IDENTITY, REVOLUTION, AND DEMOCRACY - LESBIAN MOVEMENTS IN CENTRAL-AMERICA

Through case studies of lesbian movements in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, this paper examines the phenomenon of identity-based movements, findi ng that it embraces significant differences in the content and forms o f collective identities. Nar social movement theory calls attention to the role of identity in contemporary movements, but overlooks variati on in the nature of identities. Resource mobilization and political pr ocess theories, on the other hand, offer tools for explaining differen ces, but have not generally been applied to cross-national comparisons of movements around identity. Drawing on interviews with lesbian acti vists in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, an participant observation, and on archival research, I argue that three factors account for the differen ces in the way movements in distinctive national contexts construct co llective identities: 1) economic structure/model of development; 2) st ate-civil society relations; and 3) the broader field of social moveme nts.