ENGENDERING THE LATIN-AMERICAN STATE

Drawing on feminist theories of the state, this article critiques and extends the current usage of state theory in Latin Americanist geograp hy. I argue that a nuanced mapping of social dynamics requires underst anding the state as capitalist and patriarchal. Beginning with issues that are typically framed at the global scale, the review works progre ssively toward local and microscale analysis. Attention is given to di stinct areas of scholarship which are appropriate for dealing with sta tes and with the politics that produce and maintain them. Several ques tions are addressed throughout the review. First and most importantly, how have Latin Americanist geographers conceptualized the state? Seco ndly, have these conceptualizations been adequate for understanding th e geography of state formation and dynamics? Thirdly, what have been t he limitations and consequences of these approaches? Finally, how have state/society relations been understood? These questions guide a crit ical reading of the discipline's literature on the region while sugges ting that a feminist critical realist perspective on the state offers powerful insights into Latin American politics, society and social cha nge.