The voting hand. Visuality and affect in a transnational symbol of abortion rights movement in Latin America´s Southern Cone

Abstract

This article presents a study on the first transnational symbol of the movement for abortion rights in Latin America’s Southern Cone: the “voting hand” for legal abortion. The emblem emerged in Uruguay at the beginning of the 2000s. Around 2010, the symbol turned green and was adopted by the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion in Argentina. As of 2015, the voting hand also accompanied the process that led to the legalization of abortion on three cases in Chile. The analysis focuses on the role of symbols and affects in the activism for abortion rights. The voting hand was central for the construction of a collective identity and political sintony in the movement. This emblem also magnetized hopes associated with democracy and a deep sense of political willfulness. Results are based in documentary research in various archives and in conversations with key informants from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

Keywords:
abortion; Latin America’s Southern Cone; affect; images; feminist movements