Violence in the Name of Honour: Theoretical and Political Challenges (review)

Abstract

rejected “verticalism” and obedience, sought alliances with other groups, and struggled to address their own classand ethnically-based internal divisions. It is important to remember that the egalitarian revolutionary movements in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Chiapas attracted women to the cause and set the stage for their subsequent development, playing an indirect but crucial role in the creation of a feminist revolutionary legacy. That is reason enough to avoid prematurely declaring the success or failure of revolutions, for sometimes they are works in progress. Kampwirth’s useful study would have benefited from a brief discussion of nationalism in Nicaragua and El Salvador, which along with Marxism and liberation theology, was an important motivating factor in the guerrilla struggles. The author also might have pointed out that feminist organizations are operating within the broader context of economic globalization and neoliberal policies that squeeze all sectors of civil society in a relentless vise. The tighter the vise, the greater the dependence on funding agencies, and the more difficult it becomes to attain or preserve the desired gender autonomy. Such contextualization would not only set the achievements of feminist organizations to date in bold relief, it would also make the continuing determination and resourcefulness of their members all the more impressive. These minor suggestions notwithstanding, Kampwirth’s work significantly enriches the literature of feminism and revolution.