Compañeras by Hilary Klein

Author:Hilary Klein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mexico, zapatista, activist, chiapas, women, stories, latin america, revolution, rebellion, guerrilla, feminism, anti-capitalism, gender studies, grassroots, peace, freedom, indigenous, autonomy
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2015-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Women’s Regional Gatherings

While women’s cooperatives are a key building block at the local level, women’s encuentros (gatherings) strengthen women’s organizing at the regional level. Dozens, sometimes hundreds of women representing different villages come together to share experiences and to learn from each other, to make decisions, and to coordinate regional projects. Like the women’s cooperatives, women’s gatherings are both a cause and an effect of women being well organized and are therefore more common in regions with stronger women’s participation. Some gatherings are specifically for representatives of the women’s cooperatives and emphasize skills or information relevant for them. At one such gathering, for example, Ernestina showed the other women how to make organic fertilizer for their collective vegetable gardens. Other women’s gatherings are broader and include a variety of topics and activities.

In 2001 and 2002, women leaders from the Morelia region organized a series of zone-wide women’s gatherings, which brought together women from several different autonomous municipalities. “The themes [for these gatherings] came from the women themselves,” explained Comandanta Micaela. “For example, the idea to give different workshops: there was a series of talks based on our own experiences and we analyzed our own lives. We spent a lot of time listening to women sharing their experiences of working with the church or with the community, or their experiences in their homes and with their families. It was a space to talk about many things.”39

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