ABSTRACT
This chapter examines ideas and themes concerning identity that have been important to Latin Americas political evolution. Nationalism as an ideology emerged in an early form at the time of Independence and, until the late nineteenth century, elites copied the liberal political nationalism of Europe. Activity motivated by identification with a national idea, ethnicity and race, or gender has become an increasingly important theme in the study of politics since the end of the Cold War. Various feminist analyses seeking to explain women's subordination and devise strategies for their emancipation, such as socialist feminism, have evolved in Latin America, alongside more moderate arguments emphasising female difference deriving, for example, from motherhood. The social character of feminism in Latin America has often distinguished it from the rights-based individualism of United States (US) and European liberal feminisms. The rise of indigenous consciousness has pushed issues such as cultural diversity, autonomy and the impact of neoliberal reform up the political agenda.
