Between Neoliberalism, Motherhood and Dictatorship: Women’s Citizenship and Participation in Latin America

Historically and traditionally women experience rights violations more widely and this caused them to practice an indirect citizenship form. Hence, a gendered perception has emerged to understand civil, political and economic rights of women apart from the general notion of citizenship. In this paper, the notion of women’s citizenship and its reflections in Latin America will be examined together with examples from women movements, motivations and claims. Although women in different geographies passed similar paths in order to achieve equal rights, every experience has its uniqueness. What makes the Latin American example special are unique motives and environments such as dictatorship, the Church, motherhood and neoliberalism. In this paper, firstly, women’s citizenship with a gendered viewpoint is stated. Then, the Latin American women’s claims and what mobilise them on realising equal citizenship were explored along with the concepts such as motherhood, religion, military regime and neoliberal transition. Finally, women’s political participation in formal politics and civil society is indicated with a special emphasis over quotas as commonly adopted measure to increase the level of women representation in formal politics. Also, women’s movements during the military regime and neoliberal process were stated with examples of women organisations from countries in the region.