PhD Dissertation: Reproductive Rights in Latin America: Transnational Activism and the Evolution of Abortion Legalization and Criminalization Policies in Argentina and Brazil (2010-2022)
Advisor: Mónica Salomón (UFSC)
Committee: Catherine D’Ignazio (MIT), Debora Lopreite (UBA), Iara Leite (UFSC), Cecilia Sardenberg (UFBA)
Abstract: My PhD dissertation analyzes how transnational feminist and anti-feminist movements promoted the diffusion and internalization of international norms regarding reproductive rights in Brazil and Argentina between 2010 and 2022. The central research question is: “How did transnational feminist and anti-feminist activisms promote and internalize international norms on the legalization and criminalization of abortion in Brazil and Argentina?” The objectives of the dissertation include: (1) identifying the actions, strategies, and methods of transnational feminist and anti-feminist activisms in Brazil and Argentina, historically situating their actions; (2) theoretically analyzing the actions of these activisms in multilateral forums related to gender and their relationship with the foreign policy of both countries; (3) understanding how these transnational activisms demand, use, refuse, and produce data for their political goals. The developed argument is that the feminist movement of the Green Tide, which emerged in Argentina but operated transnationally, managed to articulate and disseminate the norm of abortion legalization regionally without relying on the structures of the global North, challenging classical theories of norm diffusion that emphasize the dependence of transnational networks on the global North. On the other hand, transnational anti-abortion movements in Brazil and Argentina used counter-framing strategies, despite not having formal involvement in regional international organizations. Furthermore, the demand, use, refusal, or production of data by transnational feminist activism varied according to the need for capital and human resources. Sometimes, local organizations prioritized internal data activism, using transnational data activism as a complementary resource. In contrast, anti-abortion activists used counter- framing strategies, employing the international language of human rights to oppose the data production efforts of pro-reproductive rights groups. The methodology combines interviews with 17 activists from transnational organizations and social movements, a document analysis of 770 multilateral forum documents (249 of which refer to reproductive rights), and a discourse analysis of material published by anti-abortion groups on their social media.
Related publications:
Jungs de Almeida, Alessandra. Reproductive rights in Latin America: transnational activism and the evolution of abortion legalization and criminalization policies in Argentina and Brazil (2010-2022). Dissertation (PhD in International Relations). Graduate Program in International Relations, UFSC. Florianópolis, p. 278, 2024.
Jungs de Almeida, A.; Austria, R.; Ferretto, Martina. September 28th in Latin America and the Caribbean: The date that unites us in the struggle for abortion rights. In Portuguese at Catarinas, in English at Feminist Perspectives – King’s College, and in Spanish at La Costilla Rota. 2024.
Alessandra Jungs de Almeida 