Abstract

The article examines political obligation from a feminist perspective, contrasting traditional theories of consent with critical feminist approaches. On the one hand, it exposes the limitations of classical social contract theories (Hobbes, Locke) and the contemporary debate surrounding the concept, and on the other, the theses of Hannah Pitkin, Carole Pateman, and Nancy Hirschmann, feminist authors who developed theories on political obligation, with the common factor of criticizing the traditional individualistic approach and emphasizing resistance as the flip side of obligation. Using the Chilean feminist movement during the dictatorship and democratic transition as an example, the article addresses how practices of disobedience reveal the limitations of traditional theoretical frameworks. The final proposal reconceptualizes political obligation as an “obligation to create worlds”: a collective, non-sovereign responsibility that transcends obedience to laws, incorporating critical surveillance of authority and the creation of alternative spaces for feminist political action. © (2025), (Universidad de Chile), All right reserved.