Course Description
This course examines the ways in which gender and sexuality are relevant to politics in Latin America. Traditional norms governing relations between men and women persist in the region, yet men’s and women’s efforts to challenge fiercely repressive regimes, deeply entrenched norms of machismo, and extreme poverty defy conventional gender stereotypes. Latin American women’s movements are among the most creative and highly mobilized in the world. Gay rights have made tremendous and rapid progress. Under what conditions do gender-based movements like these emerge and what impact do they have on politics? How do norms of masculinity and femininity shape politics and how are those norms shaped by interaction with the state? The cases we study and the countries on which we focus will vary each time the course is offered. The class covers four main topics: gender as a category of analysis, gender-based mobilization, gender and political representation and international norms and public policy.
Click the link below to view the syllabus for this course: Sex and the State 2014