Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-nwzlb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T10:42:06.472Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Redefining Alliances in the Struggle for Organizational Autonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2017

Anahi Morales Hudon*
Affiliation:
Saint Paul University
*
Faculté des sciences humaines, Saint Paul University, 223 rue Main, Ottawa ON, K1S 1C4, email: amorales@ustpaul.ca

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to discussions around alliances and collaborations between feminisms. It analyses relations between movements in the development of indigenous women's organizational autonomy in Mexico. It seeks to understand how the struggle for autonomy involved a redefinition of the forms of collaboration by indigenous women in the consolidation of their movement. An intersectional perspective is proposed to better understand how power relations affect the organizing processes of social movements, as well as how organizations and individuals respond to and challenge them. I argue here that the redefinition of collaborations and alliances has been a key determinant in the organizing capacity of indigenous women to position themselves as autonomous political actors. From the analysis of two specific cases, this paper poses broader questions regarding representation and autonomy that may be applied towards a reflection of our feminist practices and discourses of solidarity.

Résumé

Cet article vise à contribuer aux échanges entourant les alliances et collaborations entre féminismes. Il analyse les relations entre différents mouvements dans le développement de l'autonomie organisationnelle des femmes autochtones au Mexique. Il cherche à comprendre comment la lutte pour l'autonomie implique une redéfinition des formes de collaboration par les femmes autochtones dans la consolidation de leur mouvement. Une perspective intersectionnelle est proposée afin de mieux comprendre les relations de pouvoir qui affectent les processus organisationnels des mouvements sociaux, ainsi que les réponses des organisations et individus. Je soutiens que la redéfinition des collaborations et alliances a été un déterminant clé dans la capacité organisationnelle des femmes autochtones de se positionner comme des actrices politiques autonomes. À partir d'une analyse de deux cas spécifiques, cet article soulève des questions plus larges quant à la représentation et l'autonomie qui peuvent alimenter une réflexion de nos pratiques féministes et discours de solidarité.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvarez, Sonia E. 1998. “Latin American Feminisms ‘Go Global’: Trends of the 1990s and Challenges for the New Millennium.” In Cultures of politics/politics of cultures: re-visioning Latin American social movements, ed. Alvarez, Sonia E., Dagnino, Evelina and Escobar, Arturo. Colorado: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Arvin, Maile, Tuck, Eve and Morril, Angie. 2013. “Decolonizing Feminism: Challenging Connections between Settler Colonialism and Heteropatriarchy.Feminist Formations 25 (1): 834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becerril Albarrán, Nahela and Bonfil, Paloma. 2012. “GIMTRAP A.C. Proyecto Estratégia de fortalecimiento de liderazgos femeninos indígenas en el ámbito político en Chiapas, Oaxaca, y San Luis Potosí.” In Por un futuro de derechos, ed. Bonfil, Paloma. Mexico: Indesol; GELIC AC.Google Scholar
Bernstein, Mary. 2008. “The Analytical Dimensions of Identity: A Political Framework.” In Identity work in social movements, ed. Reger, Jo, Myers, Daniel J., and Einwohner, Rachel L.. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Bilge, Sirma. 2010. “Recent Feminist Outlooks on Intersectionality.Diogenes 57 (1): 5872.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackwell, Maylei. 2006. “Weaving in the Spaces: Indigenous Women's Organizing and the Politics of Scale in Mexico.” In Dissident Women: Gender and cultural politics in Chiapas, ed. Speed, Shannon, Castillo, R. Aída Hernández and Stephen, Lynn. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Bonfil, Paloma, ed. 2012. Por un futuro de derechos. Alianzas estratégicas entre mujeres indígenas y la sociedad civil organizada. Mexico: Indesol.Google Scholar
Castro Apreza, Yolanda. 2003. “J'pas Joloviletik-Jolom Mayaetik-K'inal Antzetik. An Organizational Experience of Indigenous and Mestiza Women.” In Women of Chiapas, ed. Eber, Christine and Kovic, Christine. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.Stanford Law Review 43 (6): 1241.Google Scholar
Duarte Bastian, Ángela Ixkic. 2005. Memorias del encuentro taller Compartiendo experiencias: aportes y retos de las mujeres indígenas en las luchas de sus pueblos. México: CIESAS.Google Scholar
Eber, Christine and Kovic, Christine, eds. 2003. Women of Chiapas. New York: Routeledge.Google Scholar
Espinosa Damián, Gisela. 2009. Cuatro vertientes del feminismo en México. México: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.Google Scholar
Espinosa Damián, Gisela, Chautla, Libni Iracema Dircio, and Néstor, Martha Sánchez. 2010. La Coordinadora Guerrerense de Mujeres Indígenas. Construyendo la equidad y la ciudadanía. México: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.Google Scholar
Figueroa Romero, Dolores. 2006. “Interview with Mirna Cunningham Kain,International Feminist Journal of Politics 8 (4): 618–26.Google Scholar
Gil Tebar, Pilar R. 1999. Caminando en un solo corazón: Las mujeres indígenas de Chiapas. España: Universidad de Málaga.Google Scholar
Grey, Sam. 2004. “Decolonising Feminism: Aboriginal Women and the Global ‘Sisterhood.’Energy in the Way We Speak VIII: 922.Google Scholar
Gutierrez, Margarita and Palomo, Nelly. 2000. “A Woman's View of Autonomy.” In Indigenous autonomy in Mexico, ed. Aracely Burguete Cal y Mayor. Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous.Google Scholar
Hernández Castillo, R. Aída. 2001. “Entre el etnocentrismo feminista y el esencialismo étnico. Las mujeres indígenas y sus demandas de género.” Debate Feminista 24: 206–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hernández Castillo, R. Aída. 2002. “La voix des femmes dans le conflit du Chiapas: Nouveaux espaces d'organisation et nouvelles revendications de genre.” In Adaptation, violence et révolte au Mexique, ed. Lammel, Anna Maria and Mercado, Jesus Ruvalcaba. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Hernández Castillo, R. Aída. 2010. “The Emergence of Indigenous Feminism in Latin America.Signs 35 (3): 539–45.Google Scholar
Hill Collins, Patricia. 1991. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
hooks, bell. 1984. Feminist theory from margin to center. Boston: South.Google Scholar
López Cruz, Marusia. 2009. “Women in the Indigenous Peoples’ Movements of Mexico: New Paths for Transforming Power,” ed. Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID).Google Scholar
Lovera, Sara and Palomo, Nellys. 1997. Las Alzadas. México: Comunicación e Información de la Mujer (CIMAC)/Convergencia Socialista.Google Scholar
Méndez Torres, Georgina, López Intzín, Juan, Marcos, Sylvia and Hernández, Carmen Osorio. 2013. Sentir-pensar el género: perspectivas desde los pueblos originarios. Mexico: Red Interdisciplinaria de Investigadores de los Pueblos Indios de México; Red de Feminismos Descoloniales.Google Scholar
Millán Moncayo, Margara. 2008. “Nuevos espacios, nuevas actoras. Neozapatismo y su significado para las mujeres indígenas.” In Etnografías e Historias de Resistencia. Mujeres Indígenas, Procesos Organizativos y Nuevas Identidades Políticas, ed. Hernández, Rosalva Aída. México: Publicaciones de la Casa Chata.Google Scholar
Millán Moncayo, Márgara. 2006. “Indigenous Women and Zapatismo: New Horizons of Visibility.” In Dissident Women: Gender and cultural politics in Chiapas, ed. Speed, Shannon, Castillo, R. Aída Hernández and Stephen, Lynn M.. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Montemayor, Carlos. 2009. Chiapas: La rebelión indígena de México. Mexico: Debolsillo.Google Scholar
Morales Hudon, Anahi. 2014. “Struggling for Autonomy: The Dynamics of Indigenous Women's Movement in Mexico.” PhD dissertation. McGill University, Montreal.Google Scholar
Nash, Jennifer C. 2008. “re-thinking intersectionality.” Feminist Review 89: 115.Google Scholar
Nash, June C. 2001. Mayan Visions: The quest for autonomy in an age of globalization. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rivera, Tarcila. 2008. “Mujeres indígenas americanas luchando por sus derechos.” In Descolonizando el feminismo: Teorías y prácticas desde los márgenes, ed. Navaz, Liliana Suárez and Hernández, Rosalva Aída. Valencia: Editorial Cátedra.Google Scholar
Roth, Benita. 2004. Separate Roads to Feminism: Black, Chicana, and White Feminist Movements in America's Second Wave. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sánchez Néstor, Martha. 2005. “Construire notre autonomie: Le mouvement des femmes indiennes au Mexique.Nouvelles Questions Féministes 24 (2): 5064.Google Scholar
Speed, Shannon, Castillo, R. Aída Hernández and Stephen, Lynn M., eds. 2006. Dissident Women: gender and cultural politics in Chiapas. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Stavenhagen, Rodolfo. 2002. “Mexico's Unfinished Symphony: The Zapatista Movement.” In Mexico's Politics and Society in Transition, ed. Tulchin, Joseph and Selee, Andrew. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Stephen, Lynn. 2002. ¡Zapata lives! Histories and Cultural Politics in Southern Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, Verta and Whittier, Nancy. 1992. “Collective Identity in Social Movement Communities.” In Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, ed. Morris, Aldon D. and Mueller, Carol McClurg. New Haven: Yale University Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles and Tarrow, Sidney G.. 2007. Contentious politics. Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Publishers.Google Scholar
Valladares de la Cruz, Laura R. 2008. “Los derechos humanos de las mujeres indígenas: De la aldea local a los foros internacionales.” Alterdidades 18 (35): 4765.Google Scholar
Velasco Cruz, Saúl. 2003. El Movimiento Indígena y la Autonomía en México. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Yuval-Davis, Nira. 2006. “Intersectionality and Feminist Politics.” European Journal of Women's Studies 13 (3): 193209.Google Scholar