Feminists and Technocrats in The Democratization of Latin America

Springer
Feminists and Technocrats in the Democratization of Latin America: A Prolegomenon

Author(s): Vernica Montecinos
Source: International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 15, No. 1, Risks and Rights
in the 21st Century: Papers from the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program
Symposium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, October 2000 (Fall, 2001), pp. 175-199
Published by: Springer
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International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. 15,No. 1, September 2001 (( 2001)
IV.Democratization and Rights to Political Participation
Feminists and Technocrats in the Democratization

of Latin America: A Prolegomenon'
Veronica Montecinos2
Women's movements made important contributions to ending the period

of authoritarian
but their participation
in the recon
rule in Latin America,
struction of democratic
politics has been more limited than expected. This
influence exerted by technocratic
elites in
paper argues that the enormous
an obstacle
the democratization
has represented
process in Latin America
to the improvement of women's status in the region.Gender-biased assump

tions and practices
have been
only partially
in part because
addressed,
the
policy-making process is under the control of economists, a professional

group with a particularly unfriendly stand towards gendered analysis. It is
suggested
that reforms within
economics
may
help
in the task of making
democracy more responsive to the demands of women.

KEY WORDS: democratization inLatin America; feminist views of democracy; technocratic
politics and gender.
INTRODUCTION
Analyses
of recent experiences
of democratization
often
identify
a suc
cessful transition from authoritarian regimes with an ensuing process of

democratic consolidation. This language is dangerously deceptive. It seems
to suggest that democracy, once achieved, can be institutionalized, made
durable and stable.The image of a consolidated democracy obscures the in
herent ambiguities of democratic ideals and practices.Historically, the very
idea of democracy has been subject to considerable reforms and innovations:
"democracy is amoving target, not a static structure" (Markoff, 1999:689).
IjthankLourdes Benerfa, JohnMarkoff, JeanPyle, Ver6nica Schild, and the editors forvaluable
comments on an earlier draft.
2The Pennsylvania State University, McKeesport Campus, 4000University Drive, McKeesport,
PA 15132-7698; e-mail: vxmll@psu.edu.
175
(? 2001Human Sciences Press, Inc.
Montecinos
176
The meaning and even the existence of democracy are matters of contin
uous debates as political and social actors struggle to reconstruct existing
practices and institutional arrangements in directions thatmore adequately
reflect their needs and aspirations.Democracy, thus, "filledwith unresolved
theoretical and practical problems is an uncertain state and democratization
is an uncertain
process"
(Parry and Moran,
1994, 15).
Military regimes dominated most of Latin America in the 1960s and

1970s.A region-wide movement towards democratization occurred in the
1980s, and a decade
later, only
socialist
Cuba
had not embraced
electoral
competition. Efforts to consolidate democracy have captured the attention

of political
elites
and scholars
alike,
in part because
of the high
level of
economic uncertainty that accompanied the replacement of authoritarian

regimes by elected governments. The democratic transition coincided with
the devastating consequences of the debt crisis, persistently high levels of
inequality (about 40 percent of Latin American households lived below the
poverty line in the 1990s), and the growing constraints imposed by transfor
mations in the international economy.
In the past two decades,
policy elites
faced the challenges
of political
lib
eralization while attempting to implement comprehensive and painful eco

nomic reforms prompted, in part, by stringent demands from international
creditors and investors.Socialmobilizations to oppose market-oriented poli
cies and protest unemployment and deteriorating wages were contained to
avoid possible
reversals
to military
control,
perceived
as an imminent
threat
in some countries. Elected governments placed unpopular policy choices in

of party
the hands of competent
experts, shielded from the unpredictability
interest group politics, and public debate. Instead of looking for
coalitions,
to expand citizens'
the fragile new
new avenues
rights and participation,
democracies
strategy that insulated and empow
pursued a policy-making
ered economic reformers.

transition would promote
that the democratic
innovative,
were
and interest representation
forms of participatory
democracy
to be
came
Democratization
on
effective
the
focus
governance.
dampened by
consensus
a
with
as
the
of
broad
narrow
in
understood
terms,
that,
building
the preservation
of conventional
out unsettling
stability, would guarantee
of democratic
through universal
procedures
politics: popular participation
of indi
the
suffrage and multiparty
competition.
Undoubtedly,
protection
Expectations
untested
vidual rights and basic freedoms represented

important gains for all citizens.
include
and welcome
The most unproblematic
aspects of democratization
for civil and political or
the end of state terror, constitutional
guarantees
and reliance on uncensored
voices, however,
press. Dissenting
ganizations,
of electoral democracy
do not chal
that restrictive conceptions
complain
social order.
of the hierarchical
lenge central components
Feminists and Technocrats in theDemocratization of Latin America

for a more
Calls
are particularly
democratization
genuine
177
poignant
in
reference to the situation of women. The historical under-representation of

women
in political
life and their subordinate
status
in the economy
and the
family are unlikely to change if pluralistic representation is not expanded

and if citizen participation in policy-making remains limited. Those who
are concerned
with
securing
equality
for women
insist that the process
of
democratization be accompanied by transformations in the political culture

and innovative
institutional
local governments
as well
reforms
at the state level, in electoral politics,

It is not the consolidation
as in social practices.
in
of
democracy that advocates of women's rights envision, but its transfiguration.

role in
In the next section this paper explores how women's
political
Latin America
changed during and after the democratic
transition, describ
ing the progress and disappointments
of the past two decades. The following
section shows the absence of satisfactory models, since nowhere have democ
racies erased
the social and economic
female citizens. Next,

ica's new democracies
economists'
element
inimical
of their formally equal

disadvantages
it is argued that technocratic
trends in Latin Amer
clashed with women's
participatory
demands, and the
stand towards gender analysis is identified as a crucial
in this tension. Finally,
and recruitment
it is suggested
of Latin American
that changes
more
economists-and
in the education
broadly
a refor
mation of economics-may contribute to invigorate democratic politics by

ensuring social justice for all citizens.
TRANSITION POLITICS AND WOMEN

Throughout Latin America, the transitionphase offered unprecedented
to redress the traditional marginalization
of women
opportunities
from po
litical life. In the 1970s and 1980s, amultiplicity
of women's groups mobilized
against the human rights abuses committed by authoritarian governments,

organized collective responses to unemployment and poverty, exchanged
information
and experiences
forming a vast, vibrant transnational
network
of activists, scholars and policy specialists. Latin American
women had not
been so actively engaged in public life since the campaigns
for voting rights
a few decades earlier. Unlike
that earlier emancipatory
moment,
women's
political activism in the transition period became broader
in its goals and
tactics. Women
organized not just to reclaim their right to be political actors,
but to redefine politics.

the anti-authoritarian
Many of those who conceived
crusade as insep
arable from the fight for gender equality
in
(as in the slogan "democracy
the country and in the home") came to expect that the return to democ
racy would entail broader efforts to erase women's
social and economic
178
Montecinos
disadvantages. Legions of autonomous women's organizations were raising

awareness of gender oppression, and gender-sensitive researchwas support
ing innovative agendas for collective empowerment. At the international
level, development agencies and private foundations were increasingly fo
cusing
World
on women's
Conference
roles
and needs,
forWomen
especially
was held
inMexico
after
1975, when
City. Demands
the first
for the in
clusion of gender inpolitics and policy analysis continued to gain legitimacy

in the following years. The prospects for awomen-friendly democratization
seemed more favorable than ever.While gender discourses were denting
the conventional male-biases of the political, scholarly and policy-making
communities, transitionpolitics was being gendered in the everyday practice
of those resisting authoritarianism.
Since the end of military rule, elected governments in Latin America
have
initiated
a series of reforms
aimed
at improving
the status of women.
But the establishment of electoral politics also has disappointed advocates

of women's interests.There are still no systematic and comprehensive com
parisons of how the democratization process has affected Latin American
women indifferent countries.' Indeed, a recent review of the literature con
cludes
that women's
role under Latin America's
new democracies
remains
largely unexamined (Fitzsimmons, 2000, 221). Given the disparities in na

tional
levels of development
and in the conditions
of women
in the region
(see Table 1), these studies are essential.2National variations reflect histori
cal differences
in gender notions embedded
in legal codes and state practices,
in party systems and legislative institutions, social and ideological
differences
and the varied legacies of women's
collective
cleavages,
agency. Advances
in the status of women have varied from country to country, subject to the
shifts in power relations, support from
vagaries of political negotiations,
and the ability of women's
influential politicians,
grassroots' mobilization,
to
in the policy process.
take
of
representatives
advantage
opportunities
in the region have begun to introduce legal changes, ad
Most countries
in labor, criminal
dressing the most egregious patriarchal norms contained
to
accommodate
and civil codes.3 Efforts
existing legislation to new interna
in the area of human rights (i.e.
tional standards are especially noteworthy
for its "very high moral and emotional
violence against women)
legitimacy"
have made significant efforts to disseminate
(Jelin, 1996,179). Governments
informa
about women's
information
rights (creating centers that provide
lines to answer questions on specific laws,
tion and advice, special telephone
and radio and T.V. programs). There are numerous
attempts
publications,
to include gender in the policy process and encourage
greater coordination
in actions
among government
agencies
(i.e. inter-ministerial
commissions)
to facilitate
in policies designed
that involve gender
issues, most notably
to impoverished
access to paid employment
and give assistance
women's
179

Table 1. Selected Indicators ofWomen's Economic and Social Status inLatin America
Country
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican
Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Venezuela
Uruguay
Female
Life
Expectancy
(Years)
Domestic
Women
in Total
Servants
Fertility
(as a % of
Female Labor
Illiteracy Force (birthsper all employed
(%)
(%)
Woman)
Women)a
Average
Female
Income
(as a % of
Male
Income) b
77
64
71
78
73
79
78
73
3
22
16
5
9
5
4
17
32
38
35
33
38
31
39
30
2.6
4.1
2.3
2.6
2.7
2.6
1.6
2.9
12.3
11.2
19.8
12.7
10.2
-
70.5
54.4
55.8
68.1
69.2
-
73
72
67
56
72
75
71
76
72
71
76
78
11
25
40
54
27
11
31
9
9
16
9
2
27
36
28
43
31
33
35
35
30
31
34
41
2.9
3.3
4.4
4.3
4.2
2.8
3.7
2.6
3.9
3.1
2.9
2.4
13.7
9.6
18.1
24.3
9.4
16.4
62.7
55.5
73.1
59.9
69.4
60.6
Sources:World Bank, World Development Indicators, database on gender statistics;

aECLAC, Social Panorama of Latin America, 1996 edition (Arriagada, 1998).
bECLAC, on the basis of special tabulations of household surveys for each country (1994)
(Arriagada, 1998).
and job
female heads of households
(child care, support for microenterprises,
to alter traditional gender
training). Several initiatives have been adopted
in the media, textbooks, and school curricula. In some cases, state
stereotypes
as a criterion across the en
institutions have incorporated
equal opportunity
in Chile's Direccion
del Trabajo,
tire range of their activities
(for example,
In various countries new norms have been passed
or Labor Directorate).
regarding the protection of pregnant and nursing women in theworkplace,

the regulation
of working
hours and minimum
wages
for women
working
in
domestic service, and the extension of equal opportunity programs for rural
and indigenous women. There are also a series of proposals
to punish sexual
on the job, eliminate discriminatory
harassment
rules in health and old-age
pension systems, and other measures aimed at improvingwomen's position

in the labor market.
Programs
have
been
designed
to prevent
teen preg
nancy and foster fathers' involvement in family responsibilities (for example,

through a more
egalitarian
parental
participation
in schools).
In the area of
Montecinos
180
family legislation revisions are still far from satisfactory, but various coun
tries have introduced legal reforms to recognize common-law marriages,
and erase discrim
to children born in and out of wedlock,
of property,
the exercise of parental authority,
in the management
of
there are several examples
and other conjugal rights and duties. Also,
grant
equality
ination
gender-focused trainingprograms of public officials (health care profession

als, teachers, police officers, and members of the judiciary). In addition,
governments have supported the creation of gender studies programs and
other research and extension activities in universities and other institutions
of higher education.
Quota systems have been adopted, requiringpolitical parties to present
a certain
of women
percentage
for example,
candidates,
in Argentina
(the
1991 "parity law" requires that at least 30 percent of congressional can

in Brazil
(a 1995 federal law reserves a quota of 20
in lists of candidates
for municipal
and in
elections),
(a 1997 reform of the electoral regime requires a 25 percent of women
for senatorial posts). In Chile and Costa Rica, provisions
have
candidates
to ease women's
access to positions
in political
of leadership
been made
didates
be women),
for women
percent
Bolivia
parties.
These
policy
ing consciousness
changes
and legal reforms
and political
organization
only partially
reflect
of Latin American
the grow
women
in
the past few decades. Gender-focused measures have been influenced also
in the international
and the recent flurry
policy environment
by changes
of international meetings
and conventions
be
dealing with the connections
and social development
is
tween gender and environmental,
population
the en
sues. Women's
economic
and social roles and, to various extents,
of gender equality are now routinely
included in development
hancement
and regional activism,
interdependence
debates. At a time of increasing
not to com
symbolic and practical reasons make it difficult for governments
ply, at least formally, with the recommendations
adopted at the global and
coun
of Latin American
regional levels.4 By 1985, more than three-fourths
the Elimination
of All Forms of Dis
binding international
legal instrument
In 1977, member
countries
rights for women.5
and the Caribbean
for Latin America
Commission
the Convention
tries had
ratified
crimination
against Women,
to ensure human
designed
of the U.N. Economic
on
the main
Plan of Action for the Integration of Women

and Social Development.
Economic
Every three years a
of
in the implementation
forum evaluates progress
permanent
government
was complemented
in 1994 by a new
Plan. This document
the Regional
it is acknowledged
that the "com
Plan of Action
for 1995-2001, where
have repre
bined effects of the debt and structural adjustment measures
(ECLAC)
adopted
into Latin American
sented
an increase
a Regional
inwomen's
productive
and reproductive
labor, with deep
181
repercussions on their economic, physical and socialwell-being" (ECLAC

UNIFEM, 1995, 10).
Other international organizations (including theWorld Bank and the
Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank) have identified specific targets,method
ologies and timetables to promote, guide andmonitor government compli
ance with new standards
of gender
why and how various
equity.6 Explaining
supranational entities have come to embrace aspects of the gender-equity

agenda (mostly
market-oriented
as part of a growing concern with

reforms) is an important question
the high social costs of

that cannot be fully ex
plored here.7The new international context, however, compels governments

to appear
if not committed
posed to it.
There are concerns
favor of women's
rights
about a backlash
to gender
equality,
at least not indifferent
or op
the new legislation

about the extent to which
in
is being implemented,
and some observers worry
feminist reforms (conservative
an
groups mounted
against
effective
of feminist proposals
campaign against the official endorsement
for the Beijing World Conference
of 1995). In the case of party quotas,
when adopted on a voluntary basis, there is no consistent
implementation,
even by the parties most supportive of women's
of quotas is complex.
and advantages
pertinence
causes. The debate

Some
find quotas
on the
to be, at
least temporarily,an effective mechanism to increase the number of women

in politics
and applied at the national
(when legally mandated
and local
others object that quotas may not lead to the necessary
"critical
mass," may serve as a "ceiling" instead of a "floor," or may result in the
levels);
selection
of women
who
are not active on women's
issues (Craske,
1998: 54;
Staudt, 1998).
The introduction of women-friendly reforms has led to some contradic
tory results; for example,
the region-wide
trend to create state agencies for
affairs is sometimes
women's
accused of being an impairment
to women's
causes and organizations,8
of gender equity plans has been
the formulation
denounced
for having goals too vague to be measured,9
the opening of new
for women
employment
is often derided as a new form of
opportunities
or the targeting of women
exploitation,
in the design of anti-poverty
pro
grams iscriticized for reinforcing gender stereotypes and shifting towomen's

shoulders the task of social provision.
It is probably
too early to evaluate
introduced
in the past decade,
measures
the consequences
of many of the
and it may be premature
to con
clude thatgender reforms containmore rhetorical appeals for gender equity

than effective tools for its achievement. Nevertheless, it ispossible to gener
alize that the resumption of electoral politics has created, paradoxically,
new obstacles to the political representation of women. Many women's
182
Montecinos
Table 2. Women inNational Legislatures inLatin America
World
Rank
12
15
28
29
38
Country
Cuba
Argentina
Peru
Costa Rica
Dominican
Republic
Mexico
Ecuador
Uruguay
Colombia
Bolivia
Chile
Panama
Nicaragua
Venezuela
El Salvador
Honduras
Guatemala
Belize
Brazil
Paraguay
Haiti
39
43
51
53
54
58
66
67
67
68
69
75
88
93
107
?)
Source.
Inter-Parliamentary
Election
Year
Single or Lower
House
No.
1998
1999
2000
1998
1998
166
68
24
11
24
27.6
26.5
20.0
19.3
16.1
2000
1998
1999
1998
1997
1997
1999
1996
2000
2000
1997
1999
1998
1998
1998
2000
80
18
12
19
15
13
7
9
16
8
12
10
2
29
2
?
16.0
14.6
12.1
11.8
11.5
10.8
9.9
9.7
9.7
9.5
9.4
8.8
6.9
5.7
2.5
?
Union
web
page,
Election
Year
Upper House or
Senate
No.
1998
1998
2000
1999
1998
1997
1997
1993
1998
1998
2000
2
2
2.8
6.7
20
3
13
1
2
3
6
8
?
15.6
9.7
12.7
3.7
4.2
37.5
7.4
17.8
?
2001.
organizations have lost funding, becoming demobilized and fragmented.

The number of women
in legislative bodies in the region remains low (see
and Chile the number of women
in the
Table 2). In Argentina
legislators
1990s was still lower than before 1970. Party politics and elitist policy-making
have relegated women
and many women's
is
(especially non-elite women)
sues to a secondary place on the democratization
atti
agenda. Patriarchal
tudes in the private and public spheres have not changed much (Fitzsimmons,
2000; Razavi, 2000 and in this issue).
is still pending. Moreover,
the
The empowerment
of female citizens
since the end
economic
and social policies adopted by elected governments
to
of the authoritarian
period have been in many ways disadvantageous
women's interests (Bakker, 1994; Sparr, 1994;Beneria, 1995;Craske, 1998).

moderate
economic
economies
Latin American
experienced
growth in the
of income and wealth
1990s, but the level of poverty and the distribution
did not improve. Policies that reduce workers'
rights, job stability, wages and
subsidies and public expenditures
benefits, as well as cuts in government
detrimental
in education
and health have a disproportionately
impact on
women's
well-being.
The adoption
of private
sector criteria
in the provision
183
of social services also has tended to accentuate women's disadvantages. For

example, the Chilean private pension system (which pioneered social se
curity reforms in various countries in the region), by adopting the logic of
private insurance systems inwhich benefits correspond to individual contri
butions and levels of risk,deepened gender inequalities:women's longer life
expectancy, earlier retirement age, lower rates of labor-force participation,
and lower salaries
their accumulation
affect
of pension
funds
in individual
retirement accounts, leading to lower pensions, especially for poorer women

(Arenas deMesa andMontecinos, 1999).
WOMEN, DEMOCRACY, AND DEMOCRATIZATION

can the process of democratization
Under what conditions
go beyond
of women's
claims and bring about effective changes in
the legitimization
the political, economic and social status of women? What can we learn from
the experience of women in other democratic systems? Transition studies

add a rich new dimension
to more
general
treatments
of the relationship
between gender, citizenship and democracy (Pateman, 1989; Phillips, 1992;

Vogel, 1991, 1998;Dietz, 1992;Mendus, 1992;Lister, 1993;Voet, 1998). This
literature shows that existing democratic theory and practice everywhere
have failed to explain and resolve women's persistent subordination. The
barriers
to political
equality
originate
inwomen's
unequal
legal status, their
lack of independent and secure income, their concentration in unpaid activ

ities, their inferior position in the labormarket and the consequent scarcity
of social prestige,
personal
autonomy,
time and even physical mobility.
Models of liberal democracy employ universalistic assumptions that

and men. But social and legal provisions
that ex
equally apply to women
cluded women
from the political community
those as
openly contradict
on the basis of
sumptions. The history of modern
democracy has proceeded
abstract principles of freedom and equality, yet women
have been stereo
typed and treated as inferior, unable to secure a fair distribution of resources.
All over the world the exercise of formal rights remains problematic. Women
are still strongly under-represented in trade unions, in topmanagement po

sitions, in legislative and governing bodies. In 1995 women occupied only
9.4 percent
of the senate
seats and 11.6 percent
of the lower house
in the
world's national parliaments.

Democracy has failed to "serve women well" (Phillips, 1992), even in
countries
that are now
taken as models
to be emulated
by the new Latin
American democracies. Although most democratic systems now recognize

the formal legal and political equality of women,
ercise of their rights as citizens, largely shaped
obstacles
to women's
by the sexual
division
ex
of
184
Montecinos
paid and unpaid labor, remain untouched. Feminist critiques of the theory
and practice of democracy differ (Voet, 1998), but they concur on the need
to reconceptualize citizenship and broaden themeaning of politics by re
drawing the boundaries between the public and the private spheres. The
apparently gender-neutral language used in liberal theories of democracy
perpetuates existing disadvantages in the participation of women in social
and political decision-making.
Historically, women's access to citizenship has been gradual, often
through distinctively separate criteria. This has not eroded discrimination,
but reinforced political marginality (as in the post-suffrage silencing of
women's
groups
lasting from the end of the first feminist wave,
in the 1930s
and 1940s,until the 1970s) and increased dependency (as in schemes that link
social security benefits tomotherhood andmarriage). How can the current
wave of democratization
in Latin America
open up opportunities
to depart
from formulas that have yet to alter gender hierarchies
in families, markets,
and politics in other parts of the democratic world?
The connections between democratization and gender equity are still

largely ignored by mainstream political analysts (for exceptions, see
Schmitter, 1998 and Foweraker, 1998). Not surprisingly, the gendered na
ture of transition politics has been addressed primarily by feminist scholars
(Jaquette, 1989;Alvarez, 1990;Waylen, 1994, 1996; Jelin, 1996; Jaquette and
Wolchik, 1998;Friedman, 1998). In the past couple of decades, feminist the
orizing
has gained
standing
in the academic
world,
influencing
new fields of
study, challenging the foundations of existing disciplines, often making ex

plicit
the link between
academic
work
and political
reform. But
resistance
to
feminist scholarship persists, especially in some disciplines, and segregated

to produce unsatisfactory
accounts of the gendered char
research continues
acter of social and political realities. This is an ominous
trend. Knowledge
is likely to lose much of its transforma
elaborated
under these conditions
the biases and dis
tive potential.
It tends to reach self-selected
audiences,
tortions of conventional thinking remaining fortified behind hierarchies of

of academic routines, and the mod
prestige, the complacency
in
for scholarly cooperation.
The prospects of gender-awareness
be
and institutional
reform will improve when scholarship
policy-making
comes less segregated,
allowing mainstream
analysts to explore the broad
and political
of gender relations in all areas of economic
implications
life,
professional
est rewards
in the de
and giving advocates of women's
rights continuous
participation
of
and
reforms.10
and
sign
implementation
social, economic,
political
in
innovations
The transition period did open spaces for institutional
new
was
While
life.
Latin American
public
party politics
suspended,
political
actors appeared alongside or instead of traditional parties and politicians.
Latin
American
women's
movements
grew
significantly
in strength
and
185
public visibility, especially in the 1980s (Safa, 1995). Feminist networks pro
moted cooperation across national, class and party lines. The traditional
distinction between private and public concerns was tested in unique and
unprecedented ways, as illustratedby the politicization ofmotherhood, most
notably
by the group
of the Mothers
de Mayo
of the Plaza
in Argentina
(Bouvard, 1994). But the new public discourses and policy agendas reflected
more
a strategy
of resistance
than a critique
against authoritarianism
of con
ventional democratic institutions.

as an important basis for collec
in addition to its emergence
Gender,
tive action, also gained legitimacy as a category of analysis (the initiation
in Valdes, 1993).
of gender studies in Chile during this period is detailed
the premise
that society consisted
of
Social research began to abandon
undifferentiated individuals and/or conflicting social classes.Women were

marching
national
on the streets;
donors favored
the feminization
research
projects
of poverty was apparent.

Inter
and community
actions with a
specific gender component. The academic and political world, so thoroughly

accustomed tomale domination, discovered that the specific interests and
in con
could not be ignored. Revolutionary
needs of women
Nicaragua,
trast with the earlier Cuban experience, was more sympathetic
to feminism
hostile to feminism and fierce in its persecu
(Waylen, 1996: 85, 77). Although
tion of organized women's groups, even the Peruvian Shining Path actively
in the 1980s: about 40 percent of its
the recruitment
of women
and half of its leaders were women
(Blondet, 1995; Barrig, 1998).
left could no longer discard feminist ideas simply as
The Latin American
pursued
members
a bourgeois, foreign-inspired distortion.Women could not be treated as a

passive mass of voters
ready to respond
tomessages
of family, patriotism
and
abnegation.
Some parties, especially parties on the left (such as the Socialist Party in
Chile and the PT in Brazil), became more receptive to feminist activism and
some of the demands of the women's movements
incorporated
in their plat
forms.Even some right-wingpartiesmade adjustments to look sympathetic

to women's
issues. It has been
argued,
however,
that political
parties
have
a "demobilizing potential" in democratic transitions, stifling the activities

of autonomous
and "returning politics to the gender status

organizations,
quo" (Friedman, 1998, 93, 95). Parties have proved to be timid partners at
women's
votes was important, but not at the expense of
best. Attracting
alienating broader constituencies with feminist claims; parties were willing

to open up spaces
in their ranks, but often
incorporated
women
into separate
sections, did not change gender-biased routines (scheduling of meetings, for

instance), and did not provide sufficient campaign resources for female can
didates. Partisan rivalries prompted divisions within women's organizations
and motivated
many
activists
to abandon
national
politics.
186
Montecinos
The ebullience of feminist mobilization was short-lived. It has been

noted thatwomen's movements do not easily convert "political mobiliza
tion into institutional representation once competitive party politics has re
sumed" (Razavi, 2000, 5). InLatin America, the cycle of gender awareness
and activism was promptly
reversed
as elected
regimes
settled
for a safe tran
sitionmodel, avoiding radicaldepartures from the established rules of liberal

democracy. The progress made in the post-authoritarian context has been
notable in some areas, but only an incipient institutionalization of gender
focused politics took place in the 1990s, primarily under the tutelage of the
state.
The restoration of competitive elections brought with it a "remasculin
ization" of politics (Craske, 1998).With the re-emergence of political parties,
socialmovements (popularwomen's movements, in particular) lost auton
omy, funding, membership and leaders. Few new women's organizations
have been created since then. Existing groups either redefined their goals,
becoming more narrowly focused on economic and local issues to ensure
organizational survival, or disbanded for lack of experience and resources
to adapt to the new political environment (Fitzsimmons, 1995).
The expansion of market-based production and service activities of
fered some women greater economic independence. The economic activ
rose from
ity rate among women
aged fifteen and older in Latin America
22 percent
in 1970 to 34 percent
in 1990 (Pollack, 1998, 31). But women's
in income generation
activities has done little to lib
greater participation
erate them from traditional
within
the family and
caring responsibilities
the community
helpers, still
(unless able to afford the wages of domestic
women. See
one the largest occupational
among Latin American
categories
role has been largely ignored in the privati
Table 1). Women's
reproductive
of female participation
in
zation of welfare provision and in the promotion
"In the name of personal
labor markets.
increasingly
flexible, deregulated
individuals are left to fend for
and accountability,
autonomy
responsibility,
for not making
it
and to bear on their own the responsibility
themselves
in the market"
(Schild, 2000). Disappointment
over a decade ago fought to introduce
those who
is now widespread
gender
equality
among
and more
inclusive conceptions of citizenship into the democratizing agenda.
TECHNOCRATIC DEMOCRACY AND FEMINIST CHAGRIN

co
in Latin America
transition
The opening phase of the democratic
economic
crisis of the 1980s. Elected
incided with the devastating
govern
ments confronted
trade imbalances, high inflation and external debts, budget
and poverty. The lack of foreign investments
deficits, growing unemployment

and loans narrowed
187
the range of policy options. Government
to
elites, eager
enhance their credibility in the eyes of anxious foreign lenders and investors,
a new development
adopted
strategy. Decades
of state
interventionism
be
gan tobe dismantled throughprivatization programs, targeted social policies,

and amore technically-minded, less politicized policy style.
Thus
the challenges
of political
liberalization
were met with
deep
revi
sions of old ideological and policy paradigms. Labor productivity, govern

ment efficiency, and investors' demands received renewed attention.While
had to secure a broad base of political support, market reforms
governments
required that the autonomy and managerial
capacities of policy elites be pro
tected from the intrusions of party politics and the factionalism of organized
interests.An increasingly homogeneous cadre of well-trained and similarly

to the top of the policy-making
ma
economic
experts ascended
in
increasingly united
its embrace of eco
chinery. The economics profession,
socialized
nomic orthodoxy, helped to strengthen the new commitment to fiscal auster

ity,market-oriented reforms, trade and financial liberalization (Williamson,
1994;Montecinos andMarkoff, 2001).
in government
Experts
certified
that democratic
politics would
not en
danger the prospects for economic growth. Cohesive economic teams, con
in the language and doctrines
of the international
financial com
and apt to engage the private sector in dialogue and compromises,
of
shaped not only the terms of the policy discourse but also the margins
what was feasible in the emergent democracies.
The legitimacy accrued to
versant
munity
scientific arguments served to justify contentious and costly policies. The em

ployment of technical criteria promised to discipline arbitrary,rent-seeking,
thus bolstering
the rational expectations
of eco
and corrupt bureaucracies,
nomic actors. Economic management
would no longer be informed by in
competent, particularistic, and populist practices.

The
technopols
made
a triumphant
entrance
into the Latin American
political scene (Dominguez, 1997). They were primarily economists with

graduate degrees from foreign universities,who unlike the technocrats serv
in advancing
of
ing under authoritarian
the prospects
regimes, engaged
in the region. The prestige of academic credentials was converted
democracy
into political capital and the technopols
to leadership po
rapidly ascended
sitions in government agencies, political parties, parliaments and even in

labor unions. These "technocratic democracies" (Centeno and Silva, 1998,
10) promised
competition.
in an age of increased market

stability and economic prosperity
But their core principles clashed with the demands for a more
inclusive, participatory, and egalitarian polity thatwomen's movements had

articulated
in the pre-transition
phase.
Technopols and organized women, the twomost conspicuous newcom

ers within
the politics
of regime
transition,
coincided
in their claims
that old
188
Montecinos
political practices and doctrines needed an infusion of creative ideas.Both

gained visibility by introducing new concepts into the old political discourse.
The
ascent
of feminists
and
technopols
was
aided
by a dense
network
of
international supporters aswell as by their talent at orchestrating unusually

high levels of cross-party cooperation. Both groupswere able to overshadow
traditional politicians who seemed unprepared to face the challenges of a
new era.
The paths of feminists and technopols, however, pointed the transi

tion process in opposite directions.While some feminists argued that con
ventional democratic politics contained inherently non-democratic practices
thatmarginalized women (and other disadvantaged groups) from decision
making structures, the technopols' vision was in fundamental agreement with
the liberal foundations of democracy.Although feminists called forprofound
changes
in economic
and social structures
as well as in cultural norms and val
ues, technopols had no quarrelswith the individualisticpremises ofmarketi

zation
and did not question
the traditional
hierarchies
of firms and families.
The most ambitious feminist proposals clashed with the technopols'

emphasis on governability. Hallmarks of technocratic policy-making were
of consensus
and a cautious stand on redistributive
the preservation
issues.
as understood
Democratic
governance,
by the technopols, had to guarantee
prudence. Gendered politics were divisive, too likely to stir up opposition

from quarters that had to be appeased.
It distracted
from the central
bases of democratization.
which was to secure the material
task,
The opening of democratic politics, in the technopols' view, required

limited and well-structured consultation mechanisms, conciliatory strate
gies, and carefully designed negotiations. This environment precluded the
activism in the post-authoritarian
spread of women's
period. After achiev
ing so much visibility, the women's
agenda could not be totally ignored; but
to compromises
like other controversial
issues, it had to be subjected
and
most radical grievances were muted.
Women's
accommodation.
to some women
The state became accessible
professionals
(middle-class
received attention. But the
experts), and some policy proposals
of state feminism have resulted in numerous
cri
consequences
agencies
tiques of the way gender planning has been adopted. Government
issues have been weakened
in women's
specialized
by insufficient
funding,
staff, and legitimacy within the state bureaucracy. They have been denounced
of autonomous
women's
to the demobilization
for contributing
organiza
and gender
unintended
tions. Some charge these agencies of co-opting or ignoring women's

groups,
bias that increases the dis
others fault them for assuming a technocratic
women
tance between working-class
(the clients of government-sponsored
credentials
and those with the professional
programs)
required to compete
successfully for state funding.
189
The momentous achievements of the transition stage that heightened

women's political visibilitywere ephemeral. This isoften attributed towomen
themselves:
either
they miscalculated
their own moves,
the moves
of their
opponents, or those of their allies. Interpretations of the declining political

of organized
mobilization
women
in new democracies
typically
focus on the
organizational features ofwomen's movements (growing fragmentation, loss

of leadership skills, exhaustion
established
that the movement
and frustration) or in the strategic alliances

with political parties and the state. Women's
leadership is charged with either excessive isolationism (for dismissing the

benefits
potential
of political
alliances
in order
to preserve
the movement's
autonomy) or excessive optimism (for thinking that the state was basically
a tool
to be handled
or a fluid space
to be molded).
Activists
who
kept
themselves busy at the grassroots community level lost connections with

the policy world, and those who joined the policy world lost contact with
base without gaining clout among policy elites. By the late
the movement's
were trying to redefine their
women's movements
1990s, Latin American
strategic alliances and reshape their organizations.
ECONOMISTS, WOMEN, AND DEMOCRATIZATION

A more
transitions have failed

accurate picture of why democratic
could be obtained
to
in Latin America
by shifting our attention
the other novel, but far more influential political actor of the transition pro
cess. Instead of looking primarily at what women
did or could have done
the role of
to gain more from the democratization
process, let us consider
have risen to the highest posi
economists, who throughout Latin America
tions of formal authority.
women
Economists' influencewas significant under authoritarianism. Elected

governments, far from diminishing their influence,may have contributed to
their legitimization. Politically powerful economists have guided the trans
formation of Latin American development, reshaping the rules of politics
and policy-making.
sion, the economists'
The
transnational
character of the economics
to
communicate
with other multinational
ability
profes
actors
(financial and investment institutions,development specialists), their claims

to rationality and efficiency, and their impressive doctrinal consensus around
orthodox postulates were of great symbolic importance
for the consolida
tion stage (Montecinos,
are seen as a safeguard against
1998). Economists
and traditional practices of clientelism,
old forms of populism
capable of
making democracy compatible with the demands of marketization. There

is resistance to the enormous influence of technocratic actors, but their dis
placement
from power
seems
unlikely,
at least in the near
future. Thus we
Montecinos
190
must ask:Can awomen-friendly democracy be constructed in societies where

economists occupy the highest positions in government?
A brief
review
of recent
literature
on gender
and feminism
in main
stream economics is revealing (Ferber and Nelson, 1993; Beneria, 1995;

Nelson, 1996;Albelda 1997). Feminist challenges to the theoretical foun
dations, teaching and practice of neoclassical economics are multiple and
replicatemany of the criticisms that feministsmake against liberal democ
racy.This is not surprising given the common origins ofWestern economic
and political liberalism (Folbre andHartmann, 1988; Jennings, 1993; Sparr,
1994).
Feminist scholars object that the subjectmatter of economics is too nar
rowly centered on the analysis of exchanges in competitive markets. Eco
nomics neglects, undercounts, and undervalues economic activities (produc
tion and reproduction) performed in other contexts, most notably thework
of women in households where labor is unpaid. Economists unreflectively
use assumptions that correspond more closely to the experience of men.
Their unit of analysis is not groups, institutions, or society, but individuals.
Humans are characterized as self-interested and rational maximizers in
volved in exchanges with equallymotivated and unconnected actors.Models
based on universalistic, gender-blind premises cannot recognize or account
for the clearly distinctive
patterns
of behavior
that women
exhibit
as workers
and consumers.
as separate from social con
Models
that conceive economic
exchanges
cannot adequately
explain
the
trols, cultural values, power and coercion
families and
unequal rewards of men and women or the interaction between
of resources within families escapes a con
markets. The biased distribution
ability
vincing analysis. The image of female altruism is unrealistic. Women's
inmarkets and respond to price signals is constrained
by their
to participate
to assume greater
in society and the cultural pressures
subordinate
position
responsibilities in the domestic sphere.

of economists
them to regard
socialization
prepares
The professional
or political
removed from particularistic
as a scientific enterprise,
from emotions or other unquantifiable
phenomena.
concerns, and detached
to be practiced within a single dominant paradigm,
As economics
continues
their work
conceptual and methodological dissention is suppressed or discouraged.

Calls
for a more
gender
humanistic,
interdisciplinary,
ethically-minded,
these unorthodox
are disregarded,
particularly when
its core val
discourses
target the very (masculine)
identity of the discipline,
and rigor and its place in the hierarchy of scientific disci
ues of objectivity
sensitive
economics
inclusion of
1993, 76; Nelson,
(McCloskey,
1996). Thus the systematic
life is resisted. The marginalization
of economic
gender as a core dimension
for abstract
issues" not only reinforces economists'
of "women's
preference
plines

theories, but leads to policies
that are inadequate,
191
and too often overtly
(even
if not deliberately) biased againstwomen's interests.

Economics' unfriendly stand towards gendered analysis is clear in the
representation ofwomen in theprofession. There are fewwomen economists,
in a position of professional
prestige is a rarity (Albelda, 1997).
could make a difference
a larger contingent
of women economists
is not self-evident.
Some expect that larger
in the practice of economics
could enrich the research agenda with new
numbers of women
economists
and build a more effective
questions and methodologies
lobby for feminist
economic
analysis through conferences,
publication
outlets, and the like.
are as likely as men to be pressured
into dis
Others caution that women
and awoman
Whether
economists may be as hostile as their male

ciplinary conformity. Women
to new concepts and methods.
The assumption
that men and
counterparts
women
think differently
places too little emphasis on the power of profes
sional socialization (Nelson, 1996, 87). Similar arguments have been made
regarding the socialization of female politicians. It cannot be expected that
in positions
the interests of women
above
of power will represent
as it cannot be argued that the interests of all women
other considerations
set of preferences.
could be unambiguously
reflected
in a demarcated
In
in politics and in the professions
creasing the number of women
is in itself
positive, but does not guarantee
and
changes in the content of scholarship
women
institutional actions.
Nothing
less than a new economics
seems necessary
to reverse
the trends
thatkeep women's economic contribution invisible and feminist scholarship

unable to gain greater theoretical and policy influence.Feminist economics
has made
strides
significant
in the past decade
1997). The
(Albelda,
Inter
national Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), formed in 1991, has

sponsored research projects, organized conferences, and launched publica
tions, and is beginning
to receive
greater
attention
in the profession.
Many
economists, especially Keynesian, Marxist, and institutional economists,

are overdue. Progress has
agree that reforms in the economics
profession
of gender sensitive statistics. The
been already made with the production
Asian crisis of the late 1990s has weakened
the notion that no alternative
exists to neoliberalism (Beneria, 1995, 1999). In Latin America, however,

the dialogue between feminists and non-feminist critics of mainstream eco
nomics is still incipient.
In the 1950s
and
1960s,
during
a region-wide
cycle
of political
de
mocratization, efforts to reform orthodox economics flourished in Latin

America; therewere ambitious attempts to produce alternative theoretical
paradigms, foster interdisciplinary cooperation, generate new avenues for
teaching economics, and support the implementation of progressive policies.
No
similar endeavor
has emerged
in the current
climate
of democratization.
Montecinos
192
Latin American economists are closely following the dominant trends in the
profession and theAmericanization of economics education prevails even
in countries that previously hosted themost prominent niches of heterodox
economic thinking.Neostructuralism (Sunkel, 1993) promises a revival of
Latin American economic heterodoxy, but gender has not been included in
this revisionist project (Sunkel, interview, 2000).
inimical
Economics'
stand
towards
gender
has been
aggravated
by the
reluctance of women's organizations to scrutinize and tame the institutional

bastions of economists. Gender studies have more naturally fallen into the
domain of other social sciences, leaving economics intact.Feminist activists
have
focused mostly
families.
State
on policy
feminism
areas affecting
has achieved
some
the conditions
success
of workers
in programs
and
of poverty
reduction, female laborparticipation, and family legislation. But social pol

icy, pensions and health care systems remain firmly under the control of
economists. As market principles increasingly regulate the provision of pub
lic services and financeministries imposemore stringent controls on fiscal
budgets, subsidies and credits, the boundaries between economic and other
policy areas become blurred. Government agencies thatwere traditionally
under the jurisdiction of other professional groups-physicians, teachers,
lawyers and even sociologists-are now directed by economists.
Critics
of state feminism
complain
about
the growing
technocratization
of gender policy-making, arguing that professional discourses have broad

ened
the distance
between
gender
planners,
community
organizations,
and
independent women's movements (Alvarez, 1997; Schild, 1998). It could be

of gender
is still too weak.
instead, that the technocratization
suggested,
not
democracies
has
been
The core of technocratic
by advocates
penetrated
few
women
Even
are
economists
in
women's
There
of
government.
rights.
that are now crucial to ease ac
fewer women have the academic credentials
cess to the circles of power. Often, women's
political careers rely on family
Women's
connections
government
1998;
Camp,
1998).
agencies
(Valenzuela,
unable to negotiate
remain marginalized,
effectively with finance ministry
officials, budget directors, and central bankers.11
have acquired enormous political visibility
In Chile, where economists
is among the high
and where the ratio of economics Ph.D.s to the population
women
in
with doctoral degrees
est in the region, there are only around ten
issues
the government
economics.
agency in charge of women's
SERNAM,
and only one
that was created in 1991, does not have a team of economists,
in a staff of
in gender studies (CEM) has two economists
NGO specialized
ten researchers. For several years Chile had an active but small group of
which was
feminist economists
(Grupo LOTA with six or seven members),
Interviews
of Socialist Economists.
initially connected with the Association
revealed the difficulties of maintaining
with some of its members,
however,
193
organizational continuity with such smallmembership operating in an envi

ronment that is hostile on the side of economists and not particularly wel
coming on the side of thewomen's movement. "Women economists protect
their status," one of them said, "they defend themselves from the charge
that once
they start working
on gender
issues
they are
'not as much
of an
economist as before'."
in
international
organization
headquartered
of structuralist
economics
for its sponsorship
creation of a unit in
and had always been dominated
by economists-the
a systematic dialogue between
charge of women's
issues has not promoted
at ECLAC-the
Even
which
Santiago,
was known
side
groups appear to be working
in ECLAC's women's
unit, which
rather
in an interview as dealing with "gender diplomacy"
to economic
the approach
and social de
than substantially
transforming
economists
and gender specialists. These

are no economists working
by side. There
was described
velopment. In thewidely circulated ECLAC's Preliminary Overview of the

Economies
of Latin American
and the Caribbean
a document
(1999),
that
presents economic indicators and trends in the region, there is no reference

to gender distinctions.
the lack of qualified interlocutors
in the policy apparatus of
Certainly,
the new technocratic democracies
only partially explains the failure to secure
enough resources (material and symbolic) to diminish women's disadvan

tages.For example, the intransigent conservatism of theCatholic church has
to advance
the feminist agenda, especially
stalled several key attempts
in
countries where the church asserts its authority over major political parties
and prominent politicians.
TECHNOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND THE ENGENDERING

OF DEMOCRATIZATION
The gendering
of democracy
implies
long-term
reforms
that are just be
ginning to be designed. Women's under-representation in democratic

a variety of proposals:
has prompted
governance
the public financing of
electoral
quotas and other organizational
changes
in political
campaigns,
the
decentralization
of
government
structures,
and
even
parties,
the replace
ment of excessively adversarial and competitive political cultures with a

more caring, compassionate public morality. However, ensuring that the
practice
of democracy
no longer excludes women's
needs
and interests,
con
stitutes a challenge thatgoes beyond the sphere of formal political structures

and procedures.
It implies the reconstruction
of gender roles in society, and
greater awareness of the pervasive
impact of gender stratification
in social
institutions and in the routines of everyday life.Making democratization
194
Montecinos
more friendly towomen requires debunking the prevailing assumption that

undifferentiated individuals-citizens, workers, and consumers-populate
theworlds of families,markets and governments.
Because economics has exerted a dominant influence in the framing of
recent processes of democratization, imposing its language, analytical cat
egories, andmethods on state actions, concerted efforts to change the eco
nomics profession are crucial.The one-paradigm mold has to be dissolved to
make room for alternative intellectual traditions, alternative researchmeth
ods, andmore innovative and progressive policy-making. Interdisciplinary
research
and policy
dialogue
has to be fomented
to break
the economists'
monopoly over the government machinery. Gendered policy-making will

develop only when gendered economics becomes routinely cultivated in
academic settings, government ministries, and informal conversations be
tween economists and non-economists. Economists have begun towork with
political scientists, especially on issues related to the political economy of
market
reforms. But
this collaboration
is based
on a growing
disciplinary
convergence around rationalistic premises. Other non-economists are usu

ally stereotyped as "soft," "imprecise," "unreliable," and consequently left
out of the most
The
relevant
recruitment
tant, especially
when
policy debates.
of more women
in the economics
their credentials
make
is impor
profession
them eligible for academically
prestigious and politically powerful positions.Women's movements should

in economics,
of women
but the feminization
of
support the recruitment
is an insufficient, and perhaps inadequate,
to
economics
solve the
approach
problem of gender-biased
Gender
analysis and policy-making.
experts or
female economists may become
assimilated
into the rules of technocratic
elitism without
them. Women
economists may be able tomake
transforming
a difference
norms admit challenges
to dominant
con
only if professional
ventions. Of course, it is also necessary
that political elites move beyond
of gender equality-the
ceremonial
the signing of
declarations,
of
devote
the
and
the
treaties,
publication
equality plans-to
political and
are
for
the
resources
that
effective
of
economic
necessary
implementation
treatment
and the eradication
of unequal
and
equal opportunity
principles
the rhetoric
exclusionary practices.
A
revision of the doctrinal and theoretical

fundamental
assumptions
to redress its faults, especially as
is necessary
technocratic governance
in the access to political power and
they relate to gender-specific
inequalities
resources. This is a task by no means
limited to the field
market-regulated
also resist
and academic disciplines
since other professions
of economics,
to take gender into account.
concepts and methods
re-thinking established
behind
feminists have argued persuasively

about the need
Latin American
to introduce gender-sensitive
for judges, police officers,
training programs
195
teachers, journalists and physicians. They should also diligently advocate

reforms in economics education. Economists are trained as specialists, de
spite the growing trend to employ them as generalists. Critics of economic
education (see, for example, Colander and Brenner, 1992) have suggested
the need tomake curricular reforms in economics programs, incorporating
the insights of sociology, history, and other disciplines, reducing conformity
to orthodoxy, questioning the characteristic intolerance and arrogance of
But
the profession.
until
those
reforms
bear
of
fruit, a larger contingent
well-trained women economists will allow organizedwomen and their agen

politics better than
the state to play the game of technocratic
cies within
democratization
to
making
do
thus
far.
Paradoxically,
have
been
able
they
us
to
keep
our eyes on the
may
compel
to
equality
more propitious
gender
technocrats.
ENDNOTES
1. Comparative analyses of the relationship between gender and citizenship have focused
primarily on the developed world. See, for example, Orloff, 1993; Siim, 2000.
2.
For comparative
information
on
the situation
of women
in 19 Latin
American
countries,
see Vald6s and Gomariz, 1995.

3.
Some
leave
labor reforms
of the most progressive
to all women
workers
to four months
the extension
of maternity
include, for example,
leave for
(in Costa Rica), optional
post-natal
either the father or themother (in Chile), on-site daycare facilities in all establishments
men or women
a
at least twenty workers,
Binstock
(in Venezuela).
(1998) presents
in five Latin American
countries.
report of legislative
comprehensive
changes
adopted
In Bolivia,
for instance, where
pressure
from below
is hampered
by a female
illiteracy
women
to favor class
rate that surpasses
20 percent,
among
and a tendency
indigenous
its attempts
has regularly
to
over gender
and ethnicity
identity, the government
reported
norms (Smeall, 2001).
comply with new international
with
4.
5. The Convention, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, requires
to ensure
states to take positive
the exercise
of those rights. Compliance
action
with the
on the Elimination
ismonitored
of Discrimination
Convention
by the Committee
Against
to report on how they have implemented
are required
Women.
States
the Convention
every four years.

6.
5 See,
for example,
the Inter-American
Convention
on
the Prevention,
Punishment
and
Eradication of Violence Against Women, adopted by theOrganization ofAmerican States;

to Correct Imbalances
in the Participation
the Plan ofAction
of Men and Women
in Political
Life, adopted
by the Inter-Parliamentary
Council
in March
1994, as well as the above
in Latin America
mentioned
Action
Program
and the Caribbean:
Regional
for Women
1995-2001.
7. Some analysts have suggested that the growing salience and effective pressure exerted
by transnational advocacy networks (for example, the creation ofWomen's Eyes on the
World Bank, a grouping of some 900women's non-governmental organizations formed at
the 1995Beijing Conference) have forcedmultilateral agencies to reshape their own work
thus creating a sort of convergence between them and non-governmental organizations
(Aslanbeigui and Summerfield, 2000;Korzeniewicz andWilliams, 2000).
8.
The majority
of Latin American
countries
have
created
a "women's
machinery."
Examples
include new agencies forwomen inVenezuela (1979), Bolivia (1983),Mexico and Brazil
(1985),Costa Rica (1986),Ecuador (1986),Nicaragua (1987),Argentina and Chile (1991).
196
Montecinos
9. Gender equity plans have been approved, among other countries, inCosta Rica (1990),
Argentina (1993-1994 and 1995-1999), Venezuela (1993), andChile (1994-1999 and 2000
2010).
10. For a disturbing analysis of how development discourses have narrowly reinterpreted the
idea of women's empowerment in a non-feminist, individualistic framework, see Bisnath
and Elson (2000).
11. Analyses of the barriers to engendering the work of financeministries, which occupy an
increasingly strategic role in the policy-making process, and proposals to correct gender
biases
in macroeconomic
policy
are found
in Pearson,
1995
and Sen,
2000.
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Feminists and Technocrats in the Democratization of Latin America: A Prolegomenon

IV.Democratization and Rights to Political Participation

Feminists and Technocrats in the Democratization

Women's movements made important contributions to ending the period

to the improvement of women's status in the region.Gender-biased assump

policy-making process is under the control of economists, a professional

that reforms within

in the task of making

democracy more responsive to the demands of women.

cessful transition from authoritarian regimes with an ensuing process of

(Parry and Moran,

Military regimes dominated most of Latin America in the 1960s and

had not embraced

competition. Efforts to consolidate democracy have captured the attention

economic uncertainty that accompanied the replacement of authoritarian

faced the challenges

eralization while attempting to implement comprehensive and painful eco

in some countries. Elected governments placed unpopular policy choices in

ered economic reformers.

vidual rights and basic freedoms represented

Feminists and Technocrats in theDemocratization of Latin America

reference to the situation of women. The historical under-representation of

life and their subordinate

family are unlikely to change if pluralistic representation is not expanded

insist that the process

democratization be accompanied by transformations in the political culture

at the state level, in electoral politics,

democracy that advocates of women's rights envision, but its transfiguration.

the social and economic

female citizens. Next,

of their formally equal

in this tension. Finally,

mation of economics-may contribute to invigorate democratic politics by

TRANSITION POLITICS AND WOMEN

against the human rights abuses committed by authoritarian governments,

but to redefine politics.

disadvantages. Legions of autonomous women's organizations were raising

clusion of gender inpolitics and policy analysis continued to gain legitimacy

the status of women.

But the establishment of electoral politics also has disappointed advocates

role under Latin America's

largely unexamined (Fitzsimmons, 2000, 221). Given the disparities in na

and in the conditions

Feminists and Technocrats in theDemocratization of Latin America

Sources:World Bank, World Development Indicators, database on gender statistics;

regarding the protection of pregnant and nursing women in theworkplace,

hours and minimum

pension systems, and other measures aimed at improvingwomen's position

nancy and foster fathers' involvement in family responsibilities (for example,

gender-focused trainingprograms of public officials (health care profession

1991 "parity law" requires that at least 30 percent of congressional can

and legal reforms

Plan of Action for the Integration of Women

labor, with deep

Feminists and Technocrats in theDemocratization of Latin America

repercussions on their economic, physical and socialwell-being" (ECLAC

why and how various

supranational entities have come to embrace aspects of the gender-equity

as part of a growing concern with

the high social costs of

plored here.7The new international context, however, compels governments

at least not indifferent