High Risk Leadership in Latin America: Women's Pursuit of Gender Justice in Violent Contexts

2026-07-22

The proposed project is about women’s resistance to violence(s) in high risk settings in Latin America. In contexts of high violence, we might expect women – often portrayed as weaker or more vulnerable members of society – to shy away from activities that augment their exposure to risk. Dr Zulver’s previous research shows, however, that against all odds, women do engage in high-risk collective action. These women transgress traditional gender barriers and thus expose themselves to the additional risks of high violence. Not only are such women resisting violence, Zulver’s work shows that their activism focuses on the pursuit of gender justice. The project has two specific objectives: (1) to further document and explain women’s high risk mobilisation in the region (particularly in Mexico) and (2) to comparatively study women’s leadership in high risk social movements in the region. The project will serve the triple purpose of contributing to social movements literature on leadership, expanding understandings of High Risk Feminism, and advancing scholarship on women’s empowerment more broadly. In this setting, complex, robust information about leaders and women’s organisations who mobilise in spite of and because of the quotidian violence to which they are exposed is crucial. The project’s outputs include three peer-reviewed articles, a book manuscript (about women’s high risk leadership), op-eds in newspapers, a workshop for leaders of women’s organisations, seminar and conference presentations at international conferences, gender sensitivity training sessions for PhD students and early career researchers, and a database on women leaders in the region. The key goal of the Fellowship is to establish Dr Zulver at the forefront of her field as an expert on women’s mobilisation in violent contexts. It will directly benefit her career prospects by equipping her with specialised knowledge and personalised training.

United Kingdom (UK)

2026-02-01