Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T22:51:38.793Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Barrio Women and Popular Politics in Chávez's Venezuela

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Abstract

Since President Hugo Chávez came to power in Venezuela in 1998, ordinary women from the barrios, or shantytowns, of Caracas have become more engaged in grassroots politics; but most of the community leaders still are men. Chávez's programs are controlled by male-dominated bureaucracies, and many women activists still look to the president himself as the main source of direction. Nevertheless, this article argues, women's increasing local activism has created forms of popular participation that challenge gender roles, collectivize private tasks, and create alternatives to male-centric politics. Women's experiences of shared struggle from previous decades, along with their use of democratic methods of popular control, help prevent the state from appropriating women's labor. But these spaces coexist with more vertical, populist notions of politics characteristic of official sectors of Chavismo. Understanding such gendered dimensions of popular participation is crucial to analyzing urban social movements.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvarez, Sonia. 1999. Advocating Feminism: the Latin American Feminist Ngo “Boom. International Feminist Journal of Politics 1, 2: 181–209.Google Scholar
Baptista, Felix, and Marchionda, Oswaldo. 1992. Para qué afinques? Bachelor of Arts thesis, Escuela de Antropología, Universidad Central de Venezuela.Google Scholar
Barrig, Maruja. 1989. The Difficult Equilibrium Between Bread and Roses: Women's Organizations and the Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy in Peru. In The Women's Movement in Latin America: Feminism and the Transition to Democracy, ed. Jaquette, Jane. Boston: Unwin Hyman. 151–76.Google Scholar
Barrig, Maruja. 1996. Women, Collective Kitchens, and the Crisis of the State in Peru. In Emergences: Women's Struggles for Livelihood in Latin America, ed. Friedman, John, Rebecca, Abers, and Autler, Lilian. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications. 5977.Google Scholar
Barrios, Carmen Teresa. 2005. Activist, Carretera Negra, La Vega Parish. Author interview. La Vega, January 27, 2005.Google Scholar
Bayard de Volo, Lorraine. 2001. Mothers of Heroes and Martyrs: Gender Identity Politics in Nicaragua, 1979–1999. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Botía, Alejandro. 2005. Círculos bolivarianos parecen burbujas en el limbo. Ultimas Noticias (Caracas), March 20.Google Scholar
Burbano de Lara, Felipe. 1998. A modo de introducción: el impertinente populismo. In El fantsma del populismo: aproximación a un tema [siempre] actual, ed. de Lara, Burbano. Caracas: Nueva Sociedad. 924.Google Scholar
Caldeira, Teresa. 1990. Women, Daily Life, and Politics. In Women and Social Change in Latin America, ed. Jelin, Elizabeth. London: Zed Books. 4778.Google Scholar
Castañeda, Nora. 2004. Por una sociedad justa y amante de la paz. In Bolivarianas: el protagonismo de las mujeres en la revolución venezolana, ed. Saiz, Mónica. Caracas: Ediciones Emancipación. 2536.Google Scholar
Castillo, Adicea, and de Salvatierra, Isolda H.. 2000. Las mujeres y el proceso constituyente venezolano. Revista Venezolana de Estudios de la Mujer 5, 14: 37–88.Google Scholar
Chun, Lin. 2001. Whither Feminism: a Note on China. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 26, 4: 1281–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Contreras, Juan. 2000. La coordinadora cultural Simón Bolívar: una experiencia de construcción del poder local en la parroquia 23 de Enero. Bachelor of Arts thesis, Escuela del Trabajo Social, Universidad Central de Venezuela.Google Scholar
Craske, Nikki. 1999. Women and Politics in Latin America. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Delgado, Arria Carol. 1995. Mujeres: una fuerza social en movimiento. Caracas: Comite Juntas por Venezuela Camino a Beijing.Google Scholar
Díaz Barriga, Miguel. 1998. Beyond the Domestic and the Public: Colonas' Participation in Urban Movements in Mexico City. In Cultures of Politics/Politics of Cultures: Re-visioning Latin American Social Movements, ed. Alvarez, Sonia, Dagnino, Evelina, and Escobar, Arturo. Boulder: Westview Press. 252–77.Google Scholar
Duque, José Roberto. 2004. Un gobierno, un proceso. Patriadentro 1, 5 (May): 21–27.Google Scholar
Ellner, Steve. 2005. The Revolutionary and Non-Revolutionary Paths of Radical Populism: Directions of the Chavista Movement in Venezuela. Science and Society 69, 2 (April): 160–90.Google Scholar
Fernandes, Sujatha. 2006. Transnationalism and Feminist Activism in Cuba: the Case of Magín. Politics and Gender 1, 3: 1–22.Google Scholar
Friedman, Elisabeth Jay. 1998. Paradoxes of Gendered Political Opportunity in the Venezuelan Transition to Democracy. Latin American Research Review 33, 3: 87–135.Google Scholar
Friedman, Elisabeth Jay. 1999. The Effects of “Transnationalism Reversed” in Venezuela: Assessing the Impact of U.N. Global Conferences on the Women's Movement. International Feminist Journal of Politics 1, 3: 357–81.Google Scholar
Friedman, Elisabeth Jay. 2000. Unfinished Transitions: Women and the Gendered Development of Democracy in Venezuela, 1936–1996. University Park: Penn State University Press.Google Scholar
García Guadilla, María-Pilar. 1993. Ecologia: Women, Environment and Politics in Venezuela. In Viva: Women and Popular Protest in Latin America, ed. Radcliffe, Sarah and Westwood, Sallie. London: Routledge. 6587.Google Scholar
Gott, Richard. 2000. In the Shadow of the Liberator: Hugo Chávez and the Transformation of Venezuela. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Grohmann, Peter. 1996. Macarao y su gente: movimiento popular y autogestión en los barrios de Caracas. Caracas: Nueva Sociedad.Google Scholar
Herrera de, Weishaar, Luisa, María, Ferreira, María, and Cabrera, Carlos. 1977. Parroquia La Vega: estudio micro-histórico. Caracas: Consejo Municipal del Distrito Federal.Google Scholar
Howell, Jude. 1998. Gender, Civil Society and the State in China. In Gender, Politics and the State, ed. Randall, Vicky and Waylen, Georgina. London: Routledge. 166–84.Google Scholar
James, Daniel. 2000. Doña María's Story: Life History, Memory, and Political Identity. Durham: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Jelin, Elizabeth. 1987. Movimientos sociales y democracia emergente. Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina.Google Scholar
Karl, Terry. 1987. Petroleum and Political Pacts: the Transition to Democracy in Venezuela. Latin American Research Review 22, 1: 63–94.Google Scholar
Levine, Daniel. 1998. Beyond the Exhaustion of the Model: Survival and Transformation of Democracy in Venezuela. In Reinventing Legitimacy: Democracy and Political Change in Venezuela, ed. Canache, Damarys and Kulisheck, Michael R.. Westport: Greenwood Press. 187214.Google Scholar
Lind, Amy Conger. 1992. Power, Gender, and Development: Popular Women's Organizations and the Politics of Needs in Ecuador. In The Making of Social Movements in Latin America: Identity, Strategy, and Democracy, ed. Escobar, Arturo and Alvarez, Sonia. Boulder: Westview Press. 134–49.Google Scholar
Lind, Amy Conger. 1997. Gender, Development, and Urban Social Change: Women's Community Action in Global Cities. World Development 25, 8: 1205–23.Google Scholar
Lind, Amy Conger. 2005. Gendered Paradoxes: Women's Movements, State Restructuring, and Global Development in Ecuador. University Park: Penn State University Press.Google Scholar
López-Maya, Margarita. 2004. Hugo Chávez Frías: His Movement and His Presidency. In Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization, and Conflict, ed. Ellner, Steve and Hellinger, Daniel. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. 7392.Google Scholar
López-Maya, Margarita, Smilde, David, and Stephany, Keta. 1999. Protesta y cultura en Venezuela: los marcos de acción colectiva en 1999. Caracas: CENDES.Google Scholar
Luna, Lola. 1995. Los movimientos de mujeres an América Latina o hacia una nueva interpretación de la participatión política. Boletín Americanista 35: 249–56.Google Scholar
Martín Barbero, Jesús. 1993. Communication, Culture and Hegemony: From the Media to Mediations. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Massolo, Alejandra. 1999. Defender y cambiar la vida. Mujeres en movimientos populares urbanos, Cuicuilco 6 (17): 1323.Google Scholar
Mendoza, Osvaldo. 2006. Police officer, Carretera Negra. Author interview, February 3.Google Scholar
Molyneux, Maxine. 1986. Mobilization Without Emancipation? Women's Interest, the State, and Revolution in Nicaragua. In Transition and Development: Problems of Third World Socialism, ed. Fagen, Richard R., Deere, Carmen Diana, and Goraggio, José Luis. New York: Monthly Review Press/Center for the Study of the Americas. 280302.Google Scholar
Molyneux, Maxine. 1998. Analysing Women's Movements. Development and Change 29: 219–45.Google Scholar
Molyneux, Maxine. 2000. State, Gender, and Institutional Change: The Federación de Mujeres Cubanas. In Hidden Histories of Gender and the State in Latin America, ed. Dore, Elizabeth and Molyneux, . Durham: Duke University Press. 291321.Google Scholar
Molyneux, Maxine. 2001. Women's Movements in International Perspective: Latin America and Beyond. New York: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgen, Sandra. 1988. “It Is the Whole Power of the City Against Us”: The Development of Political Consciousness in a Women's Health Care Coalition. In Women and the Politics of Empowerment, ed. Morgen, and Bookman, Ann. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 97115.Google Scholar
Moser, Caroline. 1986. Women's Needs in the Urban System: Training Strategies in Gender Aware Planning. In Learning About Women and Urban Services in Latin America and the Caribbean, ed. Bruce, Judith, Kohn, Marilyn and Schmink, Marianne. New York: Population Council.Google Scholar
Mujica, María-Elena. 1992. Nourishing Life and Justice: Communal Kitchens in Lima, Peru. Latin American Anthropology Review 4, 2: 99–101.Google Scholar
Muñoz, Mercedes. 2000. Derechos sexuales y reproductivos y proceso constituyente. Revista Venezolana de Estudios de la Mujer 5, 14: 123–46.Google Scholar
Paley, Julia. 2001. Marketing Democracy: Power and Social Movements in Post-Dictatorship Chile. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petzoldt, Fania, and Bevilacqua, Jacinta. 1979. Nosotras también nos jugamos la vida: testimonios de la mujer venezolana en la lucha clandestina, 1948–1958. Caracas: Editorial Ateneo de Caracas.Google Scholar
Rakowski, Cathy. 2003. Women's Coalitions as a Strategy at the Intersection of Economic and Political Change in Venezuela. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 16, 3: 387–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramos, Nelly. 2004. Trabajadora cultural a tiempo completo. In San Agustín: un santo pecador o un pueblo creador, ed. Antonio, Marrero. Caracas: Fundarte. 173–82.Google Scholar
Ramos, Rollon, Luisa, María. 1995. De las protestas a las propuestas: identidad, acción y relevancia política del movimiento vecinal en Venezuela. Caracas: Instituto de Estudios de Iberoamérica y Portugal.Google Scholar
Randall, Vicky. 1998. Gender and Power: Women Engage the State. In Gender, Politics, and the State, ed. Randall, and Waylen, Georgina. London: Routledge. 185205.Google Scholar
Roberts, Kenneth. 2003. Social Correlates of Party System Demise and Populist Resurgence in Venezuela. Latin American Politics and Society 45, 3: 35–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Kenneth. 2004. Social Polarization and the Populist Resurgence in Venezuela. In Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization, and Conflict, ed. Ellner, Steve and Hellinger, Daniel. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. 5572.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, Lilia. 1994. Barrio Women: between the Urban and the Feminist Movement. Latin American Perspectives 21, 3: 32–48.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, Susana. 2005. Community leader, Fundación Cultural Simón Bolívar. Author interview. Caracas, January 13.Google Scholar
Safa, Helen. 1990. Women's Social Movements in Latin America. Gender and Society 4, 3: 354–69.Google Scholar
Schild, Veronica. 1998. New Subjects of Rights? Women's Movements and the Construction of Citizenship in the New Democracies. In Cultures of Politics/Politics of Cultures: Re-visioning Latin American Social Movements, ed. Alvarez, Sonia, Dagnino, Evelina, and Escobar, Arturo. Boulder: Westview Press. 93117.Google Scholar
Silva Michelena, Héctor. 1999. La politíca social en Venezuela durante los años ochenta y noventa. In Política social: exclusión y equidad en Venezuela durante los años noventa, ed. Alvares, Lourdes, del Rosario, Helia Isabel, and Robles, Jesús. Caracas: Nueva Sociedad. 85114.Google Scholar
Stephen, Lynn. 1997. Women and Social Movements in Latin America: Power from Below. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Valdivieso, Magdalena. 2004. Confrontación, machismo y democracia: representaciones del heroismo en la polarización política en Venezuela. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales 10, 2: 137–54.Google Scholar
Villá, Marc (director) 2004. La Vega resiste. Documentary film. Caracas: Consejo Nacional de la Cultura.Google Scholar
Wagner, Sarah. 2005. Venezuela's Chávez Announces Second Stage of Food Distribution Network. Venezuela Analysis. http://www.globalexchange.orgcountriesamericasvenezuela3196.html Accessed June 22, 2007.Google Scholar
Westwood, Sallie, and Sarah, Radcliffe. 1993. Gender, Racism and the Politics of Identities in Latin America. In Viva: Women and Popular Protest in Latin America, ed. Radcliffe, and Westwood, . London: Routledge. 125.Google Scholar
Wuytack, Francisco. 2005. Former parish priest, barrio Carmen. Author interview. Caracas, August 1.Google Scholar