Skip to main content
Log in

Brazilian feminisms: central and peripheral issues

  • Local/Global Interrogations Panel
  • Published:
Feminist Review

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. In addition to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia also experienced longer or shorter processes of military coups and governments, from the mid-1960s to the 1980s, with the latter decade representing a common moment of finalization of these military dictatorships. About feminisms in Brazil and Latin America see the works of Joana Maria Pedro (2006, 2008) and Sonia Alvarez (2000), among others.

  2. Femenías (2006) ironically makes a reversed sketch of the ‘origins’, of Latin-American feminism recalling Mexican Sister Inês de la Cruz, in the seventeenth century. For a criticism of the historicization of feminism in different phases, see Hemmings (2005).

  3. Karla Galvão Adrião developed this idea of the spheres of Brazilian feminism in her doctoral thesis of 2008. The study provides an interesting review of the Brazilian feminist field from an analysis of feminist forums and meetings in different spheres (academic, government and social movement).

  4. Other Latin-American countries such as Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador have also created government agencies dedicated to women's rights. See Alvarez (2000).

  5. One of the demands of the participants at the first National Meeting on Gender and Science, also financed by the Special Women's Ministry (SPM) in 2006, was that the political platform approved, in addition to being government policy, be consolidated as State policy.

  6. For a critical discussion about this notion see Álvarez (2009).

  7. See Alvarez (2000); Thayer (2001); Piscitelli (2005), among others.

  8. Formed in the preparatory moment of the participation of the Brazilian activists at the Beijing meeting, in 1995, AMB became one of the main political forces in Brazilian feminism. See Alvarez (2000).

  9. International network and movement, with its origins in Canada, with the aim to unite women from different countries around a common project articulating the feminist struggle with an anti-capitalist project.

  10. Responsible for the campaign ‘Su boca es fundamental contra los fundamentalismos’ (‘your mouth is fundamental against fundamentalism’).

  11. Like the MMTR, Rural Women Workers Movement and the MMC, Peasant Women Movement. About the peasant women, see Thayer (2001) and two dossiers of REF: Agriculture Women in the South of Brazil (Vol. 12, No.1, 2004) and Women in rural areas of North and Northeast of Brazil (Vol. 15, No.2, 2007).

  12. For an analysis of the meetings, from the first, in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1981, to the ‘last of the Millennium’, the eighth Meeting at Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic, see Alvarez et al. (2003). For an analysis of the tenth Meeting, see Maluf (2007) and Adrião (2008).

  13. On the circulation of theories, see Piscitelli (2005); Costa (1998, 2004), among others.

  14. About this dynamic among feminists from Chile, see Schild (2003).

  15. This has been the issue of two editions of the Thematic Seminars Subjects of Feminism: theories and politics, coordinated by myself, Telma Gurgel and Karla Galvão Adrião, organized at the seventh and eighth Seminário Internacional Fazendo Gênero. It is also the theme of the research project that I have conducted since 2004, entitled: For an Anthropology of the Subject: dialogues between feminist theories of the subject and anthropological theories of the Person.

  16. The same debate took place on the issue of affirmative action policies and of quotas for Black people at Brazilian universities, regarding who can be considered a Black woman or man and thus be eligible for quotas, through antagonist proposals for self-identification and of hetero-identification (that is, a committee designated by the university must confirm or not the self-identification).

  17. I discuss this question of the use of the category ‘woman’ and of the politics of subjectivity in Brazilian feminism in Maluf (2007).

  18. At several moments the discussion about where the line is for who is or is not feminist circulated through several meetings (see Alvarez et al., 2003).

  19. Femenías (2007: 18).

  20. I refer to persons, groups, discourses and hegemonic languages that have greater visibility, legitimacy and recognition.

  21. About the pressures of the GLBTT movement at the United Nations for homosexual rights, see Butler (2004).

  22. See Femenías (2006). On the ‘otherness’ of Latin-American feminism, marked by the opposition between (Latin American) experience and practice, and discourse and theory (of central feminisms), see the critiques by Nelly Richard (2002).

References

  • Adrião, K.G. (2008) Encontros do feminismo: uma análise do campo feminista brasileiro a partir das esferas do movimento, do governo e da academia. Florianopolis, SC, 301f. Tese (Doutorado) – Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas. Programa de Pós-graduação Interdisciplinar em Ciências Humanas.

  • Álvarez, S. (2000) ‘A ‘globalização’ dos feminismos latino-americanos. Tendências dos anos 90 e desafios para o novo milênio’ in Àlvarez, S., Dagnino, E. and Escobar, A. (2000) orgs., Cultura e política nos movimentos sociais latino-americanos, Belo Horizonte: Ed. UFMG, 383–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez, S. (2009) ‘Beyond NGO-ization? Reflections from Latin America’ Development, Vol. 52, No. 2: 175–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez, S.E., Friedman, E.J., Beckman, E., Blackwell, M., Chinchila, N.S., Lebon, N., Navarro, M. and Tobar, M.R. (2003) ‘Encontrando os feminismos latino-americanos’ Revista Estudos Feministas, Vol. 11, No. 2: 541–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (2004) Undoing Gender, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, J.J.de (2002) ‘Poder e silenciamento na representação etnográfica’. Série Antropologiá, n. 316. Depto de Antropologia, Universidade de Brasilia.

  • Costa, C.L. (1998) ‘O tráfico do gênero’ Cadernos Pagu, Vol. 11: 127–140.

  • Costa, C.L. (2004) ‘Feminismo, tradução, transnacionalismo’ in Costa, C.L. and Schmidt, S.P. (2004) editors, Poéticas e políticas feministas, Florianópolis: Editora Mulheres.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunha, O.M.G.da (2002) ‘Reflexões sobre biopoder e pós-colonialismo: relendo Fanon e Foucault’ Mana, Vol. 8, No. 1: 149–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 10 ENCONTRO Feminista Latino-americano e do Caribe (2005) ‘Porque queremos a abertura dos Encontros Feministas às pessoas trans’.

  • Femenías, M.L. (2006) ‘Introdución’ in Femenías, M.L. (2006) Comp., Feminismos de Paris a La Plata, Buenos Aires: Catálogo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Femenías, M.L. (2007) ‘Esbozo de um feminismo latinoamericano’ Revista Estudos Feministas, Vol. 15, No. 1: 11–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, N. (2007) ‘Mapeando a imaginação feminista: da redistribuição ao reconhecimento e à representação’ Revista Estudos Feministas, Vol. 15, No. 2: 291–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemmings, C. (2005) ‘Telling feminists stories’ Feminist Theory, Vol. 6, No. 2: 115–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPEA (2009) ‘Retrato das desigualdades de gênero e raça no Brasil’.

  • Maluf, S.W. (2004) ‘Os dossiês da REF: além das fronteiras entre academia e militância’ Revista Estudos Feministas, Vol. 12: 235–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maluf, S.W. (2007) ‘Políticas e teorias do sujeito no feminismo contemporâneo’ in Silva, C.B.da, Assis, G.O. and e Kamita, R. (2007) editors, Gênero em movimento: novos olhares, muitos lugares ed, Florianópolis: Editora Mulheres, Vol. 1: 31–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, H. (2000) ‘Fantasias de poder e fantasias de identidade: gênero, raça e violência’ Cadernos Pagu, Vol. 14: 13–44, Campinas: Unicamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedro, J.M. (2006) ‘Narrativas fundadoras do feminismo: poderes e conflitos (1970–1978)’ Revista Brasileira de História, Vol. 26, No. 52: 249–272, São Paulo: ANPUH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedro, J.M. (2008) ‘O feminismo que veio do exílio: memórias de uma segunda onda no Brasil, na Argentina e no Uruguai (1964–89)’ in Aarão, R.D. and Rolland, D. (2008) editors, Modernidades alternativas, Rio de Janeiro: Ed. FGV, 157–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piscitelli, A. (2005) ‘As viagens das teorias no embate entre práticas acadêmicas, feminismos globais e ativismos locais’ in Quartim de Moraes, M.L. (2005) Org., Gênero nas fronteiras do Sul, Pagu/Unicamp 143–163.

  • REF (Revista Estudos Feministas) (2003) ‘Dossiê Feminismos e o Fórum Social Mundial’ Vol. 11, No. 2.

  • Richard, N. (2002) Intervenções críticas. Arte, gênero e política, Belo Horizonte: Ed. UFMG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schild, V. (2003) ‘Novos sujeitos de direitos? Os movimentos de mjulheres e a construção da cidadania nas “novas democracias”’ in Àlvarez, S., Dagnino, E. and Escobar, A. (2003) orgs., Cultura e política nos movimentos sociais latino-americanos, Belo Horizonte: Ed. UFMG, 149–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, M. (2001) ‘Feminismo transnacional. Relendo Joan Scott no sertão’ Revista Estudos Feministas, Vol. 9, No. 1: 103–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper was presented as part of Feminist Review's Conference celebrating 30 years of the journal. The ‘Feminist Theory & Activism in Global Perspective’ Conference was held at SOAS, The University of London, on September 26, 2009.

I would like to thank Ana Veiga for translating this text from Portuguese in a very short time and Jeff Hoff for the revision.

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Maluf, S. Brazilian feminisms: central and peripheral issues. Fem Rev 98 (Suppl 1), e36–e51 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.2011.28

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.2011.28

Navigation