Advanced Diploma in Public Policy, Crisis and Gender Justice

Class 1: Initial Activity: Presentation of activities, instructors, academic program, and work schedule. State, democratic governance, and the situation of gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Teacher: Virginia Guzmán Barcos

Conceptual summary of the class
Latin America is a continent where high and persistent inequalities coexist with democratically elected regimes and rising citizen expectations. The region's strong economic growth in previous decades did not translate into a reduction in inequality, raising various dilemmas in the relationship between economics and politics, and between the market and citizens. In many countries, these dilemmas manifested in massive mobilizations and social uprisings in recent years. It has been established that the quality of democracy is the result of a dynamic process involving diverse actors with varying perspectives, resources, and levels of power, leading to tensions and conflicts; it is a "contested process" that originates and transforms within society. Furthermore, the state of women's exercise of citizenship is considered a barometer of the quality and effectiveness of democracy and governance. From its inception, the feminist movement has aimed to radicalize and reinvent political and social democracy. From this premise, it is a movement that questions, challenges, and contests the theoretical, political, and epistemological meanings of democracy. This class analyzes the main contributions of feminism to the content of democracy and citizenship; that is, it argues for the democratizing power of feminisms and reviews the current state of democracies and, therefore, of gender equality in the region.

Class 2: Cross-gender gaps and restrictions.

Teacher: Patricia Rodríguez López

Conceptual summary of the class
Economic and social inequalities have deepened since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the subsequent multi-crisis, creating a challenging global, regional, and national environment, with women and girls being disproportionately affected. This has led to a widening of existing gender gaps, hindering the long-sought-after access to the human right to equality. Observing gender gaps in a new social, economic, and technological context requires studying, interrelating, and measuring the new complexities that women face. While acknowledging the multiple inequalities, those related to access to health, education, economic opportunities, and political participation are considered "primary gender gaps" due to their strategic importance. Focusing more specifically on economic gaps, and particularly the gender pay gap, this analysis revisits the feminist economic perspective that critiques the neoliberal model by studying women's paid work as a sexual division of labor and wages as a price determined in the labor market. This demonstrates the need to include the economics of care and social reproduction in both theoretical and empirical analysis. This will allow us to reflect on the proposed study of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, on gender pay gaps.

Class 3: Intersectional gender justice and social policies

Teacher: Graciela Di Marco

Conceptual summary of the class
Considered as governmental mechanisms for managing inequality, social policies determine which resources are distributed, in what proportion, how, and among whom. They can influence both the structure and intensity of inequalities and the emergence of collective actors (Adelantado and Noguera, 1998), fostering empowerment processes. This concept is closely linked to the exercise of collective power, which will be analyzed in depth. According to León (1997), empowerment processes challenge existing power relations because they aim to achieve greater control over sources of power, individual autonomy, and the stimulation of resistance, collective organization, and protest through mobilization. Therefore, it is understood as a process of overcoming gender inequality. The problems addressed by social policies are thus multiple. We will address some central themes: the exercise of sexual rights, care policies, employment policies, accessibility, mobility, and coverage, all of which impact effective implementation, beyond mere rhetoric. Participants will be encouraged to describe social policies in their countries from the proposed approach in order to map and compare those they consider most important. 

Class 4: A brief history of feminist and women's movements in Latin America and the Caribbean

Teacher: Alba Carosio 

Conceptual summary of the class 

This session offers an approach to the contexts in which feminist movements emerged in Latin America and the Caribbean. It revisits the history of feminisms in light of the political transformations that occurred in Latin America and their ethical and political project of emancipation. It analyzes the theoretical and political positions that problematized the differences in identity and position based on class, ethnicity, age, and origin within feminisms.

Class 5: Institutional feminisms and the expansion of rights: the debate between institutionalization and autonomy

Teacher: Alba Carosio

Conceptual summary of the class 

This class refers to the series of international agreements, pacts, and conventions of the last quarter of the 20th century, which reflected the demands of women and repeatedly declared the need for greater equity and equality, since, as the CEDAW Convention established, "...the fullest participation of women, on equal terms with men, in all fields, is indispensable for the full and complete development of a country, the well-being of the world and the cause of peace." (CEDAW, 1979).

Class 6: Feminist emancipation, the state, and anti-rights reactions

Teacher: Alba Carosio

Conceptual summary of the class
This class addresses the situations unfolding in Latin America and the Caribbean during this period, marked by a new intertwining of the political, ideological, and religious spheres. This has led to processes of democratization with strong anti-rights implications, centered on anti-gender discourses, the restoration of the traditional patriarchal family, and the resurgence of sexual and social discipline. The formula and label "gender ideology," which acts as a symbolic unifying element, was invented to devalue and instill fear of a potential moral collapse and chaos resulting from the legitimization of women's human rights, particularly sexual and reproductive rights, and the acceptance of sexual diversity.

Class 7: Equality, equity and gender justice as feminist ethical-political horizons

Teacher:  Magdalena Valdivieso Ide 

 Conceptual summary of the class
Conceptions of equality, equity, and gender justice are reviewed. Critiques of the political order established by modernity and of liberal theories of justice are presented from feminist political theory.

Class 8: The State as an agent of equality and gender justice

Teacher: Nioe Víquez Moreno

Conceptual summary of the class

The State is an abstract entity that concentrates various powers and responsibilities for collecting and managing public resources, as well as addressing social problems by seeking affordable solutions, to name just a few of its objectives and functions. Every decision made within the framework of these powers has the potential to positively or negatively impact social, political, economic, and other conditions that create factors of disadvantage and social inequality, such as gender inequality. Based on the above, this class analyzes and discusses the role of the State as an agent of gender equality and justice. The objective of this class is that, by the end, students will be able to describe, analyze, and evaluate the role of the State, and especially public policies, as agents of gender equality and justice.

Class 9: Public policies and gender

Teacher: Karina Esther Grégori Méndez

Conceptual summary of the class
The process of formulating public policies is reviewed from a critical gender perspective, establishing benchmarks to ensure that public policies promote gender justice and generate social transformations that foster gender equality. Methodologies for analyzing public policies are presented, and criteria for their study and evaluation from a gender perspective are offered.

Class 10: Violence and discrimination in international human rights law. Gender stereotypes as a basic concept

Teacher: Luz Patricia Mejía Guerrero

Conceptual summary of the class 

Three basic concepts that underpin the international protection of women's rights are explored: the concept of gender stereotypes, and the concepts of discrimination and violence against women based on gender, with CEDAW and the Belém do Pará Convention as central axes. 

Class 11: Women's Human Rights

Teacher: Rebeca Yanis Orobio. 

Conceptual summary of the class

The class explores the basic concepts of women's human rights and the obligations established in the international legal framework, encouraging research on their compliance by States.

Class 12: Belém do Pará Convention, follow-up mechanism and system of indicators to measure progress in the implementation of the Convention

Conceptual summary of the class:
The class explores the mechanisms and tools provided by the system to measure the progress of the implementation of the Convention, through the system of indicators and the system of individual cases in the Inter-American Human Rights System.

Class 13: Multifaceted crisis

Teacher: Magdalena Valdivieso Ide

Conceptual summary of the class 

The concepts of “multifaceted crisis” and “poly-crisis” seek to account for the acute social, political, economic, financial, and ecological problems facing the planet, which are intertwined and mutually exacerbated within the capitalist, patriarchal, and colonial order. This class analyzes the differentiated gender effects of the intersection of the main manifestations of the crisis we are experiencing: a) the effects of the pandemic, b) the economic slowdown, c) the climate emergency, and d) insecurity.

 Class 14: Crisis of the patriarchal capitalist economic order, resistance and construction of alternatives

Teacher: Magdalena León 

Conceptual summary of the class 

Contemporary crises function as moments of synthesis of the complexities that define them. Thus, the pandemic crisis forced a clearer view of the terminal intensity of the capital-life conflict, highlighting vital needs, the jobs, relationships, and resources essential to meeting them, and who assumes these responsibilities. The economic and social effects of the pandemic, as well as the limitations in addressing it, clearly revealed the underlying causes of the deepening impoverishment, inequalities, and gaps, all associated with a socioeconomic order dominated by predatory and patriarchal capitalism. This class reviews the contributions of feminist economics, its interpretation of how the dominant economic system functions, the identification of the contradictions it imposes between production and reproduction processes, the multiple inequalities on which it is based and which it generates, and its alternative proposals.

Class 15: Crisis of democracy

Teacher: Graciela Di Marco

Conceptual summary of the class

Since the late 20th century and especially in the last twenty years, the neoliberal order has deepened, and collective actions and protests have exploded in most regions. These movements exhibit simultaneous and diverse cleavages, in which not only anti-neoliberal struggles but also anti-patriarchal and anti-racist ones have played a significant role. This class focuses on analyzing some theoretical categories of post-foundationalist theory from a feminist perspective and their contextual implications in the region, particularly regarding democracies and democratization. Special attention will be paid to the difficult distinctions between liberal and illiberal democracies and right-wing and left-wing populisms at the national, regional, and global levels within the neoliberal context. This leads us to attempt to understand the relationship between these factors, political society, and civil society from different perspectives. Emphasis will be placed on religious neoconservatism, with a particular focus on the growing prominence of feminisms, ethnic, generational, and ability-based diversity in redefining democracies. This will be done in an attempt to understand the challenges that have arisen over decades and have deepened, in order to grasp their political and cultural influence at the national, regional, and transnational levels. Furthermore, a brief analysis will be presented on globalization and resistance movements, as well as right-wing activism against democracies, human rights, women's rights, and sexual diversity, which are now considered by neoconservative sectors as a threatening new hegemony. 

You must be registered in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC) and enter your username and password. If you are not registered, click here. hereTo access the registration form, you must click the "Register" button on the webpage of the Diploma you are interested in.

Upon completion of the registration process, you will receive a confirmation in your email.

Classes will begin in April and will conclude in July 2026.

All registered participants will receive, on the first day of activities, the necessary instructions to access the classes, bibliography, and discussion forums through the CLACSO Virtual Training Space.

Accessing and navigating the Virtual Learning Environment is very simple and user-friendly. In any case, a technical and academic support team will always be available. For inquiries, you can write to [email protected]

 You must write an email with the request to [email protected] We will send you the requested certificate as soon as possible.

Exceptional criteria: In exceptional cases and within the first 20 days of starting the Higher Diploma, the student may write to [email protected] Requesting withdrawal and stating the reasons. After the case is evaluated, a response will be sent to the request. If approved, the student may resume the Higher Diploma program if a new cohort is offered the following year. After that period of time has elapsed since the start of the course, no requests will be accepted.

Money paid will only be refunded in cases where the organizing institutions decide to cancel the activity. 

Yes, the advanced diploma is certified by CLACSO. The diploma will be sent digitally and is completely free of charge.

Payment can be made in one installment, by credit card or bank transfer. We also offer the option of paying in 3 installments.

Yes. There will be discounts for students belonging to CLACSO Member Centers and CLACSO Associated Centers, for CLACSO Associate Researchers, and for all those who pay within the discount period.

You can check if you belong to a member center here: 

https://www.clacso.org/institucional/centros-asociados/

The Advanced Diploma program integrates a dynamic of asynchronous and synchronous classes. Classes are primarily asynchronous. The schedule for synchronous sessions will be communicated by the Diploma coordinator at the beginning of the program, and participation in these sessions is not a prerequisite for passing the program.