The Feminist and Women's Movement in Argentina: Post-Colonial and Socialist Perspectives

Post-colonial theories question the instruments of power and representation of subaltern subjects, as well as hegemonic western thought, revealing its political and ideological aspects which determined specific types of oppression for the subaltern groups. Historically, gender oppression relegates women to the condition of "subproletariat"; a limiting example of their subalternization was the denial of social spaces and even the right to take decisions on one's own body. We present the contributions of the Argentine women's movement at two moments relevant to their country's democracy: the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and the current women's movement. In our hypothesis, women present themselves as the main protagonists in the social conflicts and represent an important fighting front that, in the Argentinian case, opens up the possibility of radicalization of democracy with continental and world-wide aspirations.