Beyond Civil Society: Reflections from the Feminist Field

Abstract

This essay proposes a conceptual language, an interpretive framework, and a new unit of analysis for re-thinking the changing dynamics of feminisms in Brazil and the rest of Latin America. Theorizing feminisms as discursive fields of action in light of this analytical perspective, it develops a narrative revision of three moments in the trajectory of contemporary feminisms: 1) the “centering” and configuration of feminism in the singular; 2) the de-centering and pluralization of feminisms and the mainstreaming (or vertical flows) of gender; and 3) the current moment of side-streaming (or horizontal flows) of plural feminisms and the multiplication of feminist fields.