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The Left and “Life” in El Salvador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2012

Jocelyn Viterna
Affiliation:
Harvard University

Extract

Throughout the past decade, governments across Latin America have experienced an unprecedented swing to the left. In this essay, I ask: Does the rise of the Left promote women's equality? Or in contrast, could women's continued subordination be an important factor promoting the rise of the Left? Using the case of El Salvador, I demonstrate how the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) deradicalized its public image—away from “guerrilla insurgents” and toward a viable political party—at least in part by converting its 1980s support for reproductive rights into present-day support for one of the most restrictive abortion policies in the world. I conclude that reversing the causal question about gender and left-leaning political parties may not only extend our understanding of the complicated relationship between gender and the Left but also improve our understanding of the factors moving Latin America from right to left, and from “red” to “pink.”

Type
Critical Perspectives on Gender and Politics
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2012

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References

REFERENCES

ARENA. 2004. “Primero El Salvador.” Campaign booklet produced for the 2004 presidential election.Google Scholar
CRLP (Center for Reproductive Law and Policy). 2001. Persecuted: Political Process and Abortion Legislation in El Salvador. New York: CRLP.Google Scholar
Gonzales, Alfonso. 2009. “The FMLN Victory and Transnational Salvadoran Activism: Lessons for the Future.NACLA Report on the Americas 42 (4): 45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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