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The history of physiotherapy in Latin America has received little attention thus far in the English-speaking literature. In this paper, we draw on narratives from activists, educators, and professional leaders who have been instrumental in shaping the development of physiotherapy in Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador. Physiotherapists in the Latin American countries faced many similar challenges, including developing physiotherapy in the shadow of medicine, overcoming conservative attitudes toward women professionals, and frequent social upheaval. The paper explores the disputed story of physiotherapy's origins in the polio epidemics, the influence of Swedish remedial gymnastics, and the educational colonialism of North American and European educators. We examine some of the effects of social unrest and trauma, military rule, and economic instability on the professions attempts to establish itself in the face of competition from other professions allied to medicine. And we consider the efforts taken to establish the profession's autonomy and its shifting relationship with the state. We employed two different methods for data collection to explore aspects of physiotherapy's history in Latin America from a political and socio-cultural context: 1) A reconstruction of memories from activist physiotherapists in Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina, who have seen, lived, and promoted the development of physiotherapy in their own countries, gleaned from in-depth interviews; and 2) Analysis of secondary sources. Data were analyzed following the method described by Maynes, Pierce, and Laslett (2008), exploring personal narratives. Textual data were analyzed using documentary research (Prior, 2003) using thematic analysis, to inductively discover, and describe relevant themes about the two main guiding study questions. A constant comparative method as outlined by Boeije (2002) was used to form categories, establish boundaries, and discerning conceptual similarities between participants' narrative. Five physiotherapists were interviewed. One from Colombia, two from Argentina and two from Ecuador. Three main themes were identified: 'A Female Profession?', 'training and education', and 'Present Day in Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia'. Tensions between the interests of the State, professionals, patients, cultures, urban and rural services, and practices are prevalent throughout physiotherapy in Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador. Operating within these tensions is very much the reality for physiotherapists in Latin America today. Multiple histories emerge from the research, opening up a space for a more nuanced, polyphonic reading of physiotherapy in Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina than has been heard to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of formative research conducted from January to June 2020 in the Department of Atlántico, Caribbean region of Colombia, whose findings were used as inputs to design the national strategy for comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) outside school – Tírala Plena – including its curriculum. This is within the framework of the multi-country project coordinated by UNFPA and WHO aimed at generating evidence on the role of facilitators in the delivery of CSE in non-school contexts. The research was carried out in four municipalities in northern Colombia, in rural and marginal urban contexts with conditions of vulnerability for the adolescent population, including a strong presence of migrant populations from Venezuela. A total of 150 male and female adolescents ages 10–17 participated in the formative research. Workshops such as patchwork quilt, body mapping and talking maps were used as methods to gather information. The groups were divided by sex and age (10–13 years old and 14–17 years old). Knowledge, attitudes and social norms regarding adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, including human immunodeficiency virus, and gender-based violence, were identified in adolescents (schooled and not schooled, but with minimal or no access to CSE). All of the above enabled us to establish a set of recommendations for the strengthening of the CSE strategy Tírala plena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In research on terrorism and political violence, "fieldwork" now means many things. Scholars conduct interviews online, meet former extremists in urban centers, and travel across the globe to interview ex-combatants. But in this world of social media and constant connectivity, it is no longer possible to fully leave the "field." Complicating matters is that researchers often do not speak openly about the ethical dilemmas they face—both during and after fieldwork—fearing it might damage their credibility. While various scholars have explored the ethical complexities of fieldwork in conflict-affected areas, there has been little discussion in political science on ethical challenges after fieldwork, and even less on how these post-fieldwork experiences are often highly gendered. Once fieldwork is over, what challenges do researchers face, what are researchers' obligations to participants, and what types of regulations guide this behavior—especially when participants are former violent actors? What are the power dynamics between researchers and participants, how does gender affect these dynamics, and how do these relationships guide future interactions? For example, how do researchers deal with post-fieldwork requests for money or assistance? And how do scholars decide what to publish, and when, if they have received threats, or if threats to their participants change? Based on my experiences conducting over hundred interviews across Colombia, this paper argues that ethical review processes lack adequate consideration of ongoing ethical issues after fieldwork in conflict-affected environments, especially regarding contact with former insurgents. In addition, I argue that the tension between demands for transparency and adequately protecting both participants and researchers creates a disincentive to have open conversations about these dilemmas—especially among junior scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil conflict in Colombia has gained attention in part for the inclusion of women in rebel forces and peace negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Scholarship has often explained the FARC's decision to mobilize women as both an ideological and tactical move, designed to increase the ranks of the organization and signal commitment to leftist principles. In this paper, I argue that the incorporation of women into Colombia's civil war is better understood by viewing the country's various leftist armed movements (including the ELN, EPL, and M-19) through a comparative framework. By applying the theoretical concept of outbidding, I argue that the mobilization and expansion of women's roles in Colombian armed groups was in fact an intersubjective process, driven by competition among leftist movements existing in a crowded marketplace. In contrast to alternative explanations that focus on mobilization as an elite-driven process, I argue that the outbidding dynamic exposes agency among women recruited to these groups and demonstrates the potential for women to create strategic openings in times of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that we need to broaden the understanding of political economy beyond the circulation of 'things' so as to include forms of production, transformation and exchange of meanings. To illustrate the argument, the paper focuses on the contradictory encounter between two regimes of representation in nineteenth-century Colombia: the 'will to civilization' and laissez-faire. Because political economy was founded upon the desire to civilize classes, races and gender, the premises for laissez-faire could not be achieved. Arguments about local artisanship, the causes of poverty or the international division of labour were embedded in distinctions between the local and the European: ignorant artisans were contrasted with English workers, theory was preferred to reality and coarse textiles were compared to imported ones. Negative representation of female and Indian dresses increased the desire for imported textiles, which in turn led to the displacement of local manufactures in favour of European ones. In those nations imagined as deprived of civilization, the idea of a self-regulatory principle did not prosper. In Colombia, the formation of gender, class and racial identities within the 'will to civilization' regime of representation arrested the formation of an 'indifferent' capitalist labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains how gender and feminist geography as a transversal analytical category to geography have been introduced recently in Colombia. At the beginning of the XXI century, in the geography department of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, the first undergraduate thesis to focus on the relationship between gender and processes of social construction of space was presented. Since then, the contributions of geographers and researchers from a feminist geographic perspective have contributed to the feminist geographical debates from their own trajectories. The contemporary geographical landscape in Colombia is linked with the transversal debates on feminisms and gender in social sciences, social movements and Latin-American feminisms. This networks and connections allows today a diversity of themes from the deconstruction of hegemonic spatial representations in different contexts, gender and conflicts related to territory and body, to some new approaches to technologies and virtual social interactions and their connotation in the construction of non-normative spatialities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While social and political movements are the scale of action most often identified with food sovereignty-related struggles, everyday provisioning practices are critical for sustaining the distinctiveness and relative autonomy of localised food systems. We examine gendered provisioning in a Colombian, Afro-descendent community as a case study of how food sovereignty is enacted in daily life. Women's everyday food provisioning practices nourish households, sustain socio-cultural and ecological relationships, and maintain greater self-sufficiency within market economy integration processes. Deeper analysis of gendered provisioning highlights complexities, power relationships and challenges within localised food systems and refines understandings of gender dimensions of food sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in studying inequitable gender norms and their impact on health and wellbeing, particularly among adolescents. Studies have shown that discriminatory gender norms limit girls' access to power within their families and communities, reduce their educational and economic opportunities, and alter their own aspiration and ambitions for their lives. This comparative qualitative study sought to understand how gender norms manifest themselves in the lives of adolescents in two distinct settings: Uganda and Colombia. A total of 133 young people aged 13–21 years from Colombia and 109 from Uganda participated in either focus group discussions or individual semi-structured interviews in May 2017. Results reveal similarities and differences in how norms are learned, reinforced and resisted and how intersecting social factors affect the ability of adolescents to facilitate norm change. A key similarity was the primacy of parents and peers in the transmission and reinforcement of gender norms. However, setting-specific material and structural factors shaped the manifestation of power and policing of gender norms as well as the ability of young people to contest them. Lessons are identified for the future design of effective gender transformative interventions with adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through qualitative data collected with women affected by drug use and drug-related violence in Bogotá, this article explores the convergence of harm reduction rationales and violence prevention programming in the urban margins to advocate for women's health empowerment and health rights as victims of intergenerational trauma and violence. We propose a methodological shift of public health praxis from street-based outreach models to intimate spaces of intervention for health outcomes embodiment1 as we continue to develop our community health model to work with marginalised communities in the urban global South. Through this work committed to social justice in marginalised urban communities, we seek to support women's health needs through harm reduction in historically marginalised communities in urban settings. Our results expose how multi-level gender-based violence affects women's health in their living spaces in the urban margins. Drawing from women's voices and narratives of urban violence, we call for a feminist alternative to traditionally masculinist and public-space oriented harm reduction practice for health empowerment in the urban margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women displaced by conflict are often exposed to many factors associated with a risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) such as high levels of community violence and the breakdown of social support systems. Previous research found that Colombian women perceived IPV to increase after displacement. This study explored how the experience of displacement altered gendered roles in ways that influenced the risk of IPV. Thirty-three qualitative interviews were conducted with displaced partnered Colombian women. Women disclosed that couples often held patriarchal gender norms; however, the roles of each partner necessitated by conditions of displacement were often in conflict with these norms. Men's underemployment and women's employment outside the home were viewed as gender transgressive within some partnerships and increased relationship conflict. Economic resources intended to empower displaced women, notably women's earnings and home ownership, had unintended negative consequences for women's agency. These consequences included a corresponding decrease in partner financial contributions and reduced mobility. Women's ability to obtain support or leave violent relationships was hindered by interpersonal, social and structural barriers. For women to have agency to leave violent relationships, power relationships at all levels from the interpersonal to societal must be recognised and addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the transformation potential of international mechanisms for reframing nationalisms based on images of the nation supporting unequal gender structures and gender-based violence during periods of ethnonational conflict and conflict settlement processes. It explores opportunities and challenges for changing nationalisms informed by male hopes, aspirations and privileges by engaging with United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and subsequent resolutions on women, peace and security. Analysing different experiences with implementing this international framework shows that engagement with UNSCR 1325 permits the boundaries of citizenship and nationality to be bridged by exploring different gender perspectives and experiences at the national level. Limitations in the transformative potential of this international mechanism are highlighted, in particular its top-down dynamic, which centres the framework at the national level of political decision-making; this provides less space for experiences and perspectives from the regional and local level to inform the implementation process. The analysis draws on findings from focus groups the author conducted with women activists from Northern Ireland, Liberia and Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyses the co-occurrence of two concerns often expressed by indigenous leaders involved with reparations for victims of paramilitaries in Colombia. These concerns revolve around discomfort with the intense use of hegemonic ‘gender’ discourses in the context of the reparations, and a feeling that leaders' involvement in the latter brings about a betrayal of the family and of themselves. By engaging with the local category ofeirruku(flesh), I argue that ways of engaging women in reparations entail the commoditisation of caring relationships. This article, based on 13 months of fieldwork with an indigenous organisation and the communities integrated into it between 2007 and 2008, contributes to the understanding of the articulation of gender and ethnic/racial identification in the context of contemporary forms of governance of indigenous peoples, while delving into ‘carnality’ as a concept to understand gendered forms of reproduction, reparation and selfhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colombia has a long history of political violence which, in recent decades, has been exacerbated by other types of violence related to the illegal drugs trade and growing socio-economic inequalities. As a result, large sectors of the Colombian population have been displaced internally or abroad. Despite this, little is known about Colombian refugees, especially those coming to Europe. This article seeks to partly remedy this by analysing the experiences of Colombian refugees living in London from a gendered perspective, based on qualitative fieldwork carried out between 2003 and 2007. First, it shows that these migration flows are remarkably heterogeneous and include threatened political activists in search of refuge, and asylum-seekers and others escaping insecurity and more-generalised violence, thus differing from more-traditional Latin American refugee movements to Europe. Secondly, it focuses on how gender, contexts of exit and arrival, class, type of refugee migration and life course, combine to frame the migration experiences of refugees in industrialised countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article moves beyond stereotypical portrayals of the connections between hyper-masculinity and violence in militarized contexts and identifies expressions of insurgent masculinities different from the imagery of ‘heroic guerrilla fighter’. Based on conversations with fifty female and male former insurgent militants in Peru, Colombia and El Salvador, this comparative analysis explores patterns within gender regimes created in insurgent movements. This contribution shows that ‘gender’ is not merely a ‘side contradiction’, but that guerrilla movements invest considerable efforts in creating and managing gender relations. The construction of insurgent masculinities is not based on the rejection or devaluation of women in general, but requires diluting gendered dichotomies, enabling not only alternative role models functional for armed struggle, but also female–male bonding, prioritizing comrade identity over gender-binary consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the enduring importance of handwriting in the early republic of Colombia. Colonial practice informed writing instruction but Colombians re-established it in national terms from the 1820s onward. Teaching writing became a critical tool of state formation: an ideal republic of virtuous functionaries depended on uniform handwriting. “Colombian penmanship” measured teacher effectiveness and student performance. Annual public school examinations enforced new political authority and social continuity. Writing samples expressed gender values, imagining boys as faithful citizens and hard workers, girls as graceful wives and dutiful daughters. Yet Colombian schools expected both boys and girls to perfect their penmanship to best express the virtues of good marriage, true friendship and lasting loyalty. Research in the Archivo General de la Nacion (Bogota, Colombia) Fondo de Ministerio de la Instruccion Publica forms the basis of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published information concerning the influence of gender on mathematical ability tests has been controversial. The present study examines the performance of school-aged boys and girls from two age groups on several mathematical tasks and analyzes the predictive value of a verbal fluency test and a spatial test on those mathematical tasks. More specifically, our research attempts to answer the following two questions: (1) Are gender differences in mathematical test performance among children interrelated with age and (2) do verbal and spatial nonmathematical tests mediate gender effects on mathematical test performance? Two hundred and seventy-eight 7- to 10-year-old children and 248 13- to 16-year-olds were selected from schools in Colombia and Mexico (231 boys and 295 girls). The age effect was found to be significant for all measures, with scores improving with age. Results showed that boys and girls in both age groups scored similarly in most subtests, but that differences emerged in the performance of mental mathematical operations and in resolving arithmetical problems. In the latter - but not in mental math - older boys outperformed older girls, whereas no gender differences were observed in the younger groups. After controlling for age, it was found that the spatial test was, indeed, a significant mediator of gender effects, while the verbal task was not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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