Feminist Legal Mobilization in a Conservative Sub-National Enclave: The Case of Salta Province, Argentina

Presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association, Minneapolis, Mn, May 29-June 1 2014.

Posted: 20 Aug 2014

See all articles by Alba Ruibal

Alba Ruibal

Republic of Argentina - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)

Date Written: May 28, 2014

Abstract

The interaction between social movements and the legal system is a recent phenomenon in Latin America, and it took more time to the feminist movement, in comparison with other social actors in the region, to develop legal mobilization. The literature on feminist activism in Latin America, as well as the incipient field of studies on legal mobilization in the region have generally focused on the national level. On the other hand, recent studies on the role of sub-national judicial politics in Latin America have generally foucused on courts and not on legal mobilization. Through the study of feminist legal mobilization in an Argentine province, this paper shows that important processes of legal mobilization, particularly in the field of women's rights, are taking place at the local level. It also identifies significant factors that allow to account legal mobilization processes in this case, and that may be relevant also to explain sub-national feminist legal activism and judicial outcomes in the field of women's rights in other Latin American cases, particularly under federal regimes. The paper focuses on a case study based in the North Western province of Salta, which is one of the most conservative enclaves in the country but, paradoxically, presents some the most interesting current developments in terms of feminist legal mobilization in the country, addressing abortion regulation, discrimination in the workplace, and religious education at public schools. The paper analyzes the legal and political opportunity structure as well as the support structure for legal mobilization, and highlights factors related to federalism and the interaction between local and national regarding each of those variables, in particular the dynamics between local women's rights advocates and NGOs working at the national level, the importance of federal institutions located at the state-level, and the role of national electoral incentives of provincial governors in explaining compliance with national norms.

Keywords: Legal mobilization, social movements, rights, feminism, sub-national, courts, federalism, Argentina, Salta, Latin America, religion, abortion, education, reproductive righst, labor rights

Suggested Citation

Ruibal, Alba, Feminist Legal Mobilization in a Conservative Sub-National Enclave: The Case of Salta Province, Argentina (May 28, 2014). Presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association, Minneapolis, Mn, May 29-June 1 2014., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2483009

Alba Ruibal (Contact Author)

Republic of Argentina - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) ( email )

Cordoba, 5000
Argentina

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