FEDERALISM AND SUBNATIONAL FEMINIST LEGAL MOBILIZATION IN A HIGHLY UNEQUAL FEDERATION: THE CASE OF SALTA, ARGENTINA

ALBA MARÍA RUIBAL

Congreso; XXXIV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA); 2016

LASA

This paper draws from a qualitative study of feminist litigation strategies in the province of Salta, Argentina, to put forward an argument about the impact of federalism on subnational legal mobilization in a highly unequal federal democracy. The case of Salta is an apparently unlikely setting for the development of successful feminist strategic litigation: it is one of the most conservative political and legal enclaves in the country, including its judicial system, and the local feminist movement counts on scarce material resources for legal mobilization. However, during the past decade feminist legal strategies in this province have generated some of the most innovative and relevant cases of feminist legal mobilization in contemporary Argentina. The study argues that in order to account for a case like Salta, it is necessary to consider the impact of federalism on legal mobilization, and in particular how federalism interacts with components of two of the most important variables from legal mobilization studies: support structures and legal opportunities. Its main thesis is that federalism institutional arrangements strengthen the ability of local legal activists to pursue litigation strategies, in the absence of strong local support structures and in unfavorable or uncertain legal opportunities, and that it does so in two main ways: by fostering the institutional autonomy of governmental agencies and insider activists working for the defense of rights at the local level and by providing external legal resources and support for local legal activists in civil society. Throughout the analysis, the article combines two research agendas that have not yet been put together to explain feminist legal strategies in federal systems: legal mobilization studies and gender and federalism scholarship. By addressing a non-typical case, in a highly uneven federation, the article points out nuances to some of the main propositions of both strands of research.