Mobilisation without Emancipation? Women’s Interests, the State and Revolution in Nicaragua
Author(s)
Molyneux, Maxine
Abstract
The extent of women’s participation in the struggle against Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza has been regarded by many authors as an obvious enough response to the widespread repression and brutality of the regime. It has been assumed that all citizens were united against the dictator, class, age, and gender being transcended in favor of political unity. Political participation for women was shaped by the sexual division of labor, however, and the meaning of such participation differed greatly for women from different classes. The revolution, despite admitting women from diverse backgrounds with unique claims, demanded that particular interests be given up in favor of the broad interests of overthrowing Somoza and establishing a new social order. This article examines how women are affected by government policies in the aftermath of a successful revolutionary seizure of power in which they participated on a mass scale.
