Author: Aleah N. Ranjitsingh Affiliation: Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad Email: aleah2@hotmail.com Title: Winning or Losing Ground? Women and 21 st Century Socialism in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ABSTRACT This paper is a small component of my dissertation which looks at the roles, negotiations, gains and losses that women have experienced within the Bolivarian Revolution in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. In seeking to emphasize the importance of gender and women’s rights in the success of ‘21 st century socialism’ for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela at a UN press conference on September 21, 2006, President Chávez stated “as head of state … I will always support women’s movements, to seek balance in Venezuela and thus contribute to the balance in the world.” Such support can be seen in the drafting and adoption of the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution and other pro-woman government policies. Thus, Venezuelan women have formed the base and bulk of support for President Chávez. However, in the midst of increased women’s political participation, is Venezuelan women’s political participation politicized? Are Venezuelan women political clients or is ‘21 st century socialism’ and endogenous development which is advanced, a real development alternative whose explicit goal is human capacities, inclusive of women? There thus lies certain contradictions between the objectives of ‘21 st century socialism’ and the tendencies towards clientelism which is derived from the political culture of Venezuela and the pressures of an electoral system to sustain political life. Therefore, how women and their roles as Venezuelan citizens are regarded is questionable as the lines of ‘socialism’, ‘Chavismo’ and ‘feminism’ have become entangled. Winning or Losing Ground? Women and 21 st Century Socialism in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Bolivarian Revolution has created spaces for ordinary women- women from the barrios, housewives, students, mothers- to be active in the changing of conditions of their own lives. President Chávez has created policies and social missions which directly affect women and as such, political participation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has a very gendered dimension (Fernandes, 2007). These spaces are especially local as Fernandes (2007) in her fieldwork in the barrio of Carretea Negra in the La Vega parish of west Caracas discovered. Political participation within local spaces is not a new concept for Venezuelan barrio women and before present day and the Chávez administration, the 1970’s were a time of grassroots activism and community organizing for women. Fernandes (2007) illustrates the example of the barrio women of San Agustin del Sur, who, along with their male counterparts, formed a Comité Contra los Desalojos (Committee Against Displacement) in opposition to a proposed urban re-modelling plan by President Rafael Caldera (1969-1974). This urban re-modelling project would center around the creation of a housing program called “The New San Agustin” which would also mean that the ranchos or small dwellings on the mid-level hills would be eliminated and the lands on the higher hills would be converted into public parks,