Dangerous Borders: An Ethnography of Women Traveling in Latin America

Abstract

This paper analyzes the risk negotiation strategies developed by Latin American women backpackers to overcome both territorial and subjective boundaries. Anchored in a “traveling ethnography”, we explore the gendered dimensions of Latin American borders from a feminist perspective. Backpacking is a negotiated and planned activity, executed through forms of agency that work to deconstruct the road as a “dangerous place” for women, destabilizing fear of/on the border.

Keywords
Borders; Gender; Risk; Women; Latin America