Gendered Scenarios of Revolution: Making New Men and New Women in Nicaragua, 1975–2000

Acknowledgments

xix Acknowledgments This book has been too long in the making. If there is a silver lining to my delay in finishing the manuscript, it is surely that it has given me more reason to return to El Tule over the years. I have now enjoyed a continuous , twenty-year relationship with the people of this community, many of whom have become an intrinsic part of my life. If it were not for my interest in protecting their privacy, the names of those who have offered insight, hospitality, support, and love through the years would fill many pages. It is to them that I owe my deepest gratitude. I hope that my affection and admiration for these dear friends, and for the community as a whole, is reflected in the pages that follow. Colleagues in Nicaragua discussed my work with me and provided various forms of assistance: Dr. Margarita Vannine, of the Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua; Vilma Álvarez, of the Sociology Department, Universidad Centroamericana; Gilma Tinoco, formerly of the Sociology Department, Universidad Centroamericana; and Rubén Reyes, from Puntos de Encuentro . I gained much from conversations about popular education and politics with Anabel Torres, the late Freddy Morales, and Ramón González, of the Centro de Comunicación y Educación Popular (CANTERA). My gratitude also goes to Victor Flores, formerly of CANTERA, for supporting me in carrying out two popular education workshops in El Tule. In Costa Rica, Cecilia Díaz of the Centro de Estudios y Publicaciones Alforja shared her thoughts about popular education and the CEP-Alforja team’s work in Nicaragua with me and generously gave me access to the xx · Acknowledgments center’s archives. Although, in this work, I have tried to offer constructive criticism of CEP-Alforja’s work in El Tule during the 1980s, I hope I have made clear my admiration for their methodology, philosophy, and the empowerment that their practice brought to the people of El Tule. For their hospitality in my early years in Nicaragua, as well as friendship and many interesting conversations, I thank Clemencia Rodríguez, Karl Offen, Marta Lucía Cuadra, Joaquín Cuadra, Mónica Seoane, the late Rosa María Mora, Tim Johnson, Héctor Lacayo, Grace Páez, and Chuck Stavers. Justino Reyes and Rosita Pérez (pseudonyms) have hosted me for twenty years and discussed every imaginable topic with me. I can never repay them for their hospitality and support, and for so generously sharing their knowledge of Sandinismo and Nicaragua. For many insights, as well as friendship during fieldwork over the years, I wish to thank Mariana Acuña, Magdalena Domínguez, Lidia Enríquez, María Inés Espinoza, Alejandra Medina, Lilian Mena, Ismelda Mena, Vilma Mora, Enrique, Félix, José Félix, Carmen, Guillermina, and Marlene Peña, Toño Rivera, Yadira Sequeira, and Arnoldo Umaña. Paola López passed away before I completed this book. Her friendship and support carried me through difficult times in the field; I know she would have rejoiced to see the book become a reality. A lengthy project such as this one requires substantial financial support . I wish to acknowledge the following institutions for making possible my fieldwork and the early stages of writing: Social Science Research Council (Dissertation Research grant, Carley J. Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship ), National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, The University of Michigan (Rackham School of Graduate Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, Doctoral Program in Anthropology and History, Center for Continuing Education of Women–Mary Malcolmson Raphael Fellowship), Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship ), University of Notre Dame (Kellogg Post-Doctoral Fellowship), and Western Michigan University (Faculty Research and Creative Activities Support Fund). In the United States, Ana Alonso, Florence Babb, Karen Kampwirth, Jon Jonakin, and Ileana Rodríguez gave me useful comments on work that made it into this book. I am very grateful to Karen Kampwirth for helping me obtain access to the photograph from which the book cover was drawn. Ellen Moodie, Bilinda Straight, Deborah Cohen, Lessie Jo Frazier , Janise Hurtig, and Michael Schroeder helped me immeasurably over the years by thoughtfully commenting on several versions of the chapters. Acknowledgments · xxi I am deeply grateful to Les Field, Jennifer Bickham-Mendez, and Carolyn James, who generously gave of their time, reading my entire manuscript more than once and offering unfailingly insightful suggestions. Most of my former...