author Jo Fisher interviews women in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay to show how they have moved into the vacuum left by the military's destruction of the male-dominated left. Chapters describe how women have organised - in communal kitchens in Chile's shantytowns, as trade unionists in Uruguay, peace activists in Paraguay, mothers of the disappeared and self-help groups in Argentina, as grassroots feminists in Chile - ending the isolation of home life. While built around the traditional female concerns such as providing food and care for their families, the new women's movements have developed a grassroots feminism that is strikingly different from the middle class feminism of the city centres and have had a seismic impact on gender consciousness throughout the region.

Hide more