The Elementary Structuring of Patriarchy - (Women on the Move) by Menara Guizardi (Paperback)

About the Book

Through life histories of Indigenous women, the volume bridges classical anthropological studies on kinship and contemporary research on the gender inequalities in transnational and transborder migrant families. This ethnographically-informed exercise establishes a critical feminist contribution to the study of border territories.

Book Synopsis

Based on an ethnographic study on the Andean Tri-border (between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia), this volume addresses the experience of Aymara cross-border women from Bolivia employed in the rural valleys on the outskirts of Arica (Chile's northernmost city). As protagonists of transborder mobility circuits, these women are intersectionally impacted by different forms of social vulnerability. With a feminist anthropological perspective, the book investigates how the boundaries of gender are constructed in the (multi)situated experience of these transborder women. By building a bridge between classical anthropological studies on kinship and contemporary debates on transnational and transborder mobility, the book invites us to rethink structuralist theoretical assertions on the elementary character of family alliances.

From the Back Cover

Based on an ethnographic study on the Andean Tri-border between Chile, Peru and Bolivia, this volume explores the experience of Aymara cross-border women from Bolivia employed in the rural valleys on the outskirts of Arica, Chile's northernmost city. As protagonists of transborder mobility circuits in the Atacama Desert, these women are intersectionally impacted by multiple forms of social vulnerability.

Taking a feminist anthropological approach, the book investigates how the boundaries of gender are constructed in the situated experiences of these transborder women. By building a bridge between classical anthropological studies on kinship and contemporary debates on transnational and transborder mobility, the book invites us to rethink structuralist theoretical assertions about the elementary character of family alliances. Life histories and ethnographic data show that the limits of gender are configured as a triad between gender violence, kinship restrictions and female mobility for these women. This helps to denaturalise both the androcentrism of classic arguments on kinship and the emphasis on the experiences of circulation in contemporary theories. Consequently, this book also contributes to the field of border studies by overcoming the insistent invisibility of the role of women in border regions, through a model of analysis that privileges female discourses, experiences, affections and practices. The book's focus on the reproductive tasks performed by women allows a rethinking of the relationship between gender violence and female care as a key element to the survival of indigenous groups in border areas.

About the Author

Menara Guizardi is Adjunct Researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina, and an associate researcher at the University of Tarapacá.