Momento de defender lo conquistado. El movimiento feminista frente a los discursos antifeministas en el Uruguay actual (2019-2021)

Abstract

This Master's thesis proposes to consider the point of view of people actively involved in the Uruguayan feminist movement to understand how they perceive, react, and organize themselves to face the political and social context introduced by a new right-wing coalition government in 2020. This new context is characterized by the presence of a conservative approach that ceases the development of the rights agenda that characterized previous administrations, directly attacking the legalization of abortion. To achieve the previous objectives, this thesis offers a theoretical review that examines the challenges that feminist organizations in Uruguay have faced throughout their existence to achieve visibility in the public space. This visibility is considered necessary to problematize private issues so that they can become part of the government's agenda. Additionally, considering that there is a strong presence of expressions against feminist advances on behalf of government representatives, it is proposed to explore the spread of antifeminist discourses in the public sphere and how they affect the presentation of feminist demands and the feminist's public perception itself. By conducting semi-structured interviews with feminist activists involved in the defense of sexual and reproductive rights, a new configuration of context is identified that places the feminist movement and its demands on the side of the government's opposition. This new situation enables the generation of discourses and actions with the capacity to impact negatively on the public perception of the feminist movement, limiting its capacity for action. Furthermore, it promotes a series of strategies that the feminist movement has begun to develop in response to conservative reactions. These strategies aim to maintain a public presence to ensure that their demands do not lose visibility, preventing the establishment of biased visions. In addition, a need to establish strategies of contention and care among activists, promoting the intergenerational exchanges of experiences, is identified.