Responsible State Caring For The Poormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Equally, FSLN actively proclaims women's rights, building on revolutionary symbols of gender equality. Yet the government is also criticized for pursuing anti-feminist policies and thus preserving conservative gender roles within the family and the society (Heumann, 2014;Kampwirth, 2011).…”

Section: Citizens' Expectations: a Responsible State Caring For The Poormentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflicting Health Interventions: Participation in Health in Rural Nicaragua

Kvernflaten

2017

Forum for Development Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Word count: 10238 Birgit Kvernflaten is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her research has focused on reproductive health and maternal health in Guatemala and Nicaragua, exploring local perspectives in the context of policies and interventions. Her current PhD research concerns maternal health among rural women in Nicaragua, in particular the policies and practices in relation to maternal healthcare, and how maternal health interventions encounter local socio-cultural realities. Abstract Nicaragua has a long history of health activism and government policies aimed at achieving various models of participation in health. Drawing on ethnographic research in rural Nicaragua, this article situates contemporary participation within this larger historical and political context and critically explores how participation in health is understood and practised. Contemporary health interventions focus on compliance in their endeavour to improve maternal health. This focus, I argue, creates a productive tension between health seekers' and health workers' understanding of themselves as citizens and the government's attempt at achieving public health aims. My empirical focus is on the brigadistas (community health workers), women, and expectant mothers. I describe how brigadistas work as interlocutors between the government and the people. In this relation, women and brigadistas express expectations of and dissatisfaction with the healthcare services offered. Drawing upon an extensive literature on participation, I suggest that within this particular relational space a new political space may appear where demands for improved healthcare services can be articulated and recognized.

show abstract

“…A pivotal moment in this alienation occurred when key figures from the movement supported Ortega's stepdaughter after she accused him in 1998 of sexually abusing her from the age of 11. Ortega avoided prosecution because of his immunity as a member of the National Assembly, although the accusations tarnished his political credibility among women's groups throughout the region (Kampwirth :11). More recently, feminist organizations have vigorously challenged Sandinista support for a total abortion ban.…”

Section: Redress? the Iachr Hearingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Securing social difference: Militarization and sexual violence in an Afro‐Nicaraguan community

Goett

2015

American Ethnologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Renewed violence in Nicaragua in the aftermath of the 1980s Contra War is tied to the drug trade, drug war militarization, and the rise of the postwar security state. State sexual violence in an Afro‐Nicaraguan community under counternarcotics military occupation vividly demonstrates this linkage. I argue that state sexual violence in this case has served as a mechanism for asserting mestizo state sovereignty in a minoritized security zone. The forms of racial and patriarchal power that enabled the violence permeate the social body and structure political life in Nicaragua, and their diffuse nature has made it difficult for local people to find political redress for the abuses of state power that occurred in their community. Politically engaged feminist ethnography can illuminate the relationship between state security projects, preexisting social hierarchies, and endemic forms of insecurity and violence that remain difficult to politicize in postwar Central America.

show abstract

Latin America’s New Left and the Politics of Gender

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

The Making and Unmaking of Feminicidio/Femicidio Laws in Mexico and Nicaragua

The Making and Unmaking of Feminicidio/Femicidio Laws in Mexico and Nicaragua

Conflicting Health Interventions: Participation in Health in Rural Nicaragua

Securing social difference: Militarization and sexual violence in an Afro‐Nicaraguan community

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About