Published jointly by the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) network and the Red de Educación Popular Entre Mujeres (REPEM), this 1999 publication documents a regional seminar held in Montevideo, Uruguay. As part of DAWN’s global programme on Political Restructuring and Social Transformation (PRST), the collection examines the effects of macroeconomic policies, democratic transitions, and globalisation on women’s citizenship and political participation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The volume explores the changing role of the state under neoliberal economic models and discusses how structural adjustment programmes and labour flexibilisation affect women’s economic conditions and participation in public life. Contributors examine the strategic dilemmas of feminist engagement with state institutions, including tensions between political autonomy and institutionalisation. Through regional case studies addressing trade agreements, political quota laws, and municipal decentralisation, the publication discusses a range of approaches to advancing gender justice within emerging democratic contexts.