‘Constructoras de territorio’/ Producers of urban territories: women’s grassroots movements’ feeling/thinking knowledge of urban territories in Medellín, Colombia

ABSTRACT

In recent years, territory has been at the centre of social movements in Latin America. This article focuses on the experiences of territory of one of the largest women’s grassroots movements in Medellín, Colombia, during the revision of the city’s masterplan, known as the Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial (or POT), in 2014. Through the POT revision, women’s grassroots movements proposed the inclusion of a gender perspective in the city masterplan. Through the examination of interviews with activists and drawing on the notion of territory as an ‘idea and practice’ in which social movements appropriate space for political projects and the notion of feminismos territoriales, which centres on the care of territory and the body, I show that women’s territorial demands are rooted in their gendered knowledge and experiences of territory. This knowledge is based on feeling/thinking (sentipensar) strategies that stem from women’s care activities and the protection of their bodies. Territory acquires political meaning as women’s grassroots movements challenge state territorial policies, such as the city masterplan, and demonstrates their role as ‘constructoras territoriales’, or producers of urban territories.

KEYWORDS:

• Territory
• women
• urban planning
• social movements Colombia

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Gloria Montoya for her support in helping me to meet activists of the MTMM, Madaly López for transcribing the interviews, and the Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Económicas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia for funding this research project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Medellín’s first POT, Acuerdo 069 de 1999, was introduced shortly after central government’s Ley de Desarrollo Territorial, Decree 378 of 1997 which, aside from defining Ordenamiento Territorial, establishes that all municipalities in Colombia by mandate must have a Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial with the purpose of developing, ordering, and regulating territory.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Universidad Nacional de Colombia under grant 33596

Notes on contributors

Lirio Gutiérrez Rivera

Lirio Gutiérrez Rivera is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia at the Medellín Campus. She has a DPhil in Political Science (Freie Universität Berlin) and an MA in Anthropology (Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá). Lirio has researched urban violence and security in Latin America, in particular in Honduras and Colombia. In recent years she has carried out studies on gender, security, and urban planning, as well as Honduran migration in the context of asylum, immigration courts, and the role of expert witnesses. Lirio recently obtained the Alexander von Humboldt Grant for Experienced Researchers. From May 2022 to October 2023, she will be a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Institute of Sociology at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg to conduct research on gender and security in urban contexts. Her recent publications include ‘Safer housing agenda for women: Local urban planning knowledge and women’s grassroots movements in Medellín, Colombia’ published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Planning.