Cover not available
Part of
Discourse, Politics and Women as Global Leaders
Edited by John Wilson and Diana Boxer
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 63] 2015
► pp. 43–66

Chapter 2. Breaking the glass & keeping the ceiling

Women presidents’ discursive practices in Latin America

| Goucher College
ORCID logo | University of Florida

During the last half of the 20th century grass root women’s movements have been instrumental in the transition to democracy in Latin America. These social movements were followed by an increased political representation of women at the congressional level, and within the last few decades, six women have been chosen to the highest office: Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990–97), Nicaragua; Mireya Moscoso de Arias (1999–2004), Panamá; Laura Chinchilla (2010–2014), in Costa Rica; Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010 & 2014 to present), Chile; Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007–to present), Argentina; Dilma Rousseff (2011 to present), Brazil. In our paper, we examine the discursive practices that allowed Kirchner and Bachelet to win their presidencies, and their position on gender, human rights, and economic issues.

Keywords: discursive practice, gender, Latin America, leadership styles, women’s movements
Published online: 30 October 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.63.03cor
References
Bachelet, Michelle
2006(a) “Discurso de investidura.” Retóricas, Speech presented at Palacio de la Moneda , March 11. [URL].
2006(b) “Cuenta annual de la presidente del Congreso Pleno.” Speech presented in Valparaiso, Chile, May 21.
Barry, Carolina
2011 Sufragio femenino: Prácticas y debates politicos, religiosos y culturales en Argentina y América. Buenos Aires: EDUNTREF.Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan
2005 Discourse: Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fairclough, Norman
1992 Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Feijoó, María del Carmen and Marcela María Alejandra Nari
1994 “Women and Democracy in Argentina.” In The Women’s Movement in Latin America, edited by Jane S. Jaquette, 109-129. Oxford: West View Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Fernández de Kirchner, Cristina
2007 “Discurso de asunción ante la asamblea legislativa.” Speech presented in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 10.
2011 “Discurso de asunción ante la asamblea legislativa.” Speech presented in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Web, December 10.
Htun, Mala N
2002 “Women in Political Power in Latin America.” In International IDEA, Mujeres en el parlamento. Más allá de los números . Stockholm, Sweden. 1-12.
Jamieson, Kathleen H
1995 Beyond the Double Bind: Women and Leadership. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Laclau, Ernesto
2005 La razón populista. Buenos Aires, S.A.: Fondo de Cultura Económica de Argentina.Google Scholar
Levitsky, Steven and Victoria Murillo
2008 “Argentina: De Kirchner a Kirchner.” Journal of Democracy 19(2):16-30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Molyneux, Maxine
2003 Women’s Movements in International Perspecties: Latin America and Beyond. London: Institute of Latin American Studies.Google Scholar
Morales Quiroga, Mauricio
2008 “La primera mujer presidenta de Chile.” Latin American Research Review 43(1): 7-32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Murray, Rainbow
ed. 2010 Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office. Santa Barbara: Praeger.Google Scholar
Patrouilleau, María Mercedes
2010 “Discurso y narración en las dinámicas de consitutción identitaria. La experiencia Kirchnerista en Argentina.” CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política 6(11): 37-58.Google Scholar
Piscopo, Jennifer M
2010 “ Primera dama, Prima donna? Media Constructions of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina.” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by Rainbow Murray, 197-220. Santa Barbara: Praeger.Google Scholar
Rojas Mira, Claudia Fedora
2011 “Rumbo a la moneda: Historia del movimiento sufragista en Chile, 1913-1952.” In Sufragio femenino: Prácticas y debates politicos, religiosas y culturales en Argentina y América Latina, edited by Barry Carolina, 391-409. Buenos Aires: EDUNTREF.Google Scholar
Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie A
2006 “Still Supermadres? Gender and the Policy Priorities of Latin American Legislators.” American Journal of Political Science 50(3): 570-585. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Dijk, Teun A
1997 “What is Political Discourse Analysis?” In Political Linguistics, edited by J. Blommaert and C. Bulcaen, 11-52. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Boxer, Diana, Lennie M. Jones & Florencia Cortés-Conde
2017. Cracking the Concrete Ceiling in Male-Dominated Societies: A Tale of Three ‘Presidentas’. In Challenging Leadership Stereotypes through Discourse, ► pp. 195 ff. DOI logo
Jalalzai, Farida, Brianna Kreft, Lizbet Martinez-Port, Pedro A. G. dos Santos & Brigid M. Smith
2022. A tough woman around tender men: Dilma Rousseff, gendered double bind, and misogynistic backlash. Frontiers in Political Science 4 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.