Taking Risks , livre ebook

TAKING RISKS
SUNY series, Praxis: Theory in Action Nancy A. Naples, editor
TAKING RISKS
Feminist Activism and Research in the Americas
EDITED BY
JULIE SHAYNE

FOREWORD BY
MARGARET RANDALL
Cover: “Futuro,” mural on Escuela N 20 Rawson, Prov. De Chubut, Argentina. 2003. An original mural by Nora Patrich. Courtesy of Nora Patrich.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Taking risks: feminist activism and research in the Americas / edited by Julie Shayne ; foreword by Margaret Randall. pages cm. — (SUNY series, praxis: theory in action) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-5245-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Feminism—History—North America. 2. Feminism—History—South America. 3. Social justice—History—North America. 4. Social justice—History—South America. I. Shayne, Julie D., 1966- editor of compilation. HQ1150.T35 2013 305.42097—dc23
2013030255
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of my beloved father, Barry (1945–2001)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Foreword: The Thing about Taking Risks
Margaret Randall
Introduction: Research, Risk, and Activism: Feminists’ Stories of Social Justice
Julie Shayne and Kristy Leissle
Del Cielo los Vieron Llegar/From the Sky They Saw Them Coming
Nora Patrich
Part 1. Texts, Stories, and Activism
Introduction to Part 1: Texts, Stories, and Activism
Jessica Monteiro Manfredi
1. Writing and Activism
Carmen Rodríguez
2. Absence in Memories: Reading Stories of Survival in Argentina
Mahala Lettvin
3. Chilean Exiles and Their Feminist Stories
Julie Shayne
4. Navigating the Cuban Ideological Divide: Research on the Independent Libraries Movement
Marisela Fleites-Lear
Part 2. Performed Stories of Social Justice
Introduction to Part 2: Performed Stories of Social Justice
Jessica Monteiro Manfredi
5. We Also Built the City of Medellín: Deplazadas ’ Family Albums as Feminist Archival Activism
Tamera Marko
6. Who Owns the Archive? Community Media in Venezuela under Hugo Chavez
Robin Garcia
7. Echoes of Injustice: Performative Activism and the Femicide Plaguing Ciudad Juárez
Christina Marín
Part 3. Activist Stories from the Grassroots
Introduction to Part 3: Activist Stories from the Grassroots
Julie Shayne
8. Feminist Tensions: Race, Sex Work, and Women’s Activism in Bahia
Erica Lorraine Williams
9. Latina Battered Immigrants, Citizenship, and Inequalities: Reflections on Activist Research
Roberta Villalón
10. Rural Feminism and Revolution in Nicaragua: Voices of the Compañeras
Shelly Grabe
Conclusion: Interdisciplinarity and Privilege
Julie Shayne and Kristy Leissle
Afterword: Mother’s Day
Julie Shayne
Contributors
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
E diting this book was an incredibly all-consuming process, one which I could not have completed without the support and help of countless individuals. This book might not exist if Bruce Burgett (my then chair, now dean) had not asked me to organize a seminar about activist research in the Americas for the 2010 Imagining America conference. I thank the participants in that session for generating such a lively dialogue that, as a collective, I knew we had more to contribute than ninety minutes could provide; especially Marisela Fleites-Lear, Christina Marín, and Tamera Marko, all of whom contributed to this collection.
I also want to offer a special thank you to my spring 2012 “Interdisciplinary Inquiry” students for providing me such fresh ideas about activist scholarship, which I kept with me as I co-wrote the introduction and conclusion to this collection. Many people read early drafts of different chapters in this volume, and I would like to thank them all as well: Kari Lerum, Mahala Lettvin, Kristy Leissle, Carmen Rodríguez, Karen Rosenberg, Roberta Villalón, Erica Williams, and SUNY Press’s anonymous reviewers. Thanks are also due Marisela Fleites-Lear and Jessica Monteiro Manfredi for double checking the Spanish and Portuguese, respectively.
Carmen Rodríguez is also owed a debt of my gratitude for putting me in touch with Argentine artist Nora Patrich, whose artwork has greatly enhanced this book. Needless to say, Nora also deserves my deep appreciation for sharing her art with me in exchange for only a fraction of the compensation her pieces are worth. I truly cannot offer enough gratitude to Margaret Randall for writing the foreword to Taking Risks . As I explain in this book’s conclusion, I started reading Margaret’s books when I was an undergraduate women’s studies student. Reading her books in a college classroom forever planted a seed that activism and scholarship should not be separated. Though I had to keep that seed dormant for much longer than I would have liked, I am beyond honored that Margaret’s words are here to enrich this collection of activist scholarship.
In the course of writing or editing a book there always ends up being one person who becomes the sounding board for all of the unglamorous, behind-the-scenes issues. In the case of this book, Ron Krabill was my go-to man. Ron is one of my many overextended colleagues, yet he still made time to walk me through early logistical concerns and provided the guidance to move this book forward. Kristy Leissle, my coauthor of the introduction and conclusion, became my go-to woman in a different capacity. In short, I must thank Kristy for allowing me to treat her as a coeditor at times rather than a coauthor. She always responded to my requests for help that went way above and beyond the coauthoring job description for which she had originally signed on.
Mahala Lettvin was an undergraduate American studies student when I asked her to rework a paper she wrote for me into a chapter for this book. In typical Mahala fashion, her first instinct was to downplay her skill. But fortunately I was able to prevail upon her, and she ultimately produced a beautiful chapter for this collection. But my greatest appreciation goes to Mahala for eagerly agreeing to co-write the index for this book. I do not know another person as detailed-oriented as I am, and I have “happily” shared that job with her. Relatedly, I want to thank the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences “Initiatives to Develop Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Collaboration” (IDISCO) for providing the grant to fund Mahala’s work on the index. I also want to acknowledge the University of Washington Bothell’s Office of Research for funding Jessica’s hard work on the section introductions.
Finally, thanks are due my family. My dad (Barry), mom (Lynda), and stepdad (Frank) who raised me to always speak my mind and chase my passions. Fortunately, following those passions landed my family and me back on the West Coast, ultimately providing the professional freedom to pursue this project. Appreciation and acknowledgment are also due to my daughter, Barrie, and son, Aaron, who had to spend more time in summer camp than perhaps they would have chosen, so I could finish this book during the precious few writing months my teaching load provided me. You two are awesome, and now you are entitled to say to me, with a tone of unwavering confidence: “You’re welcome.” To my beloved husband, Dave, whose everythingness becomes more unshakable as our tree-covered time together passes, I say to you, again, thank you.
FOREWORD
The Thing about Taking Risks
MARGARET RANDALL
I started college in the stifling 1950s. The nation was still grappling with McCarthyism. Classes at my hometown state university were traditional and mostly quite vacuous. I was soon bored and quit, spending the next several decades exploring the world. I went to New York City, where I met avant-garde artists and writers, made lists of books they mentioned or recommended, then hoped they would be willing to discuss them with me. I traveled to Mexico, then Cuba, and finally Nicaragua, learned about life outside the United States, took part in people’s revolutions, raised four children, and honed my writing skills.
Along the way, the explosion of thought and action we call feminism’s second wave entered my life. I was curious to know how the social change movements in those countries were affecting women’s lives, and I became involved in a field that was new and burgeoning at the time: oral history. Without professional training, I had to find my own way. I made a great many mistakes, but I managed to draw on my natural empathy and developing political perceptions. I learned to listen, record, document, and give voice to many women whose stories would otherwise not have found their way into print.
I do not recommend this route. Universities are more interesting these days, and I’ve often felt inhibited by my lack of a formal education. I was fortunate to know early on that I was a writer and fortunate as well to have found myself in a number of places crucial to the shaping of twentieth-c