Revolutionizing Motherhood: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo

I was directed to read this for a class. I had no idea that it would cause me to change my way of thinking. We all know that the atrocities of disappearances exist, and we might even place a bit of distance between ourselves and the subjects of this book so we can feel better about our own place in life. However, getting close to this subject brings an awareness and sense that something needs to be done, not donation of money, or thinking about it every now and then, (although these actions help) but everyday we need to be doing something. What the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo did was revolutionary. What they did, and how they went about organizing, spreading the word and surviving as they did in the roles that they were as mothers unfamiliar with is astounding. We can learn alot from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. I hope that everyone who has been politically disheartened or disenfranchised reads this book! I believe the other review on this book may have articulated the response to it more thoroughly; nonetheless, I hope to get across that this is a must-read for those interested in social justice issues, activism and more.

This is an academic look at the organization of middle-aged Argentine mothers that began in the wake of widespread political and state sponsored terrorism in the period of 1976-1982, more commonly called the Dirty War. It began as a network of mothers who met while trying in vain to search for their children who had been `disappeared' by the government and grew into an internationally recognized and admired group committed to changing the structure of the Argentine political system from the bottom up. This book focuses on the journey of these women from traditional housewives, many with no formal education, confined to the private sphere of home and family, to a highly politicized, ever present and very out spoken activist organization. They have taken the traditional role of `mother' and used it to their advantage to bring to light the atrocities committed by the military junta against their children. As the title suggests, their organization has revolutionized the concept of motherhood by taking the concerns and duties of mothers out of the private sphere into the public and even international political arena. This book is an interesting documentation of the group and includes interviews with many members as well as commentary from many Argentine and international publications about the Mothers. It discusses their activities from the group's conception during the Dirty War through the transition to democracy as well as their continuing struggle in Argentine political life today. The book also documents the enormous obstacles they faced and continue to face economically, socially, and within their own families as well as their political struggles. It also talks about their interaction and reception in the international sphere, as they captured the attention of human rights and women's organizations from all over the world. It even discusses the ideological split among the Mothers after the return to democracy in 1982 that caused some Mothers to break away from the original group to form another group of Mothers with slightly different ideologies. One of the most interesting aspects of this book is the focus on the development of the women themselves. A great deal of time is devoted to the transformation that has taken place among these women as they came together to find solace in each other that only someone experiencing the purgatory of not knowing the fate of their children could offer. It documents the courage, dedication, successes and disappointments of a group of women who came together to help each other look for answers. It is detailed documentation of a very personal and painful journey of political awakening through collective struggle and pain. It is one of the most valuable and moving aspects of this book. By focusing on this personal transformation, one begins to understand the almost incomprehensible corruption and brutality of the government. For these women, protesting mea