The critical issues of gender inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean

The situation of women in Latin America and the Caribbean is marked by various forms of precarity. Their lives unfold within dynamics of inequality and discrimination. While there have been changes and advances in recent years, and the situation is not the same in all countries and regions, inequalities persist and are particularly pronounced in women's lives.

Various forms of violence permeate the lives of millions of women, often rooted in the normalization of multiple inequalities. In many countries, the situation of women and the struggles for equal rights and better living conditions have deteriorated in recent years, revealing a complex landscape of threats and dangers. At the same time, mobilizations by broad sectors of society for women's rights are growing, denouncing violence, inequalities, and discrimination of various kinds, and demanding respect for a dignified life and the recognition of equality.

Achieving equality is a shared goal that guides the path of women in the region. This is built both through intervention and mobilization, and through rigorous, high-quality, situated research.

Just as gender is produced from intersectionality, if we understand inequalities as multidimensional, we can also consider the construction of equality as intersectional. Furthermore, equality is not synonymous with identical or univocal. It is necessary to move beyond equality as the erasure of differences and advance toward an equality that recognizes diversity.

Assuming the multidimensionality of inequalities implies not only relating gender to other dimensions such as ethnicity, territory or generation; but also thinking of gender inequalities as multiple: associated with the care economy, working conditions, education, social participation, access to justice, health, violence and consumption, among other dimensions.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, inequalities cut across genders, sustained by patriarchal subordination and capitalist coercion, and deepening processes such as the feminization of poverty, discrimination against women, and femicide.

If knowledge production is conceived as social and collective, in this call we promote the application of research teams that integrate researchers from diverse backgrounds, trajectories and experiences and that can also incorporate public responsibility and work with organizations and social movements.

Based on the above, CLACSO is calling for research grants for teams on “The critical knots of gender inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean” that aim to produce rigorous knowledge about the issues raised, as well as generate influence that contributes to counteracting the inequalities experienced by women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Applicant profile.

• Each team must consist of 4 researchers with the following characteristics: 2 must be established researchers (holding a master's or doctoral degree or equivalent) and 2 must be in training (currently pursuing a master's or doctoral degree or under 35 years of age). At least 50% of the team members must be women.
• The person designated as responsible for the team in the application must be a member of a CLACSO member center and prove it through a sworn statement.
• Teams may be made up of people from different institutions or countries, with one of the members being responsible for registering the project.
• Each research team may only participate with one proposal in this call.
• If the scholarship is awarded and travel is necessary, the winners will be responsible for covering the costs of medical insurance or similar expenses.
• If the scholarship is awarded, a specific letter of endorsement from the member center indicated by the person responsible for the application will be requested.

Support to be granted

The grant will amount to US$24.000 (twenty-four thousand US dollars) per team to develop the proposed research within a maximum period of ten (10) months. The grants will be paid in installments via bank transfers made to the winners' names. It is expected that at least 60% of the grant funds will be used for activities related to gathering and processing the information necessary for the research and must be reported to CLACSO with proof of payment. The four winning teams will work with the support of tutors assigned by CLACSO who will monitor their research progress. CLACSO will publish the final products in print and/or digital media, giving them wide publicity and dissemination. The authors will assign to CLACSO the original publication rights of the works, although they may subsequently be published in any other medium, always citing the source and the award received. Award recipients must inform CLACSO of the subsequent publication of their winning works. At least 50% of the scholarships awarded will be allocated to countries and regions where gender-based violence and inequality have increased in recent years.

Characteristics of the proposals

• The member centers to which the applicants are linked must not have any outstanding debts in the payment of membership fees corresponding to the year 2018.
• Completed research projects will not be accepted. Proposals may be linked to ongoing research processes, but the final works must be original and unpublished products and developed within the period established by the call for proposals.
• Members of the Steering Committee or officials of the CLACSO Executive Secretariat may not participate.
• Proposals from researchers who are currently recipients of research grants, fellowships, or research projects organized by CLACSO will not be accepted. Applications from researchers who have previously received a CLACSO research grant will be accepted, provided that the recipient has fulfilled all obligations in a timely manner.
• Texts written in the three languages ​​commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish, Portuguese and French) will be accepted, depending on the country of origin of the proposal.
• Proposals should focus on one of the following dimensions of gender inequalities:
  • Profitability
  • Physics
  • Social or political

Selection criteria for proposals

• In the first stage, the submitted proposals will be reviewed for their formal and administrative aspects to verify their compliance with the competition rules. Proposals that do not meet the established requirements will be technically rejected.
• The proposals that pass to the next stage are evaluated by an International Committee made up of experts who will assess the quality and relevance of the proposals submitted under a pseudonym.
• The Call may be declared void or a smaller number of scholarship recipients may be selected, if the proposals submitted do not meet the required quality standards.
• Situations not covered in this document will be resolved by the convening institution.
• The ruling will be final.

Characteristics of research papers

• The research projects will develop their work plan between September 2019 and June 2020. This plan will be implemented under the facilitation of tutors assigned by CLACSO.
• The final report submitted by the scholarship recipients will be reviewed by the tutors.
• In their final version, the research papers submitted as a result should be between 12.000 and 15.000 words in length (excluding appendices and bibliography), written in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced. This is an approximate guideline, and CLACSO reserves the right to make adjustments or exceptions if deemed necessary.
• The structure of the text will be free, respecting the conventions of presentation of an academic text and the editorial standards of CLACSO.
• In addition, each team must submit a Guidelines for Action Document, containing inputs and recommendations for public policies and social intervention on the topics investigated.
• Texts written in the three languages ​​commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish, Portuguese and French) will be accepted, depending on the country of origin of the proposal.

It is mandatory that the submission be made through the online registration system provided by CLACSO. Printed submissions and submissions sent by email will not be accepted. It is recommended to access the online system to review the registration form. 

1. Login to online registration system, which will be available from June 14, 2019.
2. Register in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC). The generated username and password will be required each time you wish to access the system to consult, modify, add, or submit information for this or any other CLACSO activity. Applicants submitting collective proposals must designate one of the authors as responsible for registration. This same person will receive the corresponding monetary award if the proposal is selected by the Jury.
3. Identify the proposal by indicating its title and the pseudonym of the applicant(s). Applications with pseudonyms that correspond to the applicant's first and/or last name will not be accepted. Once the corresponding fields are completed, the system will enable the uploading of the following data.
4. They must complete the registration form sworn declaration indicating the applicants' affiliation with a Member Center belonging to the CLACSO network. Consult the database of member centers at: clacso.org.ar/clacso/centros_miembros_clacso/inicio.php.
5. Complete the form personal and academic data and attach the curriculum vitae in free format; the digital copy of the identity document, passport or ID card; the digital copy of the highest academic degree obtained (or proof of degree in process) and the photograph.
6. Once registration is closed, the system will produce an electronic certificate of receipt that will serve as proof.