Guatemalan midwives of the XXI Century: between Ong’s and the State

Abstract

In the paper I seek to explain what are the elements that determined the articulation between civil society during the process of creation and approval of the National Policy of Midwives of the Four Peoples of Guatemala 2015-2025. At the same time, I emphasize three aspects that I consider important for historical research: 1) the need to study subjects who have not been analyzed as political actors, in this case midwives; 2) the linking of history with other disciplines such as political sociology, and 3) the importance of working with visual and audiovisual documents. Considering the multiple tensions that exist, I analyze some of the alliances and ruptures made between the different actors of civil society (midwives, universities, NGOs, etc.) during the first decades of the 21st century. I conclude that there has been an increase in their political participation at different scales, which has an impact on the way to agree on alliances and establish links with the political society. To develop my work, I have relied on the methodology proposed by the LAIS for social research with visual and audiovisual documents. Theoretically, I return to the works on the State and the democracy of Evelina Dagnino and Lucio Oliver, as well as those of the Structure of Political Opportunities and of the New Social Movements of Touraine, Melucci and Tarrow.