Feminist and Queer Perspectives on Latin American Social Movements

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses the key theories and concepts informing feminist and queer perspectives on Latin American social movements, which result both from processes of translation and contestation of theories produced by academic research in the North, and from the development of locally grounded theoretical perspectives. The chapter first reviews some of the principal debates and concepts developed in feminist and queer theory around critiques of the public/private divide and the resulting narrowly institutionalist conceptions of the political, which constitute challenges and contributions to mainstream theorizing of social movements. It continues by reviewing how feminist and queer perspectives in research have opened up avenues for analyzing the complexities of collective identity construction and the tensions within as well as among social movements. Finally, the chapter highlights new developments in feminist and queer social and political theorizing and epistemological reflection in the region that seek to “decolonize” knowledge production.