Feminism and sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

A reflection on the relationship between the concept of revolution and feminist and LGBTQI politics raises a series of questions that provide a stimulating framework for tracing the trajectory of struggles and debates on sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America. In this article I seek to establish whether the concept of revolution might aid us in understanding the incisiveness of the trajectories taken by feminist struggles for sexual and reproductive health in Latin America. I use specific examples (abortion and female sterilization) to argue that struggles for sexual and reproductive rights have represented or do represent a transformative force in women's material lives; furthermore, I show how these struggles can be understood as a permanent revolutionary project that is incomplete and contested and thus brings about a form of transformation that is subject to continual attack.