The Politics of Theater: Bonding and Bridging in Plays On the Women of Juarez

• In Event: Latina/o Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 4: Health, Embodiment, and Structural Inequality

Abstract

In this paper, I ask why there was a proliferation of theater on the feminicides in Ciudad Juarez in the US beyond the early 2000s--the moments of heightened global attention and advocacy. I draw on in-depth interviews with playwrights, actors and producers, as well as secondary documents such as theater reviews to show that the trope of “The Women of Juarez” in theater became a discursive resource by the Latino community that metonymically stands for their own grievances. In addition, these theater productions became a counterpublic arena, a space where the Latino community was able to center its own voice. It became particularly successful as its bonding and bridging functions appealed to both Latino and White audiences: while bonding fostered empowerment, bridging enabled empathy. Hence, plays about feminicides in Ciudad Juarez can be interpreted as public forums that have the potential of broadening “discursive contestation”, rather than targeting policy change.

Author

• Ana Lopez Ricoy, University of California-San Diego