INTRODUCTION

Issue 79 of Universitas Humanística came from the call for monographic papers we made for issue 78 on Dissident Feminisms. We received a very significant number of contributions for that call for papers; many did not directly address the subject at hand, but dealt with topics related to gender studies or studies about women, in all their diversity (for example, indigenous women, young women, women who had been victims of violence). With this in mind, the editorial team, together with the guest editors for issue 78, decided to put together a new special issue that collected these discussions and allowed us to give account for the multiple reflections that are made about the social theory and contemporary problems from classic feminist perspectives, and also from the inclusion of the question about gender to studies of a different kind. For example, studies related to ethnicity or sexuality, and even to the theoretical discussion about gender itself as an useful category for social theory.

Regarding the aforementioned topic, we start this monographic issue with several theoretical reflections in the Controversia section. First of all, we have the work of Alexánder Hincapié García; there he presents some approaches from where the gender issue could be explained. With the work "Gender: a useful category for historical analysis", written by Joan Scott, as a reference, the author presents three theories: origins of the patriarchy, origins of Marxism and feminism, and the psychoanalysis theory. The poststructuralist theory of Judith Butler is explained in the final part of the work. Afterwards, we have the work of Alejandra del Rocio Bello Urrego on the narrations related to the category Third World, as defended by migrating and native women and men in Europe.

Our Horizontes section is made of three research articles that show the results of investigations where the gender category is central. First of all, we have the work of Silvana Sciortino. It addresses the experience of indigenous women in Argentina and its relation with the main demands of the feminisms of this country, through an ethnographic research. Related to this work, the article of Natalia Castelnuovo Biraben describes the inclusion of Guarani women of north Argentina in the processes of political participation and access to leadership. Castelnuovo addresses the role that non-governmental organizations had -through workshops and training sessions- in the knowledge of Guarani women about their rights and the historical transformation of their role in their communities. The last article of this section is the contribution of Karina Fulladosa-Leal. It presents a particular knowledge production experience through an activist feminist methodology.

The section Otras Voces is made up by two reflections in Portuguese. On the one hand there is the work of Luciana Gruppelli Loponte. Here the author makes a general journey through the theoretical treatment of the visual arts, feminism and education, particularly focusing on the Brazilian case. On the other hand, we have the article of Jacicarla Souza da Silva; an article that highlights Cecilia Meireles and Gabriela Mistral as Latin-American authors and their contributions to the configuration of certain voices, particular to the region.

To close this monographic issue, the section Investigación Joven is made up by two works. The first of them is the article of Tomás Henriquez Murgas, which deals with a performance, with a political-conceptual stamp, related to abortion in Chile. It sets out a discussion establishing theoretical connections between this performance and the artistic activism field, covering it as a political fiction able to create critical thought against some normative socialization outlines. Lastly, we have the article of Alexandra Chocontá Piraquive. It provides arguments on how the yaoi -a cultural product from Japan that contains stories related to masculine characters involved in ho-moerotic relationships- allows its young fans to own and reinterpret their own sexuality in ways that defy the normalized patterns imposed to the current feminine sexuality.

Along these nine articles that make up our monographic space about gender studies, issue 79 of Universitas Humanística also brings a review by Marisa Ruiz Trejo of the book "Intersecciones: Cuerpos y sexualidades en la encrucijada" by Raquel (Lucas) Platero, and an article in the section Espacio Abierto. This article brings back the discussion of issue 76 about Situated Perspectives of Social Studies of Science and Technology. It deals with the contribution of Maria Fernanda Olarte Sierra, Adriana Diaz del Castillo, Natalia Pulido Ronchaquira, Nathalia Cabrera Villota and Roberto Suárez Montañes. This collective work presents a new topic for science and technology studies (STS): the production of knowledge on genocidal practices and the mechanisms by which these practices produce collective memory. Since in Latin America there is an abundant bibliography on memory practices, but few works that use an STS approach, the objective and focus of the work are valuable by themselves.

As always, this editorial effort is now in your hands. We hope you enjoy it, make the most of it, discuss about it, and share it.

Tania Pérez-Bustos
Editor