The subversive power of friendship for feminist protests in festive rituals
The case of the Bidasoa Alardes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/rae.v26.10531Keywords:
Political friendship. Feminist protest. Festive ritual. AlardeAbstract
This article addresses the political dimension of friendship in relation to feminist demands in the festive environment. It analyses the importance of friendly ties as a driving force for promoting the equal participation of women in festivals, as mutual support for promoting changes that provoke resistance in the community where the action takes place, as a form of care and sustenance in situations of rejection, exclusion and suffering, and as a source of pleasure and amusement that in turn sustains and results from activism. It draws on the authors' feminist activism in the context of the Basque Country and specifically in relation to the demand for women's participation on equal terms with men in the Alardes of Irun and Hondarribia in the Bidasoa district (Gipuzkoa). It is based on their ethnographic work in these festive areas. Making explicit the political dimension of friendships leads us to focus on their importance in social movements, in this case in the festive sphere where the common struggle against inequalities sometimes constitutes a fun and enjoyable feminist practice but at other times gives rise to tensions and conflict where friendship acts as a bulwark against social disapproval, or as a refuge for protection and respite.
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