Engendering the Latin American state

Abstract

Drawing on feminist theories of the state, this article critiques and extends the current usage of state theory in Latin Americanist geography. I argue that a nuanced mapping of social dynamics requires understanding the state as capitalist and patriarchal. Beginning with issues that are typically framed at the global scale, the review works progressively toward local and microscale analysis. Attention is given to distinct areas of scholarship which are appropriate for dealing with states and with the politics that produce and maintain them. Several questions are addressed throughout the review. First and most importantly, how have Latin Americanist geographers conceptualized the state? Secondly, have these conceptualizations been adequate for understanding the geography of state formation and dynamics? Thirdly, what have been the limitations and consequences of these approaches? Finally, how have state/society relations been understood? These questions guide a critical reading of the discipline's literature on the region while suggesting that a feminist critical realist perspective on the state offers powerful insights into Latin American politics, society and social change.