Imaginarios Espaciales e Identidad Colectiva en las Luchas por los Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres en Honduras

Abstract

In recent years, geographic analysis on social movements has emphasised the influence ofactors’ concepts, lived experiences and perceptions of space on the emergence of collectiveaction. Cultural approaches to social movements in Latin America as well as feministscholarship have revealed that women’s collective action is shaped by their perceptions ofinstitutional and societal challenges, which are rooted in authoritarian and patriarchal cultureprevalent in their society. This article combines geographic and cultural approaches to socialmovements as well as transnational feminist theories to explore women’s human rightsmobilisation in Honduras after the coup d’état in 2009. It investigates how a group of urbanand rural activists that included feminists, rural women, students and community leaders,adopted human rights discourses and practices to respond to the coup. The article draws oninterviews and focus group discussions to suggest firstly, that protests in response to the coupshaped the interviewees’ spatial imaginaries and particularly considers how urban feminists’spatial imaginaries were merged with those of rural women under the collective framework ofhuman rights. Secondly, the study demonstrates that a collective identity as women humanrights defenders was crucial for the emergence of collective action and also prompted theestablishment of a national network. This case study contributes to research on women’scollective action to negotiate women’s rights, human rights and social justice in changingpolitical processes.