.com The 1976 Argentine junta that overthrew the ragged Peronista government launched a campaign of terror to crush dissent. "Ford Falcons without license plates would slide through the streets like sharks," says one witness, remembering nights when security forces "disappeared" hordes of people. Though many were tortured and executed in detention centers, junta leaders denied any knowledge of this. Determined to learn the fates of their sons and daughters, a group of middle-aged women who called themselves Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo braved beatings, threats, and abductions to spotlight the flagrant violations of human rights. This scholarly, somewhat dry book tells of their radicalization and activism, which helped galvanize world pressure against the junta and slow the tide of disappearances. Though stiff writing sometimes undermines their affecting, painful stories, this is an amazing and rewarding blueprint for cooperative struggle against abuses of power.From Publishers WeeklyA group of ordinary Argentine women transformed by extraordinary events into a political force is the theme of this detailed study of human rights activism in Argentina. Bouvard's dense survey of the military junta and the Dirty War it waged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which tens of thousands disappeared, were kidnapped or were tortured, tells readers little that's been unreported. She charts new territory, however, in her meticulous and emotional recounting of how an informal group of working-class housewives banded together to seek their disappeared children. Her central thesis, that the Mothers have created a political role for maternity, is hammered home and supported with arguments from Hannah Arendt, but doesn't always convince. Bouvard counters criticism from some feminists that the Mothers cling to a maternal role and support a patriarchal structure, asserting that "They have redefined the private and public spheres and sought to create a political space where the two combine in their organization and political agenda." Revolutionizing Motherhood isn't an unflinching homage to the courageous women. Bouvard serves up a few critical asides herself, noting a Cuban trip the Mothers took with a seemingly blind eye to alleged and documented human rights violations there, and she disparages the Mother's alliance with the Front for Human Rights, a group, she claims, which had ulterior motives and divergent political goals. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalArgentina was rich, modern, and semi-democratic until its economy faltered and left-wing violence paved the way for the brutal Dirty War of 1976-83. Disappearances and torture on the slightest suspicion were the response to any opposition to the military regimes. Typical was the Night of the Pencils, when 16 high school students protesting a rise in schoolbus fares disappeared. Only three returned. Fear was such that only a group of mothers dared publicly to defy the regime by demanding information about their missing. Their steely pacifism in the face of such danger made them a symbol of human rights internationally. Bouvard's work gives a more retrospective and up-to-date evaluation of the mothers' political style than does Jo Fisher's Mothers of the Disappeared (Zed, 1989) and John Simpson and Jana Bennett's The Disappeared and the Mothers of the Plaza (LJ 11/15/85), but all three are excellent choices for any library.Louise Leonard, Univ. of Florida Libs., GainesvilleCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. what is a best selling book Revolutionizing Motherhood: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Latin American Silhouettes)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I enjoyed it a lotBy MPFI enjoyed it a lot. It is a great book. However, it presents only the story of "the Mothers of plaza de Mayo," but neglects to mentions the other relevant facts.I believe it needs to be read with other books, particularly history books, or a better understanding of the situation in Argentina at the moment, because the dissapeared ones not necessary were involved with the Montoneros (the paramilitary group that defacto government was after). So, in order for us to develop an objective understanding of the situation during this period in time, I believe it should be read with other books, particularly history ones. The struggle they went through was atrocious, the images are too strong, so it is hard to be objective when you hear the recollections of other people who lived during that time, particularly for us Argentinians that were born after this defacto government. People that does not know the Argentinian history and what went on at the moment; whom have not been able to hear accounts from people that lived back then either; may develop a really bias view as to what the scenario was like. The situations was extremely complex, it still is. The Argentinian society has an enormous complexity because all the things we have gone as a country since we formed our first government in 1810. And, the only way to understand it is by knowing its history.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Read it for classBy Megan MorrisseyBook assigned for college class. Great book and will hold a great place in my bookshelf.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy Customergood