Amanda Labarca and the fi rst feminist institutions in Chile (1910-1922)

Abstract

Chile underwent profound social changes at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. In this context, women began to organize themselves in public spaces to improve their living conditions in different spheres. This article analyses the contribution of Amanda Labarca to the organization of the first feminist institutions in Chile (1910-1922). It looks at this from a cultural-historical perspective to understand the implications that such women’s organizations had on the country’s progress at the time, drawing on both primary and secondary sources of evidence. The findings show that Labarca played a leading role in the then incipient Chilean feminist movement, as materialized by her leadership in the creation of the Círculo de Lectura in 1915. She also played an active role in various women’s groups that evolved into academic, cultural, and political organizations that were consolidated between 1930-1950.