Aesthetic and affective practices in Latin American feminist movements: transnational perspectives from the intersection of art, activism, and research

Abstract

In recent years, Latin America has seen the emergence of massive grassroots feminist movements. This has notably included Ni Una Menos, a reaction to femicide that emerged in Argentina and soon became a transnational movement for social transformation, and Un Violador en tu Camino, a participatory performance by Chilean collective Las Tesis, which stood against gender-based violence and became a transnational hymn. Drawing on theoretical, empirical and audio-visual material from our ethnographic work on performance activism, as well as from our experiences as feminist activists organising in Europe and Latin America, we will discuss how contemporary Latin American feminisms embrace different forms of aesthetic and affective practices as vehicles for envisioning – and beginning to practise, at small scale – more socially just and sustainable ways of living.  We ask: What is the role of aesthetic and affective practices in Latin American feminist movements?  And what role do these practices play in sustaining movements and building transnational solidarity? Engaging reflectively with our positions as activists/artists/researchers in relation to the conflicts and movements we are working with, we will also look at the methodologies we develop when studying and participating in feminist social movements and developing transnational projects. How do we navigate changing positionalities and geographical locations? And how do activism and research feed into each other?

Keywords: Feminism, social movements, affect, Argentina