The Politics of Difference and Women's Rights: Lessons from Pobladoras and Mapuche Women in Chile

Abstract

Is it possible to represent differences among women in state strategies to promote women’s equality with men? This article considers this question by examining the cases of two groups of women in Chile: poor and working-class urban women (pobladoras) and Mapuche indigenous women. Both groups assert that their particular interests and priorities are not represented in the achievements of the Chilean women’s movement, particularly the establishment of the National Women’s Service, SERNAM. I suggest that the lack of representation of the two groups is due to similar factors: power differences among women, as well as neoliberal socioeconomic and ideological goals, restrict pobladoras’ and Mapuche women’s access to decision making about definitions of women’s rights and policy priorities. At the same time, the neoliberal context also restricts the extent to which SERNAM can respond to claims of difference among women. Despite similarities between the two cases, they have divergent implications for broadening women’s rights and citizens’ rights more generally. While the Mapuche case questions the applicability of universal rights and indicates a need to recognize cultural rights as part of what it means to be Chilean, the pobladora case indicates a need to guarantee universal socioeconomic rights and institute more effective redistributive policies. Together, the cases show that women’s rights cannot be promoted effectively without concurrent attention to cultural difference and socioeconomic inequality.

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