Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
5-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Program
Political Science
Advisor
Kenneth Erickson
Subject Categories
Economics | Gender and Sexuality | Inequality and Stratification | International Relations | Latin American Studies | Peace and Conflict Studies | Policy History, Theory, and Methods | Politics and Social Change | Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies | Regional Sociology | Rural Sociology | Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance | Social Welfare | Sociology of Religion | Theory and Philosophy
Keywords
El Salvador, Women, FMLN, Civil War, Gender Inequality, Revolution
Abstract
Over the course of a century, revolutionary movements have emerged every few years across the region of Central America, movements that fought for overturning dictatorships and confronting socio-economic inequalities. Women experience higher levels of poverty, human rights violations and discrimination due to gender inequalities. Representing 30% of the FMLN guerrilla army, women in El Salvador took a quantum leap into one of the most horrific and violent armed conflicts in the history of the country (Montgomery 123). Theorists have sought to explain why women became involved in the war. Experts of insurgent collective action agree that women's participation played a significant role in the revolutionary movement. Women served as party leaders, guerrilla fighters, doctors, radio respondents and care takers (Viterna 58). However, most theories also differ as to the motivations behind their participation. The following thesis will examine the political and socio-economic roots and movements responsible for creating a peasant uprising and forming the FMLN, particularly how women of El Salvador formed a revolutionary movement in a patriarchic country controlled by an anti-democratic, military regime. The following pages will examine how and why they became involved and the impact their participation had on civil society post-war.
Recommended Citation
Gonzalez, Erica, "Out of the Shadows: Women of the FMLN Guerrilla Army in El Salvador’s Civil War, 1979–1992" (2018). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2732
Included in
Economics Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, International Relations Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Regional Sociology Commons, Rural Sociology Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Welfare Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons, Theory and Philosophy Commons