They Used to Call Us Witches: Chilean Exiles, Culture, and Feminism
They Used to Call Us Witchestells a fascinating and moving story of women in the Chilean Solidarity Movement. It’s not the kind of story we’ve come to expect these days from scholars of social movements—that is, a story of political opportunism and the calculated framing of soundbites. Instead, Shayne tells a story of passionate political and moral commitment. It’s a story of how shared political views and a large dose of anger and hope accompanied an amazing group of Chilean women on a journey from exile and despair to solidarity and protest. (Jeff Goodwin, New York University)Julie Shayne's powerful book on Chilean women exiles in Canada offers a new and illuminating perspective on recent Chilean history and the meaning of exile. Shayne discusses, both theoretically and empirically, how culture, gender, and emotion sustained those in exile and contributed to building a transnational solidarity movement. (Margaret Power, Illinois Institute of Technology)Julie Shayne examines Chilean women exiles in Vancouver, British Columbia, through a gendered lens to illuminate the central role of women in the resistance to the Pinochet dictatorship. This ground-breaking study is a must read for anyone interested in Latin American mass exile of the 1970s and 1980s and in women's history. (Thomas C. Wright, University of Nevada, Las Vegas)They Used To Call Us Witchesis an inspiring and accessible account of the role of Chilean women exiles in organizing opposition to the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet from Vancouver, British Columbia. Julie Shayne analyzes the role of women in the solidarity movement in the 1970s and 1980s and then looks at their involvement in the subsequent feminist movement of the1990s….Overall,They Used to Call Us Witchestells a deeply compelling story in an accessible way. It also gives us excellent insight into the ways that emotions and culture can impact strategy and continuity in activism. Anyone interested in social movements, women's activism, and Latin America will surely enjoy the book. (Contemporary Sociology)Creatively using theories of social movements, this book points to the role of these women exiles in the powerful international resistance and solidarity movement that put pressure on governments to isolate and denounce Pinochet as a pariah in the community of nations. Through Shayne’s lens we can see also the role that culture played in the formation of that movement. The themes of mourning, survival, solidarity, and shared pain and the music, verses, crafts, songs, and stories all helped to articulate and support the resistance outside and inside Chile. This book is a well presented history of social movements and of Latin America and the Americas and an example of methodological excellence in women’s studies, feminism, and cultural studies.(Latin American Perspectives)