Feminism from home to the workplace: Women workers’ tactics in Parque industrial and 44 horas semanales

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Chasqui

Publication Date

5-1-2020

Abstract

Michel de Certeau's theory of everyday practices aligns with the objectives of this paper, as it argues that people are not passive consumers of products and spaces who reproduce certain practices, but active participants who can manipulate the environments around them through everyday actions. De Certeau's distinction between strategies and tactics is useful here: "Strategies" point to the production and manipulation of power relationships as a consequence of the isolation of a subject with power (De Certeau 36), whereas "tactics" refer to the calculated actions taken by the "weak" using the spaces and resources of the oppressor (the "strategist"). By contrast, Galväo's characters intervene in the public space, discussing women workers' participation in political parties, rather than focusing on family dynamics and the sexual division of labor in the domestic sphere. The study of women's labor in the 1930s remains relevant today, as many of the discussions that emerge in this literature-sexual harassment, discrimination in the workplace, and the gender pay gap-resonate with the current feminist agenda marked by #metoo in the United States and #niunamenos in Latin America.1 Additionally, despite the fact that these novels have been studied individually in the past, 2 this article offers a comparative analysis of the two, fostering transnational connections between the Portuguese and Hispanic worlds in Latin America-two fields that have traditionally been studied separately because of their different languages and histories.3 In doing so, I contribute to building bridges between the various feminisms in the region. 44 horas semanales and Parque industrial: exceptional projects?

Volume

49

Issue

1

Last Page

275

ISSN

01458973

Link to Full Text

Share

 
COinS