Transnational Feminist Networks Building Regions in Latin America

Abstract

This article presents an approach in feminist geopolitics that seeks to expand the regionalism approach to transnational feminist action in Latin America. After a brief discussion on literature, it analyzes the discourses and practices of three Latin American feminist networks, the Network of Women Transforming the Economy, the Latin American Chapter of International Gender and Trade Network, and Marcosur Feminist Articulation. It considers the meanings each network gives to integration to understand how they negotiated and decided on a tense, ambivalent meaning. The analysis of the symbolic and material negotiations of the transnational feminist networks studied and their encounters and conflicts show their contribution to building regions, the progressive redefinition of Latin America, and the emergence and consolidation of South America as a privileged reference for action. The reflections are based on intensive fieldwork conducted with more than 40 feminist activists in different Latin American countries from 2003 to 2004 and from 2010 to 2102.