Gender, Narratives and Perspectives: Notes toward an Anthropological Understanding of Government on the Border between Brazil, Peru and Colombia

Based on ethnographic research developed in the city of Tabatinga, on the tri-border between Brazil, Peru and Colombia, this article seeks to set forth the theoretical and methodological elements for an anthropological understanding of government on the border, which takes into consideration gender relationships and regulations. Understanding that relationships between gender and the border/frontier cannot be seen in a static, causal way, or only through macro analyses, we argue that frontier and borderland production processes are chiefly defined by normative gender regimes, which effectively actualise certain gender logics on border territories. At the same time, these intersect with logics of ethnic, national, regional background and socioeconomic position. This article is the result of over five years of ethnographic, educational and anthropological research, and of participation in the public and political arena of gender and sexualities in the city and the borderland region