Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of feminist mobilization in Latin America, punctuated by massive marches throughout the region to protest violence against women. This mobilization might seem to be unprecedented. Indeed, stereotypes of Latin America that circulate in the United States often depict it through the trope of machismo—a Spanish word that connotes clownish male chauvinism, sexism, and homophobia paired with female submissiveness. The reality of gender inequality and violence in the region was brought to public attention in the United States in 2018, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions banned immigration judges from considering the threat of domestic violence as a basis for refugee status for battered women from Central America. Sessions’ order was later overturned and the issue remains controversial. What went unremarked during this controversy is the role Latin American feminists played in identifying, denouncing, and combatting gender-based violence and inequality, and in making visible the intricate connections between the violation of women’s rights and other forms of social or political persecution. This feminist activity did not appear suddenly, but developed throughout the history of Latin American women’s activism over more than 100 years.

In this course, we will study the history of diverse Latin American feminisms since the nineteenth century, focusing on both local trajectories and their international impact. We will consider the ways Latin American women influenced the conception of international human rights and the creation of international women’s organizations as well as how they pressured for change at home, allying with other social movements. We will also look at the history of tensions between Latin American feminists and their United States counterparts. Using the University of Michigan’s Global Feminisms Archive, an online repository of interviews with feminists from around the world, students will analyze and contextualize the life history of a specific Latin American feminist within the broader history of global and local feminisms.

This is an intensive writing course. Students will complete short, informal writing assignments both prior to and during each class. These assignments will include critical summary of texts or visual materials, close textual analysis, personal reflection, and responses to reflections by classmates. Formal writing includes both short papers that will be submitted in draft and final form and a final project that will be submitted in various stages. We will incorporate co-authored reports into group projects. Students will learn to participle in constructive and effective peer review.