What democracy? Feminism and politics in the Chile of the 80s

Abstract

In recent years, the Chilean feminist movement has played an important role in challenging major aspects of national political and economic governance. The question of democracy, approached from a feminist perspective, has once again achieved prominence, particularly in terms of how feminism rethinks the normal course of politics, its spheres of operation, and the nature of its transformations. The theoretical and political proposals of feminism in 1980s Chile, which advocated an alternative form of democratization, have once again become valid. This article analyzes those proposals, focusing on concepts of politics and democracy as expressed by socialist Chilean authors such as Julieta Kirkwood, Adriana Muñoz, and Natacha Molina, revealing the structure of a feminist political theory that has developed its own vision of politics, democracy, and democratization based on academic reflection and socio-political practice and experience.