Patricia Harms, Brandon University, “Communist women, transnationalism and the Alianza Femenina Guatemalteca, 1947-1954”

Transnationalism represented the lifeblood for Guatemalan women who identified with the communist party, the Guatemalan Worker’s Party (PGT). They worked primarily through the Alianza Femenina Guatemalteca which became one of the primary spaces in which communist women could operate. Connecting the largely hidden story of these women with the feminist and transnational women’s associations such as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) opens up new pathways to disclose the presence of women who identified as communist and the role of transnationalism in the development of their political ideals.

Keywords: Guatemala; Communists; Women; Alianza Femenina Guatemalteca; Partido Guatemalteca de Trabajadores; Revolution; feminism