Philosophical Feminism in Latin America

Abstract

This chapter offers a critical survey of feminism in Latin America, highlighting the contributions of prominent Latin American feminists in art, politics, and philosophy. The essay begins with a discussion of the pioneering feminist ideas of Juana Inés de la Cruz and their reception in Latin American feminist thought; and it continues with an elucidation of contemporary feminist critiques of the neoliberal paradigm of “multiculturalism.” The chapter also discusses how, around 1995, Latin American feminism became split in the academy: on the one hand, there were those Latin American feminists who favored the strategy of diversifying the curriculum and including gender issues within the existing institutional and academic frameworks; and, on the other hand, there were those Latin American feminists who favored a more subversive strategy of ignoring traditional forms of academic recognition and privileging the engaged thought and action of the women’s movement.