Freshman Honors Seminar
Women in Social Movements in Latin America
FRSEM 493-001
Spring-2014
Prof. Pamela Calla
pc1210@nyu.edu
212-998-3645
pamcalla@gmail.com
347 324 7605
Room: 404 (KJCC)
Thursday, 2;00-4:30
Office hours: Monday,
13:00-15:00
This seminar will explore women’s political agency and emancipatory thought and action
in diverse social movements throughout Latin America. We will locate this agency and
characterize the thought and actions of women within social movements in various
national contexts. We will look at the rising transnationalism of the movements under
scrutiny. We will see the diverse shapes and forms that these movements took and
immerse ourselves in the specific historical, political and cultural context where they
sprang up. We will focus on indigenous and other popular sectors as well as middle class
movements concentrating on the ways in which women brought new meanings and
vitality to the diverse forms of struggle of these movements.
A central consideration in this exploration is the historical relation between movements
and states and the “gendered logics” that enter in the confrontations and negotiations
between the two. This will allow us to weave women’s individual and collective agendas
in relation to their own notions of political and democratic gains and inclusion and
attainment (or not) of economic, cultural, racial and gender justice vis-à-vis themselves,
their organizations, and the state in each country examined. Here, we will focus on the
usefulness of testimony, documentaries and exhibits, as ways to convey the multiple
voices, sites, positionings and context where women wage their struggles vis-à-vis the
state.
A very important question throughout the semester and at each phase of our exploration
is the way in which women in social movements in Latin America have embraced (or
not) feminist stances and positions. The seminar will thus look at women’s political
agency in a tense and productive dialogue with diverse and emergent feminist currents
glocally.
Evaluation:
Attendance is crucial for the successful performance of the student in this Freshman
Honors Seminar. Students will be responsible for one 4-page response paper due March
1; one 4-page response paper due April 1, and a final 8-10 page paper (dates TBA). There
will be individual presentations as discussion triggers of one article per student in class.
Students will meet with the professor prior to their presentations. Group work is also
important, for this, students will organize in groups and collaborate in aspects pertaining
the theme of the course “women in social movements” in the organization of the exhibit
“Stories of El Salvador: The Civil War and Its Aftermath,” April 1-May 2, 2014. A 2
page write up of the experience of collaboration will be expected from each student.
15 % for attendance and participation
10 % for short presentation in class (TBA)
15 % for 4 page response paper (March 1)
15 % for 4 page response paper (April 1)
10 % for collaborative project participation and write up (April 29)
35 % for final paper (May 15)
Books to be purchased:
Domitila Chungara, Let Me Speak!: Testimony of Domitila, a Woman of the Bolivian
Mines. Moema Viezzer (Author), Victoria Ortiz (Translator)
Rigoberta Menchu, I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala
Elisabeth Burgos-Debray (Editor), Ann Wright (Translator)
Invited Speakers:
Nieves Aires (Chile-Bronx)
Temma Kaplan (Rutgers University)
Lynn Stephen (University of Oregon)
Videos
Colombia: We Women Warriors
Chile: Memoria Obstinada
Bolivia: Las hermanas de las Bartolina Sisa
Peru: A Woman’s womb
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/4623/A-Woman-s-Womb
Bolivia: “Even the Rain”
Exhibit:
Stories of El Salvador: The Civil War and Its Aftermath, April 1-May 2, 2014
Week 1, Jan. 30: Introduction
Week 2, Feb. 6: 1) Writing Workshop// 2)Women in Social Movements: Framing
the discussion
1) Writing workshop (45’)
2) Second part of class
Greg Grandin, “Introduction” In Empire’s Workshop.
Stephen, Lynn. 2013. Chapter 1: Testimony, Human Rights and Social Movements. In
We are the Face of Oaxaca: Testimony and Social Movements. Duke University Press
Nancy Fraser (2009) "Mapping the Feminist Imagination: From Redistribution to
Recognition to Representation" In Scales of Justice. Reimagining Political Space in a
Globalized World.
Week 3, Feb. 13: From Democratic Socialism to Dictatorship: Women’s Struggles in
Chile throughout 1970’s
Temma Kaplan. 2004. Prologue, Chapter 2 and 3. Taking Back the Streets: Women,
Youth, and Direct Democracy (online Bobst)
Invited speakers: “Sharing visions”, Nieves Aires and Temma Kaplan
Movie: “La Memoria Obstinada” Patricio Guzman
Week 4, Feb. 20: From Dictatorship to Democracy: “Wives” and the Politics of
Difference and Equality in Bolivia throughout the 70’s
Domitila Chungara, Let Me Speak!: Testimony of Domitila, a Woman of the Bolivian
Mines. Moema Viezzer (Author), Victoria Ortiz (Translator)
You tube about Domitila Chungara
Movie: Las Hermanas de las Bartolinas
Complementary:
June Nash. 1984. Chapter 5. We eat the mines and the mines eat us.
Book and video: Maria Lagos, Introduction, Chapters 1, 2 and 11. In Al Rojo Vivo y a
Puro Golpe
Week 5, Feb 27: What the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo started in Argentina: A
generational struggle
Temma Kaplan, Making Spectacles of themselves in Argentina. Chapters 4 and 5. Taking
Back the Streets
Diane Taylor. HIJOS. In The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory
in the Americas. Durham: Duke University Press
You tube: Scratches
Week 6, March 6: Peer editing review workshop//Armed Struggles and the Gender
of Revolutions: Central America and Cuba
Margareth Randall, 1992. Chapter 1 Gathering Rage: The failure of Twentieth Century
Revolutions to Develop a Feminist Agenda. New York: Monthly Review Press
Karen Kampwirth. 2004. Introduction and Chapter 5. Feminism and the Legacy of
Revolution: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas
Karen Kampwirth. 2005. Chapter 4 Cuba. In Women and Guerilla Movements :
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas, Cuba
Complementary:
Jocelyn Olcott, 2006. “The Center Cannot Hold. Women on Mexico’s Popular Front” In
Sex in Revolution: Gender, Politics and Power in Modern Mexico, Duke University Press
Week 7, March 14: Preparing for the exhibit: El Salvador
Stephen, Lynn. 1997. Interview: Morena Herrera, Women for Dignity and Life. In
Women and Social Movements in Latin America: Power from Below
Karen Kampwirth. 2004. Chapter 3. Feminism and the Legacy of Revolution: Nicaragua,
El Salvador, Chiapas
Invited speakers and organizers of activities with students: Jose Raul Guzman and
Camilla Querin, curators of the exhibit “Stories of El Salvador: The Civil War and Its
Aftermath,” April 1-May 2, 2014 (Digital catalogue, Framing, Installation)
SPRING RECESS
Week 8, March 27: The politics of difference and equality in the 1980’s Central
America’s Wars
Movie: When the Mountains Tremble
Rigoberta Menchu, I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala
Elisabeth Burgos-Debray (Editor), Ann Wright (Translator)
Week 9: April 4: The appropiation of global human rights discourse
Movie: Granito
Victoria Sanford, From I, Rigoberta to the Commissioning of Truth: Maya Women and
the Reshaping of Guatemalan History. Cultural Critique - 47, Winter 2001, pp. 16-53
Daniel Hernandez, Angel’s of Memory, Guatemala Exhibit.
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/angels-watch-over-memories-of-war/?_r=0
You tube: Trial of Rios Montt
https://www.google.com/#q=trial+of+rios+montt++youtube
Week 10: April 10: Beijing, neoliberalism and reproductive and sexual Politics
Jocelyn Olcott. “Cold War Conflicts and Cheap Cabaret. Sexual Politics at the 1975
United Nations International Women’s Year Conference” Paper presented at The
NYHWG
Movie: A Woman’s womb
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/4623/A-Woman-s-Womb
Margarita Huayua, Ethnic cleansing in Peru: "Family planning" under Fujimori
Manuscript (Draft).
Week 11, April 17: Women as part of anti-neoliberal movements
Sonia Alvarez, ""Latin American Feminists Go Global" in Cultures of Politics/Politics of
Cultures, pp 293-324.
Stephen, Lynn. 2013. Chapter 6. In We are the Face of Oaxaca: Testimony and Social
Movements. Duke University Press
Website: Media and Gender. We are the Face of Oaxaca: Testimony and Social
Movements
Brazil: Women in the Movimiento Sin Tierra
Complementary:
Ochy Curiel “La Crítica Postcolonial desde las Prácticas Políticas del Feminismo
Antiracista”
Week 12, April 24: Indigeneity, Feminisms and Intercultural Paradigms in tension
Aida Hernandez “Between feminist ethnocentricity and ethnic essentialism: the
Zapatista’s demands and the National Women’s Movement” Gender and Cultural Politics
in Chiapas University of Texas Press 2006 Speed, Shannon Hernandez Castillo, Aida
Stephen, Lynne (Eds.)
Manuela Picq “Identity Politics in Ecuador: Trapped between Gender and Ethnicity”
Julieta Paredes. 2010. Hilando Fino. Translated by Margareth Cerrullo
Complementary:
Franco, Jean. (2010) “Moving from Subalternity: Indigenous Women from Guatemala
and Mexico” In Reflections on the History of an Idea. Can the Subaltern Speak? R.
Morris Ed.
Week 13, May 2: Resources, territoriality and extraction: Gender/Race
considerations
Movie: Even the Rain
Elizabeth Peredo Beltran with Carmen Peredo and Virginia Amurrio of
“executive summary” In The Cochabamba Federation of Irrigators, Water, Privatization
and Conflict: Women from the Cochabamba Valley (Heinrich Boll Foundation, 2004)
http://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/assets/boell.de/images/download_de/internationale
politik/gip4.pdf
Nina Laurie, Gender Water Networks: Femininity and Masculinity in Water Politics in
Bolivia. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 35, Issue 1,
pages 172-188, January 2011.
Complementary:
Nina Laurie, Establishing Development Orthodoxy: Negotiating Masculinities in the
Water Sector. Development and Change, Volume 36, Issue 3, Pages 527-549, May 2005
Sharlene Mollett, (2010) “Esta listo? (Are you ready?) Gender, race and land registration
in Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve”. Gender, Place and Culture, 17: 3, 357-375
Week 14, May 8: Constitutional Reforms, Interlegality and gender: Territory, state
and/or communal justice
Rachel Sieder and Teresa Sierra. 2010. Indigenous Women’s Access to Justice in Latin
America. CMI Working Paper.
Stephanie Russeau. “Indigenous and Feminist Movements at the Constituent Assembly in
Bolivia” Latin America Research Review Vol 46, No 2, 2011 LASA
Writing Tutor:
(TBA)
Free peer tutoring and academic coaching, one-to-one sessions, group reviews,
workshops, and more!!
University Learning Center
www.nyu.edu/ulc
ULC@Academic Resource Center, 18 Washington Place, Lower Level
ULC@UHall, 110 East 14th Street, top of stairs by UHall Commons