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Brown University

Publication Date

Fall 2006

Program Name

Nicaragua: Revolution, Transformation, and Civil Society

Abstract

This essay speaks of the rural Nicaraguan woman, survival, and the development of strategies of "resistance" to construct a Culture of Peace. It discusses how society creates and reinforces the oppression of this woman, and how this woman confronts (resists) this oppression. This is a paper that documents the struggle of the woman that looks to access power from her impoverished and gendered condition from the time of the revolution until the present. Through a process of formal and informal interviews with rural women over a one month period in Paiwas Nicaragua, the goal of this project was to investigate the following questions: 1.) How is the rural woman defined? 2.) How are strategies of resistance developed? 3.) What strategies of resistance are specific to the rural woman? And 4.) Is it possible for the rural woman to fit into the Culture of Peace model? Findings of the investigation included: obstacles of machismo, poverty, and a violent history of war, which have influenced either violent action or non action forms of resistance. However, the growth of local non violent resistance strategies through women's radio and outreach programs is making new strides towards the construction of a Culture of Peace.

Disciplines

Gender and Sexuality | Inequality and Stratification | Politics and Social Change

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