Book Description

Away from the public eye, but from within the structures of stable and efficient organizations, women's groups have established nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to pursue feminist agendas. Feminist Organizations and Social Transformation in Latin America constitutes one of the first detailed analyses of the political and educational work of these organizations. Focusing on NGOs in the Dominican Republic and Peru, the book presents three case studies of feminist work, showing the careful balance they must navigate among satisfying basic needs, promoting legislation to address profound gender asymmetries, and creating countercultures essential to the development of a gender-attenuated society. In documenting the work of feminist NGOs, Stromquist identifies the ways they provide nonformal education (outside the school system) and informal learning (through experiences and internal discussions) to produce a new consciousness and assertive identities among women.