Sacrifice and devotion among women in the Communist Party of Peru

Abstract

In 2001 ended a 21 years long violent conflict between the Peruvian state and the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP). During the violent period were hundreds of women and men imprisoned for affiliation to the PCP. The PCP had a significant number of women participating in the violence, these women were present in all levels of the party. The PCP represented a higher level of female political participation than any other political party in Peru had been able to. My informants claim to not have been fighting for themselves or female emancipation. These women fought for improvement of the poor, uneducated villager. This thesis is based on field work among imprisoned female in the PCP. The theoretical is drawn from Daniel Miller and Pierre Bourdieu.