Taking Risks: Feminist Activism and Research in the Americas (SUNY Series, Praxis: Theory in Action)

Explores activist scholarship in relation to feminism and social movements in the Americas. Taking Risks offers a creative, interdisciplinary approach to narrating the stories of activist scholarship by women. The essays are based on the textual analysis of interviews, oral histories, ethnography, video storytelling, and theater. The contributors come from many disciplinary backgrounds, including theater, history, literature, sociology, feminist studies, and cultural studies. The topics range from the underground library movement in Cuba, femicide in Juárez, community radio in Venezuela, video archives in Colombia, exiled feminists in Canada, memory activism in Argentina, sex worker activists in Brazil, rural feminists in Nicaragua, to domestic violence organizations for Latina immigrants in Texas. Each essay addresses two themes: telling stories and taking risks. The authors understand women activists across the Americas as storytellers who, along with the authors themselves, work to fill the Latin American and Caribbean studies archives with histories of resistance. In addition to sharing the activists’ stories, the contributors weave in discussions of scholarly risk taking to speak to the challenges and importance of elevating the storytellers and their histories. “Editor Julie Shayne makes a strong case that reflections of feminist risk-taking of varying kinds and degrees help us recognize both the challenges and benefits that can result. For this reason, the reflexive volume will be helpful to scholars engaging in feminist research in Latin America and other Southern/non-Western contexts.” — Gender & Society “Julie Shayne took a risk with this book, and the result is impressive: By challenging the activism-research divide that US academies so often sustain, the authors in this collection challenge epistemological as well as national, race, class, age, and gender boundaries. Taking Risks is a must read for researchers and students alike!” — Amy Lind, editor of Development, Sexual Rights, and Global Governance Explores activist scholarship in relation to feminism and social movements in the Americas. Taking Risks offers a creative, interdisciplinary approach to narrating the stories of activist scholarship by women. The essays are based on the textual analysis of interviews, oral histories, ethnography, video storytelling, and theater. The contributors come from many disciplinary backgrounds, including theater, history, literature, sociology, feminist studies, and cultural studies. The topics range from the underground library movement in Cuba, femicide in Juárez, community radio in Venezuela, video archives in Colombia, exiled feminists in Canada, memory activism in Argentina, sex worker activists in Brazil, rural feminists in Nicaragua, to domestic violence organizations for Latina immigrants in Texas. Each essay addresses two themes: telling stories and taking risks. The authors understand women activists across the Americas as storytellers who, along with the authors themselves, work to fill the Latin American and Caribbean studies archives with histories of resistance. In addition to sharing the activists’ stories, the contributors weave in discussions of scholarly risk taking to speak to the challenges and importance of elevating the storytellers and their histories. Julie Shayne is Principal Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell and Affiliate Associate Professor of Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Washington Seattle. She is the author of They Used to Call Us Witches: Chilean Exiles, Culture, and Feminism and The Revolution Question: Feminisms in El Salvador, Chile, and Cuba. Acknowledgments About the cover Monument to civilians massacred at Plaza de Mayo / Nora Patrich Foreword The thing about taking risks / Margaret Randall Introduction Research, risk, and activism : feminists' stories of social justice / Julie Shayne and Kristy Leissle Section onepart one: texts, stories, and activism Writing and activism / Carmen Rodríguez Absence in memories : reading stories of survival in Argentina / Mahala Lettvin Chilean exiles and their feminist stories / Julie Shayne Navigating the Cuban ideological divide : research on the independent libraries movement / Marisela Fleites-Lear Section twopart two: performed stories of social justice We also built the city of Medellín : Deplazadas' family albums as feminist archival activism / Tamera Marko Who owns the archive? : community media in contemporary Venezuela / Robin Garcia Echoes of injustice : performative activism and the femicide plaguing Ciudad Juárez / Christina Marín Section threepart three: activist stories from the grassroots Feminist tensions : race, sex work, and women/s activism in Bahia / Erica Lorraine Williams Latina battered immigrants, citizenship and inequalities : reflections on activist research / Roberta Villalón Rural feminism and revolution in Nicaragua : voices of the Compañeras / Shelly Grabe Conclusion Afterword Mother's day / Julie Shayne About the authorscontributors Index. Taking Risks offers a creative, interdisciplinary approach to narrating the stories of activist scholarship by women. The essays are based on the textual analysis of interviews, oral histories, ethnography, video storytelling, and theater. The contributors come from many disciplinary backgrounds, including theater, history, literature, sociology, feminist studies, and cultural studies. The topics range from the underground library movement in Cuba, femicide in Juárez, community radio in Venezuela, video archives in Colombia, exiled feminists in Canada, memory activism in Argentina, sex worker activists in Brazil, rural feminists in Nicaragua, to domestic violence organizations for Latina immigrants in Texas. Each essay addresses two themes: telling stories and taking risks. The authors understand women activists across the Americas as storytellers who, along with the authors themselves, work to fill the Latin American and Caribbean studies archives with histories of resistance. In addition to sharing the activists' stories, the contributors weave in discussions of scholarly risk taking to speak to the challenges and importance of elevating the storytellers and their histories. Book jacket. Taking Risks offers a creative, interdisciplinary approach to narrating the stories of activist scholarship by women. The essays are based on the textual analysis of interviews, oral histories, ethnography, video storytelling, and theater. The contributors come from many disciplinary backgrounds, including theater, history, literature, sociology, feminist studies, and cultural studies. The topics range from the underground library movement in Cuba, femicide in Juarez, community radio in Venezuela, video archives in Colombia, exiled feminists in Canada, memory activism in Argentina, sex worker activists in Brazil, rural feminists in Nicaragua, to domestic violence organizations for Latina immigrants in Texas. Each essay addresses two themes: telling stories and taking risks. The authors understand women activists across the Americas as storytellers who, along with the authors themselves, work to fill the Latin American and Caribbean studies archives with histories of resistance. In addition to sharing the activists stories, the contributors weave in discussions of scholarly risk taking to speak to the challenges and importance of elevating the storytellers and their histories.