Soñamos vida digna: a multiple qualitative methods’ account of Puerto Rican feminists’ experiences with organizing and activism

Recurring, atmospheric devastations, an inconsistent and violent relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, and the detrimental effects of capitalist globalization on the Caribbean archipelago overwhelmingly characterize and dictate precarious living conditions of Puerto Ricans. Nevertheless, Puerto Rican feminists living and organizing in the islands have reenergized and given breath to a new wave of social justice advocacy concerned with the overall welfare of the islands’ populations. Their distrust for and critiques of the different modes of economic extractivism, austerity, and disaster capitalism transpire in their multifaceted approaches to environmental and community protection and regeneration. Some of these approaches are seen through active resistance to state power, material and educational support for Puerto Rican populations, and place-making practices that promote solidarity and ensure the livelihood of marginalized individuals. Although these developments are actively discussed and critiqued within academic and mainstream platforms based in Puerto Rico, scholarship in the United States within the social sciences falls far behind when accounting for the lived experiences, activist strategies, and place-making practices of Puerto Rican feminists who operate within the recent wave of Puerto Rican environmental and social justice advocacy. Further, the type of feminism practiced in Puerto Rico provides fertile grounds for transnational feminist analysis as well as a critical approach to thinking through social and decolonial theories. This multiple qualitative methods research study is concerned with the exploration of Puerto Rican feminist approaches to the tensions, violence, and extraction that threaten the livelihood of Puerto Ricans, with keen focus on women and minorities. It explores feminist strategies foregrounded in safety, solidarity, and regeneration. This study stands out for its valuable contribution to sociological literature on violence, inequalities, social justice movements, and transnational feminisms.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Rijo Sanchez, Amaury J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Marshall, Anna-Maria
• Atiles Osoria, José
• Gille, Zsuzsa
• Nguyen, Mimi T.
• Reyes Gil, Yanira

• Transnational Feminisms
• Puerto Rico
• Social Movements
• Decoloniality

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Amaury J. Rijo Sánchez

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130128

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F130128