On January 23 2018 Professor Maxine Molyneux (UK) conducted the second annual Rosa Manus Lecture about the history of Latin-American feminism and compared it to present-day feminist movements.

Latin American feminism: A new wave?

Latin America is notable for the strength and variety of its women’s movements and for the widespread activism that from the 1980s brought  legal reforms, qu­otas for female representation in politics and other gender equality measures. Yet  in many areas change has been slow and there have been reverses. High levels of gender based violence are but one indicator of this, and the lack of certain reproductive rights another.­ These issues have become a focus of recent large scale protests such as the Ni Una Menos campaign that brought tens of thousands onto the streets of 5 Latin American countries last year, and young feminists appear to be leading a new wave of activism.

Reflections on the history of Latin American feminism

Maxine Molyneux presented her reflections on the history of Latin American feminism, focusing on the five decades since the ‘second wave’ of the 1970s. She asks how different are the struggles, tactics and challenges that confront the new wave of young activists as compared with previous generations? How different are the challenges today, and does feminism confront the rise of a more organised and self confident anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQI,  pro- family religious opposition?

Maxine Molyneux

Maxine Molyneux is Professor of Sociology and was the founding Director of the Institute of the Americas at University College London. She was Director and Professor of the Institute for the Study of the Americas (at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study). She is currently working on an oral history of Latin American ‘second wave feminism’ in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

Rosa Manus Lecture

The Rosa Manus Lecture is an annual lecture on international developments in women’s history. It’s a tribute to Rosa Manus, a woman who is of historical importance for the development of women’s position as fully-fledged political citizens and also in the field of history. Rosa Manus (1881–1942) played a crucial role in the women’s suffrage movement and the peace movement at both a national and international level. In 1935, she was one of the founders of the International Archives for the Women’s Movement (IAV), the precursor of the Atria-archive.