Imaginarios Espaciales e Identidad Colectiva en las Luchas por los Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres en Honduras

Abstract

In recent years, geographic analysis on social movements has emphasised the influence of
actors’ concepts, lived experiences and perceptions of space on the emergence of collective
action. Cultural approaches to social movements in Latin America as well as feminist
scholarship have revealed that women’s collective action is shaped by their perceptions of
institutional and societal challenges, which are rooted in authoritarian and patriarchal culture
prevalent in their society. This article combines geographic and cultural approaches to social
movements as well as transnational feminist theories to explore women’s human rights
mobilisation in Honduras after the coup d’état in 2009. It investigates how a group of urban
and rural activists that included feminists, rural women, students and community leaders,
adopted human rights discourses and practices to respond to the coup. The article draws on
interviews and focus group discussions to suggest firstly, that protests in response to the coup
shaped the interviewees’ spatial imaginaries and particularly considers how urban feminists’
spatial imaginaries were merged with those of rural women under the collective framework of
human rights. Secondly, the study demonstrates that a collective identity as women human
rights defenders was crucial for the emergence of collective action and also prompted the
establishment of a national network. This case study contributes to research on women’s
collective action to negotiate women’s rights, human rights and social justice in changing
political processes.