  The history of feminist autonomy in Latin American feminism is rooted in the activism of the 1970s and 1980s where it was invoked in opposition to militant feminists (militantes) involved with the political parties of the Left. Autonomy, in this context, was defined as independence from any organization that understood the fight for women’s liberation as a secondary goal. On the other side stood those who took the fight for revolutionary social change as concurrent with feminist involvement and advocated for double participation (Alvarez et al. 2003: 543). The rise of the political Left in many Latin American countries involved resistance to political regimes, and the question of where dedication was rooted reflected the relationship between feminism and the possibilities for social change. Feminist activism revealed the way in which the negotiation of autonomy was and continues to be an evolving concept. As the 1980s progressed with their shifting political landscape, the idea of autonomous feminism came to be redundant. Hence, an understanding of engaged autonomy emerged, which maintained the importance of retaining a feminist stance while negotiating or participating in social practice (Alvarez et al. 2003: 543).