RESEARCH ON WOMEN IN LATIN AMERICA

Gloria Bonder an urban or rural environment, in their housework, feminist theorizations on class, and especially in their family. 2 gender issues, the emphasis upon Comme ['indique Gloria Bonder dans cette The majority of research projects on women's every-day experiences as reveal­ evaluation du progres de la recherche faite sur women during this period concentrated ing of their condition, and the notion of les femmes latino-americaines au cours de la on research areas already well established the patriarchy, form a group of notions Decennie pour les femmes de ['GNU, cette in Latin American social sciences: labour, that, in diverse levels of theoretical de­ recherche est une tache extremement difficile population and development. Social velopment, suggested new research if accomplir. Les conditions repressives im­ inequalities between the sexes are per­ directions. posees par les dictatures militaires dans ceived as the product of the socio-political The most significative consequences of beaucoup de pays latino-americains, ainsi que system. There exist few studies in other the new feminist-influenced research cur­ la crise economique, ont eut des effets nefastes areas. Feminist analyses had not yet exer­ rent are: pour la recherche sur la situation des femmes. cised any influence. From the mid-decade • There is a new awareness of the L'auteure evalue le travail accompli jusqu'if of the 1970's on, we can observe the sexist character of the prevailing cette date et propose des priorites pour les appearance and development of another theories in each discipline, and projets de recherche if ['avenir. research tendency on women's issues there is a consequent need to sub­ in Latin America, already considerably mit the theoretical assumptions that Research on women in Latin America influenced by feminist methodologies have distorted or omitted women to has been marked by a continuous and ideas. criticism and revision. development since the beginning of the The first UN Conference on Women, • There is a proposal for a research 1970's. A survey of the most important held in 1975 in Mexico city, signalled the model based on consciousness­ examples of research on women de­ growth and expansion of the femi­ raising and the transformation of veloped by Latin American social scien­ nist movement in Latin America. The gra­ women's situation. tists during the first five years of that dual diffusion of North American and • The criterion of objectivity for the decade reveals some common character­ European papers in the region contri­ evaluation of traditional theoretical istics. I The studies originate in the indi­ buted to slowly sensitizing women and methodological approaches is vidual initiatives of women who partici­ towards different research fields - in their under scrutiny. pate in centers of social research, both theoretical assumptions, as well as in the • New forms of methodological private and governmental. They concen­ selection of research issues, subjects and approaches are being developed trate on the development and composi­ methodological approaches. The concepts (for example, participant and tion of labour power, and are strongly of the sexual division of labour, public and action-oriented research). influenced by the theoretical perspective private domains, social production and • The debate about gender and class of Latin American social scientists for the reproduction, the re-conceptualization of relations has deepened. comprehension of the region's social and economical situation: the theory of the dependence of peripheral countries on central ones. Finally, they ignore and/or do not wish to be identified with feminists currents. Marysa Novarro describes the work of these researchers:

The main objective of most Latin Amer­ ican social scientists working on women is to analyze Latin America's social for­ mation, to understand how the capitalist mode of production in its dependent form operates. They do not view women as avalid category of analysis but as afocus that can be used profitably insofar as it increases our knowledge of the social formation. For them, focusing on women means that they cannot be studied in isolation from socio­ econOll1ic conditions ... Women must be studied in each Latin American country, in

148 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME • "Private" issues such as sexuality, motherhood, every-day life, etc., have begun to acquire public relevance.

• 11 Academical characteristics" of research on women have begun to be questioned and consequently dissolved. It is mostly within the areas of action­ oriented and participant research that the development of new methodologies can be observed, for data-gathering and data­ analysis. These methodologies emphasize personal inter-action between researchers and researched women, as well as the active participation of the research sub­ jects in different stages of the research process and the use of diverse techniques to carry out consciousness-raising, train­ ing and/or organization of the women participating in the project. The tech­ niques which are commonly used include: • Workshops or group discussions with the objective of exploring and analyzing women's common pro­ blems, with the researcher in the role of discussion-facilitator. • Life histories, developed within a context of close and frequent in­ teraction, which enable researchers to capture women's past and pre­ sent experiences related to the areas they want to explore. • Women's testimonials which reflect the particularities and complexities of women's experiences. • Games, dramatizations and role­ playing, which enable the expres­ sion of women's personal expe­ Illustration: Monique Dussault (huile sur papier) Photo Credit: Monique de Longeville riences and opinions about their experience. searchers, using these methodologies agendas and priorities are strictly linked to • Audiovisual stimuli to help women with little or no training and experience the financing policies of national and in­ produce less structured responses. in other methodologies. Many young ternational organizations that support In these new methodologies we can researchers of Latin America who have projects on women in Latin America. observe the influence exercised by the gone through this "initiation rite" of using Usually, the agencies define their tradition of popular education techniques qualitative research on women may have financing policies for research without the in Latin America, and the qualitative been negatively affected by the difficulties advice or participation of Latin American methodologies used in anthropological they have had to face during this process. researchers, who know the needs and studies, as well as the increasing influence Our exchange with women's studies cen­ priorities of their region. Consequently, of psychological and psychoanalytical ters carrying out this kind of research in research on women in Latin America is techniques and perspectives to approach Latin America has confirmed this as a usually based on issues and perspectives women's subjectivity. common concern. We believe that the that do not favour the formulation of poli­ Nevertheless, we must point out seve­ development and deepening of this new cies for the transformation of women's ral critical aspects of this kind of research. methodological perspective within re­ condition in society. Finally, we can con­ First, many of these projects have counted search on women is now facing a critical firm that it has not yet been possible to on short periods of time for their ful­ period. carry out a systematic evaluation of this filment, and most of the cases have lacked The third element that must be taken kind of research. In other cases, once a a follow-up, and consequently, an evalu­ into account is that this kind of research research term has been completed the ation. Secondly, most of these projects project has not always constituted a per­ final reports are not distributed in the have been carried out by novice re- sonal or institutional option: research region and sometimes not even in the

VOLUME 7, NUMBERS 1 & 2 149 country. Only in rare cases can we count as abortion, prostitution, violence, rape, vists. We stressed the need for building on publications that provide informa­ sexual. roles and even legal issues, have new channels for interchange and recipro­ tion, or can we eventually have access to not been systematically studied. cal stimulation between the feminist informal information through personal At the the meeting we made two impor­ movement and the centers that carry out contacts. tant recommendations: 1) We consider it research on women from a feminist per­ Participant research on women, which essential that the research agenda in Latin spective. 2) While keeping in view the has been used in Latin America during the America mustbe the result of a jointaction objective of the community's awareness past few years, emphasizes. important between feminist researchers and acti- of women's status in society, the develop- epistemological, theoretical, political and ethical issues, which we should develop: • Are we building new methodologi­ FOR THE HOMELAND SOVEREIGNITY cal criteria with new concepts of validity, reliability, objectivity and generalization? WOMEN AT THE FRONT OF THE STRUGGLE • Who are the beneficiaries of re­ search on women? • What do we understand for partici­ pation? Who participates? How do they participate? What do they participate for? • Which are the study objects and the units of analysis elaborated through this kind of research? • What comparisons can we establish between the hierarchical and power relations among researchers and re­ searched in this kind of research and in the traditional kind? • What relations exist between the proposed objectives and the final achievement? Finally, what is the impact of all this effort of creativity, participation and elaboration of knowledge on women's condition in Latin American society? At the Workshop on Research on Women, carried out at the 2nd Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meet­ ing in Lima, 1983, the considerable in­ crease in the number of projects since the 1970's - as well as the remarkable applica­ tion of feminist perspectives in new re­ search projects - was evident. The issues of employment, urban and rural work, and fecundity (in those countries with high demographic growth) have pre­ vailed. We can observe a considerable pro­ duction of knowledge concerning living and working conditions of women and families in urban sectors. Housework and paid housework have begun to be defined as important issues, as well as women's forms of organization, specifically with re­ lation to poor women. Other subjects, such as political, trade union and religious participation, mass media, state policies, education, historical and ideological studies, health, mental health, have been little studied. Issues which are centrally EL SALVADOR, C.A. JULY 1985 relevant to the feminist movement, su~h

150 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME ment of research on women must lead to gest priorities within research on women this is why we know how much must still the elaboration of policies related to the in Latin America; however, we will point be done. We are corroborating the discri­ State - as well as action programmes re­ out some points we consider essential: mination of women in all areas of social lated to spreading information using, for • research that can provide basic up-to­ life. It has become necessary that, start­ example, mass media. date data about women's situation in ing from these certainties, we advance One of the priorities established at the each country. The research centers towards the formulation of new ques­ Seminar on Programmes for Women's must have basic statistic data about tions, thereby enrichening our compre­ Studies in Latin America and the Carib­ women's situation in the areas of hension of women's situation in Latin bean carried out at the Colegio de Mejico education, health, the labour mar­ America. in June 1985, was the creation and promo­ ket, legislation, etc., in order to tion of regional courses for the develop­ elaborate realistic research priori­ IMarysa Novarro, "Research on Latin ment of researchers and specialists in ties. This information will enable American Women," SIGNS, Vo!. 5, No. 1 women's studies. Programmes of scholar­ the elaboration of policies designed (Autumn 1979). ships, university summer courses, and to improve the situation of the 20p. cit. the promotion of exchanges of researchers majority of women. between women's studies centers and • research oriented towards the explorat­ Gloria Bonder is with the Centro de Estudios universities and research institutions in ion of the effects of the economic crisis de la Mujer in Buenos Aires, Argentina. developed countries could facilitate train­ upon women's living conditions. Such ing development. Researchers must also research must take into considera­ *CWS/cf gratefully acknowledges permis­ overcome the lack of documentation: little tion the different social sectors and sion to publish this paper from Florence Rowe, information is available about studies diverse areas: participation in the an editor of the Women's Studies Quarterly carried out in the region and foreign labour market, family structure, (Hagerstown, MD: The Feminist Press). bibliographies are generally not translated sexual roles, access to the educa­ to Spanish. One of our goals is to have a tional system, physical and mental Latin American Journal on Women's health, women's organizations, etc. Studies, to spread information about • research that explores the effects of mili­ research on women carried out in the tary dictatorships on women's lives, as region. Another goal is to establish a reli­ well as the growth of the democratiza­ able documentation center to process data tion process. from all countries. Finally, we have re­ • research that can provide data about the peatedly outlined the imperative need of similarities and differences between building exchange networks between re­ women of different social levels, ethnic searchers and women's institutions in groups and geographical environments. Latin America. Diverse attempts have This data may produce an advance already been carried out (for example, the in the theoretical development of AFTER NAIROBI... creation of the Latin American and Carib­ the relationships between gender, bean Association for Women's Studies); class and race. MATCH'S WORK the re-inforcement of these existing chan­ • studies carried out on women's every­ HELPS KEEP THE nels is important. day experience in different historical Many Latin American countries have periods and in different social SPIRIT ALIVE ... gone through most of the Women's levels. Do you want to learn more Decade under dictatorship regimes (parti­ • multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary cularly the countries in the South Cone). research. about how Third World women If the repressive conditions in these coun­ • evaluation of the projects already carried are working for development? tries have hindered the development of out within action-research and parti­ Do you want to make a differ­ social research in general, it is easy to cipative research frameworks. Even ence in women's lives? imagine to what extent repression has thou.gh many of these projects discouraged research on women's haven't developed a formal MATCH Internation Centre situation. Another aspect that must be research aspect, they contain im­ links women in Canada with taken into consideration is the critical portant and valuable data that can women in developing countries. economical situation that affects all contribute to the accummulation of Ask MATCH about ... Latin American countries. We know this knowledge. situation will doubtless be reflected in • research projects centered on gender • how to join or support a the already poor state budgets allocated relations, particularly those oriented project to research, and that the restrictive towards the area of social changes • our publications and audio­ measure will obviously continue to ham­ in gender relations. visuals per those research areas which are consi­ At the end of the UN Decade for dered secondary when it comes to estab­ Women, we find that research on women MATCH International Centre, lishing priorities. in Latin America is still in a process of 401-171 Nepean St., Ottawa, Ont. K2P 084 (613) 238-1312 Within this context, it is difficult to sug- legitimization. Much has been done, and

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