Front Cover
        Front Cover
    Introduction
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    The role of women in three regional contexts
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    Conclusions
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    Bibliography
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^w. "_at __e _nivers_


Conference on

GENDER ISSUES IN FARMING SYSTEMS
RESEARCH AND EXTENSION



















RURAI IlOMEI AID AGPAPIANI PPODICTION I'.


Pilar Campania 2%1.



I.- Tntroduction



This NorY is the result of several field studies on riiral Nomen

carried out by the author in different regional conte-ts, from 1978

onwards. In the beginning m, main interest Mas directed towards the

peasant household economy in the central sierra of Peru, but, "err

soon, I realized that wonen were one of the most important economic

props of the peasant society, and that they were certainly worthwhile

as a subject of more specific research. This was in sharp contrast to

what had been taught and written about the peasantry in Latin America.

This paper discusses the situation of rural women and their

participate ion in agricultural production in different conte'ts of

capitalist expansion in Latin Anerica, taking as a sample three

regions, two in Chile and one in Peru. These present different

features, both in relation to the inol"ement of capitalism and in

terms of the characteristics of their regional economies.



11 The variouss research on which this paper is based has been
accomnpl ished thanKs to the support of Wlenner-Gren Foundat ion, Ford
Foundation and International De"elopment Pesearch Centre of Canada.

2)> Pesearcher of Grtipo de In,.es isgaciones Agrarias, GTA, Santiago de
Chile.














Tie (it I is time ff iUi cI uiiig Iegit.4I uf ChI le. Th is I eqj1iw,

pi uk) is sit e .. aimpla ur eaa Iv.' ata, iI al Is d euei igqtiienI. II. Iiia .. be

ulot idei ad a pi ju ileged eg eis i (ui l eg i cu tuie a ra as i ii c i iwA tc-

anrd if i ijai kiii at a .abiscei tied fil j.Ji Ii83 I l *I. if,

ii fr as t tic tui a atid Iu to ihiceases iht pi udc I u iti, aiod i rea'eflue c' 1f ali

Mls t pi tic !oil ao:l: Ju ies ate cari led ti. 1w -:0gadnsl L lai (ari3 tll!] St.

peasals t oflfi It a, a o (s eLOldbi I ilikul [&alice* L.Ul a led it, I lie cegiti al1

filed I let alieali Cl a a be ueeu I the ALtig: agita aii Id Iattle Jall ev3 I. is iz

L'v rag thie be sI Ciseats aeg icUol tui aI egiugs atod cicttla ahis Ile if esalei

p i. 1)r lie P.3PuI at. i u1 Ilie t:.41111 V 1u1i 1 hag aiml Ilaqu hIe

Capital.



TiMe ecuisd i ej huii a1 su hio Cii ii. I is t. r fi eirj 3-j i, ii 1tiw, a3

P1 (JUL 1. kill agii SC ives a. al e-.. ags*1e o(f tie iacoiu, pug a iug. r Uu lnCIs im,

a pea allt lie 4 s a aial lsug ulsei Iliae impaa o a, 1a i-3 1 i Fal ls dis

agi icul tui e is ueal anid ulacueli. l1ii2 Igeg lug.. tihutpil l t. g Ie a- tie

:oIlAIi jik io)i3 (e-i [he de Iiell f o, api ii I: a l is i atgi !ii III a e Ias

cai talim I irigitatlows soiI atid cI iguale Iltiacti adveels se 1 CarcI I lime

vci .1I pei acie teoi pi idiuce ail-i Usle eai al'ii liis TMoe gilv itav fCi mIi 3

Iiave a t. ihici e j gag sile If iiccowe is Witen tim i a a a up I i iiulsi Pi ice

jili ji I. kqig atid 3 tslld c tir tv ls tie pij tidiic I sisd 1 about fliotcl je Th s if

Ifle liial kea i s raucitig able it is pctitele i i*f. cap. I tl Il eileg [lie

r eTd, 14 i I:h ii aij slag aga ht5 wiieis _3ood i 1: l oEl sIec-aite adei se Time 1 .i0

pIlated tov tie State in1 time developiseleei or Ilihee i eg ici3 i -z all

If t[he Lot] [ jojaalI j ol f :a I -ahIi ti ..p is sidj isi 1ie. I .I

appears to be instired b,' the 0t tea I iu %jg sciii gquaiaI cI ee ofl ices

Farmers w i 11 iniuest in them. Ou the o3theu hanidl I Ibhcl is 3ii., he I p














fI cons the State and also eri l.elt pi ices al e olu, coiuiel, i1ll I ou ienlled

agi ic :l ti al enl:ei p i e uill lei d I l 14 il:1h, a ua ile peasaill I ii-isee i ul

units will tend to increase. This counterbalance between co cijel ial

and peasant p odiluc : ioln il i ts seems tIo chai a': Iel ize l eg i uil ulei e

capital ist poss ibilities aie l ignited .



Th iid l the ceitri al l eg ion of Per u has been sel ec. ted ill ii djel t:

derlaiisltr ale and anlalyse the deuelopnien I or uronrse 's Hbl K alnd the

ho useho ld e:onom) in an agl ic:u i tLil a sel:lt i19 whei e capital il

agr icul ture is lar gel absent preferring, instead to in",est in othei

acti it ies, s.ch as minllingl Ill this legiloni, capital. inluoluclnel ll iil

agl icul tule is of a secoidai marginal nature. bothL i l l ll i ela ju tlo

the iepr odiuct ion of the labour fo' ce. of the household and in the

development of the region as a whole. Mteertheless euen +h. lgh

capital is usiarginal agr i:jul till al pi o3,luctin,:l is lailnt aied b'. peasant

units, which taKe ouei also the responstibil it I fu, the i epli (lduictioii of

l abous because the dominant capitalist sector is incapable bV itself

of reproducing the labour force it needs.. As a result, most labourers

worKing in mining, industry and conmmerci i al act i i ties a I e al so

peasants, who Keep their plots of land in lar der to complenmen I theil

wages ,and pett commodity activities. The main characteristic of this

situation of capitalist deuelnpment is the close relationship between

marginal Forms oF agr icul tuial product ioni anld the other economic

sectors, which come together in the household which maintains its

.1ar iolus members in several economic sectors.


In the last ten tears systematic s-tudies haue been conducted in














these country ies on the position and condition of uomen arid theii

contribution towards development. Though there is still inuch research

to be done, there is no doubt that substantial progress has been made

in the empirical and theoretical stijud, of this subject. As rai as

rural nomen are concerned, the discussion has focused upon tno ma in

issues: that of anal'sinig and clarifying the role of "omen in agrarian

conte+xs, and that of achieving their full involvement in society+

through increasing participation in the economy and iin political

organization, and thus removing them from their present subordinate

position in society.



Ilithin this. context, the present paper aims to contribute to the

study of rural women by analysing the different types and foi izs (if

their worK in agriculture and by studying the extent to which their

participation in agricultural production has importance and'or

relevance to the wider development of regional and national economies.



I start from the hypothesis that the participation of uomen in

agricultural production depends, above all, on the type of development

offered by a given region? and that, in its turn, the agricultural

development of different regions will depend on historical processes

and, especially, on existing natural resources such as soil. climate,

and irrigation. Because of this, agricultural de-elopment in Latin

America, and within each country, is very heterogeneous. T+ is

possible to-Find regions 1ith a high degree of capitalist development

ne.t+ to regions in uhich capitalist enterprise is less significant in

the national economy. Regions uar, in economic conditions depending














on the pr ice that their cash crops fetch or, the irnternat ion l IriaI,'e

and on s late pol i:cy. There ale also regions in im ich a. icul tu e is

essentially subsistence-oriented and where capital peneti ratiui has

produced little impact on the structure of agriculture and production.



Such differences are plain to see: Me might sa,. sel f--eu ident.

Furthermore, among them there is a "aried range of composite

situations. A great deal of research has been done on "peasant

economies" in most or the different regions in the continent, hibt they

hae mostly failed to grasp properly the internal dynamic of the rural

economy as a Hhole. Tn mr- ,iew this failure is partly a result of a

methodological approach which taVes men as "the peasant", and which

consequlentl- is u-nable to comprehend the complexities of internal

peasant household dynamics. I.hat is needed at this stage of research,

then, is to study the peasan+ry from a different point of "iew, giving

attention to the other members of the household, in order to reveal

the conditions of peasant agricultural production and isur"i"al, and to

understand the role of rural uomen and their contribution to the

household income.



The second hypothesis concerns the relationship between changes

which affect agriculture and women's participation in agricultural

1or1V. Garret 1l'317G and DOn eritp 1'70' agree thai the ii~.dea n, izl. ion,

of agi icil ltur e the itn ti odtic t ic n of Ir ta h inei .; arnd of racidei n

te:chiiolog ic-al systems, 4 irectl:.' displace nuu neii iln agi icial ti e. tly of w

' ,ie however is that this does rnot happen of rn:eessity-. Onr the

I,:oaln 3 sly, i t is pn- s ihle to fil d agj icul i al a eas i i th is l'ved














cap j191 i t I Fperetr al i.i ill mtifch all 3 illpaol [al1 F al I co Ihte Fli codiac t i,,e

pl. oces a a v in the hanids ci f lamea a lthei a- z mage earlie g ill iop itil 1 I

991 at i ar er Iter p- i a 3 c0i in itaceis etolI d pi odiic t loim Ilil i t1. It seemna t hait

the tila ei It reasolns fi th i i dea i''e f r om tihe tp-a o f I albiiii aiss

pi odaiict i''e cl%,r a ial c eas I ab i aed b-', tile ':i 1)r pia cceddmac ed i3 t IjI a 1 e ill

cap i tal is t de"el opieeat. leis I: ao thea a aae a-I rp V)rf all 7 iiidMa ti

wh ich d splF ace wousrer, aach as the itochartizalion ol [l I v F: i i-ildsc 1 10i1

others attract fremal e labooir, ai ill the c:ase o f iiiit JI "H il .


On the other hand, the i cle of 3ga icuil tire alnd of Fart iciilar cr ops

w i th il the o'er all econoalmi' of the coinltr-, ia a] i 1 bas ic to the

pr eseice ca d isp l acenernt of MuO wIe i ill agr icil tl nlil- 0 ol I-. IT a

a itual io ioll II) hich I agr ic ll: ti al pi i-oiict ion is s lb i d1 iis l.e tu olhea

.ectoi S ot the ecornon,, -rMir inig, ildiil ti ; sel so ices the 3ar 31 i is

sectol iil geiieral a lid e"els Iisi e o- the peasallt ecolio iiim i i l rel; to

a suffer saich a cr is is tiat the ithcle household is forced into tavlring ar

ac t iPe pal t in the aji icill ti'i al pr odiic f iwol Fr oces a aind inll th i 14-

iicinle are preernted fi ohi dedicating theliseles e c Ins iel y to daomes tic

choi ae In fact, it obl ige them ,t taKe a miai, i ole ill pi idii t iuli.



It is gener allt accepted thIa it it s inot pcss ible to I l derstmnd lthe

sitliuatioll ')o peasanllt olonell in ist olatioin fionin the social co.lte t alnd

the process of change within 14hich the. l ise. Fori this reason, eeai

time it beco-iei ece;ssa i- to naal e their role ill ag icul ti e this

Hil] be done irtn elaetico to the charges Ih ich h a'e t sver F luae in

agr icul ture and iln ociet-, as a nhole. it. Chile, the s t, ii,:.ti al

changes which htoae tl'en Floace its the sei ar i l selctul ils the I at 20














y'ea a h ae beeln "eri irporni lDrt and bL:th the Feia ii t eccissi, s ildJ tihe

peas ant- thetimsel ,es ha oe been affected b; them. Ela I or'lent p atter in

and tetonancy of land haole subs tarnt isl y charged. Possess in of r most

agr icisl iti al land b'y l large -scale i anadomeiiae has beeinl placed b:

rmed ism and small holdings Ad, firal 11 neu, t'ypes of cr op F are being.

hair es ted and haee inci eased the li ilminor t 9.:e consid er abi i ithi the

agr ar i ar econorne'. Onr the other hand, in the cenltr al reg ioni of Pe ii,

though thel e haoe been il snii tant changes ii, the last 20 years, iich as

the e;:r' orni iat ionl of the large f ar s s na t iornali;ati a of the muines

located out idoe the boo der s )of the peasant aieas, these ha"e not

penetr ated the ba ic ecorominc ia I lc tll e of pea3-3at soc ie"ty, Ilnr the

pa tte a n or household ec nisiii: oi gan izat ion, e stabl ished be I:teein

agr icul]tur l e and other ecorcionsic sectori These s tiil i ll ei ee In.l haoe

a pel Inalielce o*,er : im ee Ii assi a i_ able by siiclh c:haige; wh i ch ha-,e

bl ought change inot so niucht iit the leaiimcy of the land oi it1 the

ploce-sses of enp lo.'nie t but., merely; in, the foi mal c : ditionl 2 of

ouner si ip' In fact, the r effects of a ll th is or the sse of

conmin i iie- has been not ,e,'y cons ider able.



The f irst them ar ised is the 'ghost character of Hmonsenr'; I aboi

inll 3 ic i.ul tu e wh i:ch is ot ec, n ized by s u: iety. a ind IJhos e

itil icn t icat is are not I fully real ized by rpeasaait Hoiilei themsel N es; As a

result, firl oi the point of ,ieN of society;, uoinel n aie lnot ItaVels iniito.

accoIuit e either as HoiV Fer m as produlceri I-komrel 's I aboli is tiot

included in official stal istics, a,nd selde in gi' eie a place inl the plans

and pi ogir anies for de'el aopisiit. Thi i si F ar I icul ai l c tic cial its L.atin

Amer icani country ies where e in spite of the inci ease of I:nowledge abomt














the r l e or HI olell i ll i oP dul I inri l, ce Ig, e al d e tilel S oull cei3 o(

statistical data ha",e inot .'et ilic:o i-. a ted t:he neces i ary chai-J e s

needed to collect reliable information on the p i tic ipStioU, of H)lle

ill pi oduit:t ion.



In Latil Anmer ic a a gi9eat lmana a ecoiuiaoiii: It alo ai t I ioi, at e niade

outs ide the 'formal ecorso b, bu' fasjil a based en tei r iaes ,coth ill the

cities and rur al areas, in w which ioier l p la a ,:eltlr a ll; il:ol I taint

role. Also, peasant agr icult Ir l pl odul c ticr,, handict afts asiall scale

i)ani ac: l in g and tr aie of tenl incl: l ide fe Ial e I abouii as iunll

Seiminera ted part of the HOl v for ce. In this r espec I the arl jlluen-t

ad"aino:ed by Pogeri is ii ter es t is. She points ouil: t that "lhe less

developedd' the national ecolnor the aori e cr ucial is the on il aal-'et

p oductiC in which oi ael pla;' uch ain il lal l tua l. part" '1910:G1>.

Their e fo e the present practice co taV'in jg lno set iotis accountft of the

role of omlen within the economic st ructliite, p odulces a 1pa tal nd

false picti e of hou society recall;' ~oi ls anid becailie of this eff'o, t

to promote development are l ivel;' to be Iniaj3uided or aborl: ie.



G i,,era the lacK of adequate Kriouledge about the pos ition of uoisti e ir

the economic a tructulre, ni a il was to collect field data to rill this

gap, and to relate this to geere al processes of ecciiclanic dee elopmlent.

An iJlpor tanlt point itn nI. approach ws nlot to :concentrlatt e e.-cl.is i"e ly

on Muolme's bluor, to the extent of foi getting th te;y rae l ticiaIle ir,

Nider faml11 nletwol-Iv acld il specify i: htous ehold uni its, luhoue nleibei

decide together on usarys of achies ing bet er life Luldiliorns. Thus

the resul ts of the -study r elate to olmeaill iln iu i al so:ieL ;, hut I i ron















the point of liet of their par ticipatioli anrd conitr iblUotiill to holusel,.ld

and famil ie1 elihood.



2.- The Pole of Wkomeni in the Thi ee Diffetent Pejiouial Conte.;t.



a) Rurn ti lonaen in the r i it Ci no irg Region in Chile.



The expanis ion of al ge -scale e.-por t ing of fresh fi i t inl the

Region, betueern the roi c irces of Car rel ire aid Ciir ico ill Chile, iass

fuJndaienital 1l ;, and pei haps iIr e,,ei ibl;' ti aiis for ited the pi ,odlictionl and

social r el at ions iln these t eg ions I conitr 3ast to Doselrup 's

general izat ion r 19701, the incorpo action of oiuanenl iInto If: i i I

production on a r ia ilse scale has beer a s ignJ iicfant featll e or

impleneant ing neo -1 liberal pol iciees from the begillnings of 197TC, when

'the gooier ralen t created new f iralhc I a 1 and It(ranageuiIerl t condi t jotns

necessary' for the e p ans ioln of production aind the e..por t of f-ruit.


The need to mnaKe rfluit prodluctionr higfhl efficient irn ol des

conmete in| the imer I: icn and Euiropean Minitei maril -et a-a accw san i Jed

the intr odiict ion of high technology new h;-br id Plrants, the use

hornmoies to speed up the miattir ilg process, fer tili zer s and spec

r uit rtanr agersenrt technr iiques required dur irng the ,'eai l c:-cle.

this has necessitated a nsi e specialized and s Killed l abuii foi. :e.


to

b;"

of

ific

Anl


A-t the same tiinl, the lr wanting of fruit trees has beer irnters ified:

between 195G and 1901 in Santa lar ia (1) alone the hectasie3ae planted

with irnes for table grapes- increased fi,"e-fold. All 1 thi has l esist















that a 91 eat iiiigt r a I riew ra il a I Not rei i t a beels igicC ii F ld o I el ill Ito

the 1 abomir ro, ce ThI eaI oI a-1ell t pat tei ii 'geiaer a teei bV tf i t

Ptociidc-t ic is aho nri ira Table i1


Occilpa ti


Teup'or aRr'
Pe- aiaimeis t
Ag' icult-i
hll!s eml i fe
Tr ader
Domei t ic
Cr11 I oiee
Tnidiua t. L
rEci ro031
UseieF I e o; e
TOTAL

SOLIRCEg 1


TA1DLE I
OCCUPATIOIIAL DTSTRTDUTJTOI or MIIC ADUILTS

11'ell WIomeen
t lo 110

Labotir 5 4-1.4 s7 4 ,2
Labour le 15.0
ire 93 CO. 24 19.0

90C i W.C
I 0.01. 0.
Sei ll oill t .
C 5.0 7 5.c
abour. 1 0.0
A, lovo'1 0.i

I20 100.0 I2C 100.0

TAn, sul "eycit 79 rg tur a hciul ehel da ire 'as


HI Sn MIT R1A.

T-) t a I


109
10 7.)

90 11. I

0.1
I 0.D
10.
I cl.-4
1 0.-I


a-I tl100.0

t a Hlat ia, 190-4.


There has been a clear change froill pel malnenlt tonalrs tienol ar;-

ernp loIa),rne, with a preference for tensor ar ; femaale 1 abom. Anr ong the

rur al Oimen in the all I e there was not one Wuolllas in pel mal1nent

agriculture al ernpl O'rment 'see Table 11.



In the ho.i. eholds in ter", iewed, uere founJ 57 ternpo ra iy amollen

uor er out a total of 127 f45 per cenrtl. In fact, termor ar- lIabour

is the naos t coinnlo activity in the whole san ale. The majoli t:- of the

Moilerl r N th 'ternpolar i *3 Hl o corlie firol hotiehold d shich, fc.l "a jioll

iea ison, are 1ithouit land. Solne of them a e wi thout 1 adil because the-

did root equal ified for a Flot dmi ing the ai a' iar, efouii pIei iod, and

other s bec aus-ie the; haioe a since -old their land IL'. Othel s ones ai e

ii Jisi are It fri Qou pcor ei agr 3rJ i a r eg ioei .


I














ror a pr el iinjl aryi arsals'y is cof Homlers int termpor a l a 14o t, T irn. clouded

only those e -14 women from households 1lithllo t lai1d. The age of rnlot of

these landless Noiners ilt telrorl ar y labor i between 2 ancd 'l41 -ea s.

Thet e is a pronounced tendenc: for uoinien oaier 35 years tu be repl aced

by' womerin younger -than 20. This carn be er lainred by the fact that

romen iwho are 35 and more usual 1 hIae ;'yoJ,13 dauighteir w4ho can Iep ace

therm uhich alla los them to retire e fl ou the 1 abouir isl Ye t.



Fri om the 43 landles- temporalt y -, oinenr si .. a. e ri- Ol1 ho.sehlul dJ that

]acl< male heads of househoold. Itr such a household, it is the nol v'irag

Momalnn tho acts as head, and u sual ;' has child enl aid "Jui ot1hel

I el at i"es I ing 9 u ith her r.s; t brother:. othe f the ui rale at e

marr ied and, together with their husbands, forin i:;p pi,:ca nucleaI f anil;y

households. 11 of -the Mo ingir ulwoen are les a than C1 years old and

1 ise Mith their pat r i ent where in 1,s. t cases the not.hel of these gir ls

is no t inol ied in tempor ary' abotur. Finally. there are two tealf-cl ar

t4orl ers 14ho are Honlenl o1f y-oung I asl ii ages whho 1 ie tog~hevii i th theii

husebaneds and children ill the house of one the latter 's Fa-entIs. The

incomes of these households depend basically' Ipoln 14ages Onl onie

uornrnr has a Kitchen garden, i4hile 1-1 o"f ttiem ais-e poul tr' for horme

cotisLunr tion and for the occasional sale of eggs.



If we tin tr noW to the total Ioblllrer of Moiienr in terf~-ori a 1 aboll a

total or 57, we find that G3.2 pel cenlt 1ot1K onl'y four i.l onflths du.l ing

the Slimmer, and the rest a total of si n onr-ths a -,ea Elern where uorriern

manage to obtain, Hoi- each year fort a certain a tnul.ber" f Ion i ths, theil














en u lo''rie nt is unstable, due to the fact -that couralinieis riiti acl theis

for spec i it: per iods depending on the t.iiie it: t aVes to co:ouple te

specify ic taaKi. Ibaoren Mill pass fi orn one such| job to another bi-l fitr

each she must sign a ine contract. ora eo"eer, her trIansfer froms jub to

job cannot be taVen for granted. The intend i"e per iod ftai nHoren

MorlVing on fruit begins at the end of Octobel with the thinking out o

the excess blossomr and yourog fuiIt, and finishes tcw, Hds the middle of

Apr ii with the pacVing of the fruit.



In 1904 the dail] wage recejiled was )O00 (L SL2.2', paid cn a weeY1-

bas is from Monday, to S3atuirda In 1900 the daily; iage of a tenipol r'

wor er was $ 125 ul ich, a-tht that ti, was Nor th LIS. I ('rBarda, 190CC.

Thus in real tennis, wages hale, during the last four yeari been

desallated by about a third in ,"alue.



The aier age Surliier nonthil wage for Holnen in tenqolrary; labour in

190- 0 uwas 11.000. Th is is rnach higher than the iiiinidiuuit legal wage

for a permanent agriculture a labourer Hhich was SG.500. One nilIst also

contrast this wage 1 th that paid by' the Ilate to the Nuot ei s on

unen~loymenit subsidy ieis 'Pr ogr amai de Empleo liniilio, PEN), l:hiich was

ornl;' $.000 a ri.ra-th. The-e coinpar is on help us to IIiederi st and why it

is that Mloien ha,,e been incorporated in sti.h I arge niiitbelr into

terr~porr ar er l o;,iern t .



If we consider that, in general, Homen a e in ol ,,ed in n foii months

tempo a l labour then T calculate a y'earl ;' wuoroi's irncoiie of at least

3 .G00. I sa; at least, because in the months of Febi ar" and Mao ch














p3ac'King is paid for b' the boh : and not by the day:, an d thus sir'tse ulit ier

earn more than t300 a day;. Al io, iince the frt it p icred ill the

morr nina g usnit be pacKed on the sarse day;, it is comlnurhs for otiseln to In Iolv

e. ti a hours dJul ing Fe'bruar y soinetiime-s sta 'ing as l9ate a- 2 or 3

o'clocK in the mo nirng. Irn 190-4, each e.: tr hLia o ear ned therm ~5Ce. If

we asL suIe that a woman e3r1n-s onl:' 2 etxtrl hours per da" no141 then,

her monthly' will be fll. 800, which br irng her total annaial income to

some t37.G00, eqjui'1 alen t, that is, to an a" er e iiiothlyI income of

3.1-10 (LISS21). Also, if we consider that some husbands 1'3.5 rei cent

in Table 1) of wonen in temrpol:ar y emnlopl,'islen, are themasele-- motl v iiar

as pe mranent Mot Ket -, then one cars calculate that lHulrle bir hia irt,

theory et ical 1 the eu ui"alent of about 35 per cent of their total

hojluehold income.



This 1 at ge scale inllol]ling of womenl in to the a'3 Icutl tur al abolur

force (45 per cent of adult worseae were in lter'os at- e I oyr,-entt ,

suggests a direct relati onship aNith I boui demands created b Ithe

expansion or ri it t plodulctionr, which has beer i ein forced bI; the reo-

liberal pol icy in the whole country y'. The sample of uomaeln inl tenvoi sa

laboulr indicates that onl;' 12.3 per cent of them iere uorrinag beror e

19710 in agriicul tural labour. From the beginniing of 1079, the ;'eai ill

which the planting of fruit trees and modern "iner earids e'pai a o nales '"

ti ipled in Santa Mar ia, the inccorpo at ion of Mom en into the l abeur

Imaret doubled. Of those ircnol, ed in terror bri emrl lo'raes I 2C. pet

cent Heere incorporated between 1'77 and IO00. This matter a 'esai II Kmed

a tlin ning point in terror s (of capital ireles tr ser t i the i egion. I-ks t of

this iniestllen t went into fruit prui .idct ion, lith no less thalt ten neI














pac ing stations becoming opel national. According to Ar ands '190 '31. iin

the last few years an ai ea of G.500 hectare- in the provinces of Sla

Fel ipe and Los Andes haie been planted withi new ,ar ie ieies of table

jr ape ,ines. Thi si unified a laboJur demand during the har -es tilng

per iod of appr o. iumatel 2.5.000 teopooi ai ;' lo 'el 3 Ilence 1 abour

requ ir elene ts in th is area ha"e au gmented conis ide ably, aind is

reflected in the fact that 51.4 per cent of the ter. or ary Huraen

woliKers entered the labour marKet onll' y oim 1301 amnHar ds ihich

coincided mi'th a growing econousic cr is is inr other r eg ions f the

coullnti r .



There is no doubt that the liole of this region, is -oe of the few

centres of attraction for uage earner; in the counti:y. This has meant

that the region has suffered a heba"; process of in migr ation,, with

41.1 per cent of the women in terpor ary emplo~-1ment ai r i" ing in Ianta

Mar ia0 onl' in the last ten years. This is due to the special

character of fruit production which created a se. ual di"is ion of

labour in which Honien pla yed an inpor tant role. As I ha"e shHlin, the

e:xpans lon of capital iism de-eloped with great iumpetuis in the flu lit -

producing a-rea especial l; since the beginning of the present nieo

liberal economic model of de-el ophment. Su tmsar izing the rmain changes

that hI,,e occurred in this region, we can identified the following:



1) A clear trend towar ld the specialization of fruit p oductiun for

e:.por t. Fresh fruit is e.-ported, whichh, due u o the lon g ,ditanmce to

destination severalal weeKs by shipN, t equities careful handling.














2 S S itulI t anueousl 1 : there has beel a st1 Erlog pr'l ocess of

depeasan3tization, both arouig land ref ormn holdings and ti aiditi ,Il

peasants;, uith the transfer of land to capital is enltei p ise aid witth

the inlcrea sng in"ol ,llemen t in tempor air-, Mage abour.



3 ) There has also been a notable ti end tonal ds conrlelr irnig periiaiernt

into tempor ar-; labour. This has been reinforced b; the seasonIal

pattern of ermpl or'nent requ ired b,' fruit pr odiiction.



1 Fruit production has per'nIitted the full iniuol "emen t of Monlen iln

wage ]abOl .



5) Tl the case of landless uolien their 1 inKsE ith wage I bour

ob"iiiosly result from l cr of resources, difficulties of obtainingr

enmp lo5ment in other economic ares-, as well as the rel at i"ely good

wages paid to tenporar' worl eri. As I e-.plpiried in the diacu i ion of

the landless, the nomen's contributions to the household income is

between one and two -thirds.



It the region, women cairy; out a double set of acti',itie- on the

one hand, organizing -the i liarning of eer'vde duie- tic duties and or

the other, being in,'ol"ed in production NouIK. Also a se.;al di",ision

of abour ii clearly ap-areIn' but itit iS nr t -imrpl,' a d il-icion between

dome stic abomur ss9 poured by' Homenl, anid pi .lductioi ac: ti" ities carr ied

out by; rmren. Ellen though domestic I boiir is c ar ied olut ornl by woulien,

produce t ion and gener at ing i ncone of the hoiu hold l o foi li ani

irtpor t ant parl of the ir r esponsi ib il it ies A econrd initel ea irig













dimensions is that the organization n of i boall fol frl itit prod ctdict ica

folloui a sexual diii ion between male and female tas:.S



Smllming Fp, one ca Bt an of capital ist e:xp ansion itn the fi uit-

gr ol ing reg io ,, that al though it ha; ijncoi pomi ted nomien ilito

product i"e labour outside the horse, it ha-s eio cut ofrf the 1 invi' the;

ha,,e Nith domestic act I itlea. T hi impliea that Himien are iio- engaged

in a number of actis.itie-s, both product ie anrd repioduic ti,"e, wh ich

result in an additional crucial contribution to household income.



bI The Pole of Iobnen irn the Peasant Ecursoimy.



The role of peasant woonen and their participation in the household

econrco u;' in Chile is closely bound up with -the social and ecoCrnomic

changes that ha"ee tlaen place in the agi al ian sector dir ing the as.t

"5 year .



From 1'73OT ont a-rds the increase ing9 ilpoer i hiinent iand gener al

cr Itical situiation- of agr icul ture has obliged the household as a

whole, in the different peasa nt strata, to intteln ify" pr oduct ion

act it;it and, at the aire time, to search for rn eN and ,asi led

alterliat. i"e which permit them to reproduce theiimel ,es oi at least to

reach mnirnimum le"el s ot s u-bs itence I this conte t, wouei hee had

to double their efforts in production to a.:e a more actii"e pai t i,

the nor V of the peas ant Ihold ing, alnd in tetns- if I their eb; the ii

par ticipation in new directions.














Domest ic chor es, the Qupeep of the itcloen, gai dej alid the c e of

small 1 i.es- toc raill with in the scope of the dec is ioi:s and

response ib i it ies of women. The" ha",e also to cooper ate, as the

children also do, with the rest of the household, iln cleai nij alnd

selecting seeds and ca i r ing out sulpplenIenert ar t jobs isuch as t or ing

farm I pr oduce. To this mu t be added ai1 ous Inon a3g icultul t a as t Ka,

such as mrna ing cheese and bread for sale, woollen handicraft horiea'

production, aind engaging iin s iall -scale trade, which, ne"ei theles is

"er;' different to that carr led out by' the moriien in the central ie rra

of Peru. Ow ng to the cr itical sitr action that the hole ieg:io is

undergoing, these e:;itr a tasVsa ha3e become ba ic for the sriir'or t of the

household, since they; proi ide an important part of cash income.



All wotien breed foul and pigs. The production of ch i cVerns is

ma inll y for holime conasuiption, but small nuimbeirs ar e al so sold aIioing

e ighbours, and sometimes poul try; are sent to their ground -up childiern

who li "e in town. ChicKe-ns are e oe of the resources theta" ca n fall

bacK on at times of economic difficultl.



Pigs are i nlp ol. t ant because the,' produce a cash injcolme for the

household at times when earrings are low. Also they' pt rollides lad for

prep rati on of food dIuring a large pas t of the .-ear asnd bes ides,

together with LhicKenri and eggs, the;' suppF]' iear l 90 Fer cent of the

protein intaKe for household-.



In so far as the feeding of smaal animals is pro "ided b; the

hold ing itsel f the product iorn of ria ize, pota toes arid wheat













establi-hes a limit to the nulmer of a nimials th -t a rpe as t Honaln ca nr

raise. There fore there is a threshold beyond which a peasiant un it

cannot Keep iore. On holdings within less than a hectare of l and it is

difficult to find more than one pig and fi"e :h iVKeins per unit.

Therefore, within certain limits the ni'urber of chicienl is in"reri el

proportional to the amount of land the,' own.



The culti,,at ion of the garden and the raising of smirall aliirals hae

aluas- been associated with donmeti:c orK14 and are, there afore,

underestimated when consider Ing onmen's direct pr oduct ive Hor I. If

one e amines the details of the total pi oduct ion of both these

act ilit iei, it becomes clear, homeler that the- IlaVe care of a pF art

of the food consumed bt' the household, and are especialI' iiisr ltalnt in

Seapect to the s pplI' of animal proteins. In this sense, we can begin

to reconsi der both the product, e nature of these two acti,,ities and

the importance of women in agr icult rural bort V for the eproducti ion of

the peasant household. Later I shall looK at the ima3gnitude of these

in relation to household income.



In the region the par tic ipat ion of pea- asat women in n"a iou-

production act Iities is different according to the resources that the

peasant household has at its disposal.



In the case of land re for peas ats I par celeros ', who norr all;3 hase

between 10 and 20 hectares of land direct t I aoui on the holding is














inrtelsa i e foi Iouei i ince the' lae the ple ti of 1 bIs l r3ll ichl tihe"

aoull d other i E h ale to hi l At tile i sa t iie, pl isoduc: : oll lOila the

ga1 den and the mall aiimlaIls is itpor tairt because there hiae tsufficielnt

fle: :ib il ty to desote a easonahlyl; at ge p iace of land to the a j3ienu

and also cars obtain fodder for the aniis als fri l, the fai in holding.




TALE 2
ESTTIMTED MOtTrILY ECOMMIC VALUE PROVTDED BEY I1HInI'S IKIlORY' TII TMI
HOUSEHOLDS OF TIE MHT.IED FAP.Hil PEGTOIJiTn pesos of 19*02-
M iir if t d i a raI cele, a
Ioiaiian blo inan

OGiar de Pi oduc t loi 221 715
Ar, ian Pi oduc t iont 1 .0C0 I. 191
I'lor on IIoldin ig 00
Other '1 950 995
TOTAL 3.134 3.531

0OUPCEa OIA, fieldnoilV ins Ilitoiea 1902.
1' Titcludei isles of handicrafts asnd piocesii ng of food.


The s ituatioon is Iot the salme for ininiifiindia plot rl? to 5

hec tares because the l huiband'5 labol is sufficient. Dut,, tie fact

that Ineail; all of plodtuction is coniwined at home, males it imiiei ati-, e

to cor .Ileunent this b;i iuieati of somle cash produc ing act iit ies. Llidei

the pr esenlt c ir cusu tanices in t:hi is ej I ilo, Noieeii as e in the be st

pos ition to niaVe monre as the;- car dieri s i r the i ac t itil I ies. in a

"at iet; of Ma'.3. lleln' chance ai e hJii ted to dii ect a1 j icul tui sa

noilt, to occasional jobs either locally ol else lei e is a a last

I esoi t, to a place on a PE.I State pi ogi aaiie,, o1 if lucK;,1: to

recei" ing a retirement t perns iorn. Older pr eslent cold itionas the efo e,

nini ifudad i a toIen t proi ide a subs tantia l pait of the total income of the

peasan .t household.














It is iriter ei t r1 to calculate the appi ro inlte colat it Liut ol i Ialtde Ib,

peasiaot Noiitia of different social strata inl oidel to obtain a qualhtit3

ti,.le approach to the Insatter Iloii~ae 's eai rinJg11 colastit te arn ilnspo tait

part or the total illnone earned by both household f(see Table 3'.


TABLE '3
lMOmiLY IIOUSEIIOLD ECOONIITC VALUr PEP PPODUCTOII UIIIT.
Minituisdia Unit Partcela Unit
Ilorr by Se;. Announit in pesof Asa; jrolit in pesoas

lein's 1-oi.K 2.033 39.5 22.000
IHomers 's Mil V 31. 134 41.7 3. 53
State Subsidles 1.203 1.0 401
TOTAlL. 7.170 100.0 25.9.32

SOURCEI.:ioT, fielddork in Iliqeiei, 19G12.


04.0

1.5
100.0


In the case of a min I fund i a omier l i th 1.3 he:t. .ai or land, the

.al ue obtained from agr icul tur al product iol was $2.000 a aiilnth andt the

ages earned froia teipoirary eiiloa1 oent by the head of household I$033 a

mrollth. Therefore, -the riorthl i ecoriornic ialiue pro,,ided b-" the manl u13a

2.0 33 pesos, wh ich nmalies up 33.5 percent of the total Ifo the

household. To this rmlt be added three State subs id ies for the

child en of 401 pesos each, forming 16.0 pei cent of the total for the

household. The remas ir irg 43.7 per cent of ,ialue las pr oi ided by

female MoiK.


Tn the case of the paircelera with 13.4 hectaies, the lnet ecolnomlic

ial uie fti o agr icultur al alid 1 inestoctc: pr oduct loln uas appFi o. intiatel y

*22.000 a itsoi lh. To this was added *t101 a month for oilne child State

subs idy: and the remaining $3.531 ?or 13.t per cent. dei iled froml

Momiel'i s ior- .














It is e, ident, therefore, tha t a greateL r'i oFpc- ion of economic

,alue is pi-roided by uomenl in households whoie leel of ago icul tir a

production is low. Triier sely, the greater the lantd areas, the mallei

the proportion of ',alue proilided b,' Nolien'ls UorKi, although, -oisaehou,

pat ado:. ical 1', itn these latter farn iis iormerti's woiF is actiu ll] u ao e

in tens l"e, since they; ha",e a I ai gei and maore i.sa led Kitchen g1 a-den and

Isiae reore aniriala than do others.



A tniore detailed anal si- re quires- that we sepa-ate froil the total

economic valuee that part relating to the rent salee of the Ianid, that

is to sa the amount the household would ha"e to pay" if the; rented

all the land under cult i"at ior. I haa"e ta:rer this le'rnt valuee as equal

to the cui rent price for i ent ing land in the localit;'.


TADLC 4
ItOhmTLY IIOUSEIIOLD ECOlHOMIC IALUE PEP PPODIJCTIOII UIllT.
in i funrdia iUn i t Parcela Un it
(Total) ;Totsl)
Arournt irn Se;.; n Aiolu t in -Se ..'

14an's IHor 2.2.49 31.4 13.250 51. I
Pent 292 4.1 r 3'5.5'3 4.37~ I1.9 M0O.0'1
lbuomsarn'a 1I-kb 3. 194 49.G 3.531 13?.
Pent 292 4.1 47.7' 4.375 1 .9 '30.5;
State Subsides 1.203 10.0 401 1.5
TOTAL 7.170 100.0 295.13 100.0

'30UPCE: Gin, field Nori 12 case studies in lliuteii, 1302.


The annual price for renting land uas $7.000 per hectaiie in lali ch

1932. At this rate, the parcel has a rent "alue of $105.000 a rea ,

or 90.750 a smronth. Itf e subtract this losaurint fr orn the econouiic

retu-rn of the parcel, then, the economic "allue produced by; uhat is

regarded as unen's work: is reduced to 1 3.250 a riiiothl;-ly see Table 4-'.














If subsequerntti' we di., ide this jionthl i rent inrto two par ti t to Ite

account of the that both husband and wife ha'.'e, under Chilean land l a

equ is.alent r ights to proper ty and then add these amounts to both

men'ls and Nolmen's worVr, the ,.alue of the conltrlibu tion o f male and

female members of the housieholda are subs tantial differe nt.



Al though this t-,pe of anal '1 is h1a buil t in methodolog ical

pr oblemin especially ui'th regard to hou one "alor izes laboulr lwhichi is

unpaid r in this cases co"er ing both male and femaal e 4orl N anld hoii one

2ass ignrs ,aues to 1and and property' the eer c ise, hoMe"er bi i9gs

into relief the inepul tance of cee tain toc io -economic factors that tend

to under es timate the contr ibit ion orf wornen to the household income.

In iimost peas ait studies returns on prodructi oni anld I and renl ts aie

automat ical i' assigned to the income of the manr, ao that his

contribution to the total peasant ecolnomua is o"eir valued.



Sturnring up, inr a peasant situation the con-tr ibit ior of niou(eir toI the

orf and income or households is coins derable, although the Vind of

NorL. v omeri tlnder taKe siar ies according to their social statois. Aiiorng

the mor e prosper pei ous pea ants NOlenl' e ffor t arte d irec: ted imuia t i

toart ds agr cultural aon- fara wo K, While armng usin ifu tdiia Feas ants

the,; engage in a diverse set of agi icul tll al a1 nd oc a-sional nun -

ag- icul t1lr 1 actit ies associated with their oIwn lholsehold and farum

resources.



Under the press ent geieralI agi ic:ul ti al cr :i is, peas-int house eholds

of the region theiefor e tieln their hand to ,"a led pr oducc I ion and













economic sEtr ategies 9 ired at meeting their Iepi r odIlct ic(l needs. Iluisei

are in ol"eled ill a ,air et:.' or acti,,ities, .whilst I enlj chanilnel the ir

effror ts mainoI' to alrds- direct agr ictul tur al product iotn together i ith

casual N age NorK oi nIearby fiarms. This teinds to reinforce the NorIl:

uornern do Nithin the househlocld unit. This. irciease iln arpaid i nouera'a

world in jobs which ale not trictl, domestic mises a contribute ion

aithou-t coast to the social reproduc tioln of manual IIbour. Tlr this mai -

the participation of uomlen helps to reduce the costs of agl cultural

bage abor- Hence, an irmortarnt pr t of the =subsI id- pro ,ided by

pea ant- to the econoE, or the region and to the c ounl t ry is

necess;r il based on Homer 's nos Y.



cN Ialonen's Pole in the De"elopnment of an Ejicla,"e Pegiont3l Econonr;".



In the central Pern ian s1 ie r tihe par ticipFa iio ofr Holuiae it, the

peasantI economl'y has not gone IIIunnoticed alond, af a Iresul t, msanl reseaerch

stud ies con ta in r emar l< on or irmpress ions of the par t icipation o f

Homeii in the economy' or their contribution to the development of the

reg ion.



Of the 140 cases san sled in 1no. study of the peasan l coigla iln i ties and

toNns and cities of the Mtirstasro ,aller I ae, ronrl;' o f un Holmeu dec lared

theimsel"es to be e;.cla iuiel I houseniaies: and there; happened to be the

Si"les or publ ic erplr oy.ees tr ans fet red fr ors L.iois lI Il ie s iei I a.



The ac t ine I ole pl aed b' Iru i l NHoaon ei iin 39, icul tui e 1111 other

f c1 iia of HMos(i is clear ly' ,is ible. Desides Oscl' ing iln dcomest ic cho es,














they pla', 3 crucial role in the de eelopiierst of the peasant ecolsiion il

diff erent types of trade, in craft ts, in domestic ell i yinei, t land, in

susbsist ence-or jieated agr icultulre. This is not a recent phersanolenloni,

but :corl esponds to the tendencies of the econon ii as a Hhole. The

changes wh ich ha"e taKVerl pl ace ill the last trio decades, u i it the

intrlioduct Ion of modern technology, to the coumtiryside and the cleationl

of new needs, ha'se accentuated rather than diminihished these pattHerris

of social organization and sexual diis iion of labour.



The first factor -that has to be taVenr into account its order to

under tand the degree of par-ticipation of motoenl in the deeelopneenlt of

the reg ional eco-noum is the worl of isers. The coslin it ies of the

region are fundamentally agrar ian and.'or pastoral, with a'high degr ee

of land fr agrrentat ion, so that fen of them offer an-l, t:'pe of pa id

seasonal labour, let alone permanent Noril. Afs e ha"oe seeii, paid i~Ial:

is fourld outs ide the communit ies in the ir ban and nuir inng cenit es ,

which is wh; nmigrant labour has been, and still is, a constant eleenr t

in the de"elopmen t of the central legion.


TADLE 5
DURATTIOI OrF ILIUSDAID' ErPL.O's1.E IT.
Pesl lanent Se as on al To t ia
IIoiners Categor Ho "* Iok : I1o

Colmrrser a lloen r 1 -1-14 C2.7 37. 7 70
Urba n Iknne) > 57 01.4 13 1.GC 70
TOTAL 101 7".1 S9 27.9 140

SOURCE: Field wor K, Pe i, 1979.
f'I By "conmuner a I refer to omen lii"ing in peasant coiie.n it ties and
by "urban" to those l i"ing in tourin and cities.


The sample questionnaire showed that 72.1 per cent of nomen had

husbands ira pernarsent emplosymrent, and the reicenitage ias greater among













0Iuren hl bo I i"ed in toiniss 06 1.4 per cent tr oun tth i f gui e Ue iayI

deduce that a high percentage of pernimnent morlVers I i"e outside the

comnulnit ies because of the nature of their jot's.



Research on peas ant women in other regions of the Permi" i an

hi ghlands such as the zones or Cajarneric, Cuzco and A-,acuicho indicate

a situation in which peasant women are in charge of agr culture and

li "estocK product ion ihile menr looK for paid ru Iv outside e4.. Also

in the central highlands but in coniuwnit ie- at a higher 31titude at

more -than 3.800 rmetresb- where resout cei are imni-ted arid cormmuniraicat i

uith the Mantaro 1s alle ; and the toumn is difficult, the porul ation

Str ucture con is ts of couitinities ,ir tual 1,,' without llers at all because

they are all MorK ing in distant places and onl:' "is it their fanil ie-

once or tw ice a year .Cainparoa and Ri"ei a, 19C4.. In these puria

conmun it ie-, the adult male population seel-s permanent or tempoir a;'

ermloy'rent in the mining centres or in Lirma.


TABLE G
RESIDEoC E OF i ILISEIDS HITFI PERtIcIrtIT IORY
rin percentages)
lomen Categor; Distant Location(.l) leatb-. Location Total

Comunera Iomrrn 45.5 5-14.5 -1-
Urban WMoeni 2. 1 71.9 57
TOTAL 35.7 G .3 101

SOURCE: Field-work, Peru, 1979.r 1 "distant location" indicates that
men currently; do not sleep at home.


In the ,"alley coimujn lit ies 27.9 per cent of the nmen ar e temIpo arl''

mor Kers so that they, only' spend par t of their time at home. Anid it

can be seen from Table G that of the husbands in permanent iuorK, 35.G

per cent of thensu wor at some distance froimn their hones_. For thia













re3aon they' too, ,is it their households onl- once or twice a yea .

generally' on the Conmrun it','s Sainit's Day9 or for the IHew Year.



If to the number of husbarInd ira seasonal enrlo'menrt we add those

who uoi K auay' for longer periods, then. e obtain the percentage of mien

,GS.C per cent) who remain i ara,' from their househol d f ot a large pait

of the year. Thee f igures show that peasant comnidtmiit ie continue as

supply' centres of labour for the capitalist sector. They. also iugjgeIt

that connudnit 1, resourcesi are incapable of retaiiinig the hole of the

labour for ce and reproducing it on the bas3 i or the ]ocal economy.

Thii economy develops with in the coiairun itieS Hhere there are nrore

aonmier than men. le can therefore a;y that in the iesi ia woisers do not

-iniply cooperate with their husband- in a3r icul tui e, but, oni the

contr at', it is the' who carry the m sir bulrdens of Uwa V both fi oai the

point of ,nies of production and Iasanagemelnt. ThiS is ntot, howen"e the

pattern onl for ormen l i,.ing in the commurniities but also fcor those

who i".e in the towns of the "al le;, who pos=-e- l31and iln their

comnr unitie- of origin. tA is clear fr om Table 7, wornen from the tourw!

or cite= continue to practice ags culture and the fact that the; li ie

in an ur ban place is no obstacle to them. l.il t is ror e, both

conminl i ty structure and faniily; organizations are well adapted to this

type of rural-urban relationship.


TADLE 7
PARTICIPATION OF HOINEt III AGRCULTURAL ACTIVITY.
Owner of Land lHor V Directl e )
Iomnen Categor 'st3 IO '' t0 i 0
lb : ul o: Iio : flo ':

Comunier a WHomen 59 04.3 11 15.7 5-1, 915 5 .5
Urban rirsen 49 70.0 21 30.0 37 75.5 IC 2 4.5
TOTAL 100 77.1 32 22.9 91 84.3 17 17.7

SOUPCE:Field -wor, Pe u 1979. f' I Ioispen who uM.In the l andi directly,.














The inher it ance of land has been aDi imror I tant factor in the

par ticipation of Moneii in subs is tence oriented ag) culture and also iln

the process of capital accumulation outs ide agr iculture. Under the

bilateral system of land inheritance, daughter rece ie the same share

as soln, so that e'.'eriy uoman coasiiner a or daughter of a coirirea a is

legal1' an owner of a plot of land. In practice, a household holds

se.,er al plots of land, bh ich inma be located in one or .se"e, al

communities because of e::oganous smani' lges.



Among the richer conuner o rsl t i age is the uwa, in wh ich men acql ir e

more land in order to increase p-oductioni and, at the arne time, to

obtain the help of a wife uho ill control agr icultl Hotr al uhile he

dedicate- his time to other activities rf-lallon, 1'303. Alng i3 the

middle and poorer strata, martr iage, be- ide- pr o,,id ing access to

additional prope rty if only by a third of a hectare ImaKes it eas-ier

to become a wage labourer without ha'.ing to g i"e tip agr culture, which

remains in charge of the wife. For those men foreign to the region,

marr iage with a daughter of a comunera means access to ]and. As Laite

points out, sometiines "These outsiders ueei e viewed with suspicion by'

the residents, who JoKed cagsil about these Iseia bho had r rs lied their

sisters and captured their land" 1100A3:19).



According to Deere (1978', the social status of a woman is a

decis i"e factor in the way she is related to agriculture. Iomen oF

higher social status are in control of production bult they do not

directly; uorY the land. I-hen the holding is small the woman, a; well

as taking or one or two worvren for the heaviest worV and other odd














jobi, her se f O 1 o d ir ec t i l' on the land. This is courtgsols afmi.ro

fanmil ies with scarce resources and little I and, but I1 ith huZsbanids

wor ting in secure errmloI'ment.


TABLE 0
COOPERATIOtl or HtUSE1NDS IIl AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.
Category or loman Helps Spome times Helps Does not Ilelp Total
i0o t: o Iio
- - - - - - --. .-. .-.- . .. .... . . .
Comunera Homen 25 43.9 15 2c.3 17 29.0 57
Urban Women 19 4G.3 IG 33.0 G 14.G 11
TOTAL 44 40.7 31 20.7 24 22.2 100

SOURCE:Fieldworr, Peru, 1978.


Table 9 shous that urban women rece ie more help froiii their

husbands than women li,'ing in peasant corrnn it iei. The explanation

for th ii is that men whose families l i"e in the conimnit, generally

worIl outs ide the region or far from the corriitinit,, which mages it

difficult for them to tira"el to the conmmun it,' when needed. Th i is

not the case with -the families who l ie in the lourls of the -aller,

s since mania of the husbands HorK in the alne area and at the

appropriate t ime they, can return to cult alte the faniil Fpl6t. For

them agriculture ai a weeKend tasK. This is especially, the case iln

certain corrun it ies cosel ,, iinKed ith the mir ing centres, ive

Ataura, de-cribed b;' Laite 13903).



The product ion conditions are e:. treinel] :. pool due to the

mrini fundia s--tern, low v'ields anrd low pr ices for agricultural p odaucts

in the marKet so, agriculture cannot easily generate nuich capital for

re inies tuien t. On the contract', an impor tant par t of the cap i tal which

is inles-ted in ag 9 icul tui e is produced outside this sector Tit

practice, in ordei to de,,elop agl cultural produce tion, f arsilie.s 'eat I l














mobil ize different t source of income for the necessary capital, tfrom

mine- salr ies, commerce nd trades.



Of commun i ty, hou-eholds, 52 per cenlt eep animiaal ilhile for I:ill

faiail ies th is pel centage dr opt to 92.9 per cent. -lonelae ar e

responsible for the animal, but they are cared and pastured with the

help of children, depending on the tiiae each has a ailable. Of the

women who 1 ile in towns, 23 per cent lea"e herding in the handia .of

community Kirtamer or hired hands.



Herding is one of the most marginal of actiI"ities-. Animals are put

out to grass in the countr-yside, on the roadsides, rand on the alo pes

too step to be tilled. To Keep the animals fed in these condition! is

a tasK without end and without rest which mruot be combined with the

gather ing of wood for the Kitchen sto,"e. -b or begins ,eri eli 1,' in

the morning. If children ha,,e to go -chool, they- tave the animaals hole

and shut them up in the corral or fold. At midday, when the- return

from school, they let the arnimials out again to gr ass util it gets

darK.



Hloweer when one talKs of childlt en in gener al one is nIut

descr ibing the situation e;:actl ,'. It is usually the gi rl who folloN

the aniimals in to the countr rsi deI it is the;' a o who, whenl the another

is absent, are responsible for the don'eatic chores, for the case of

the younger children, worK on the land, etc. Meanwhile the bou -- can

pI ar and de'.'ote thermel"esa to their school tas F_=. Aiiong the. pcor er

family ies, many' gir l are ne"er sent to school. In the liididle and














tipper strata families, girls are tareen oit ofr achuol whenever theta e is

an occasional domestic responaibiliit;, to be raced.



The rural uomren or the central region, are riot cirlls direct i]

in,,ol,,ed inl agricultural production but the' also participate inl the

commerce of the area. Place of residence ur il or t(i ban- does not

seems to be a limiting factor for this type of actilit; `see Table 9'.


TALE 9
IH-0EI DEVOTED TO COtItERCE.
Categaor' or Illomen 'ES 11
lbo : lHo :

Coniinieras llonen 43 GI. 27 3-0.
Urban's Wbomen 44 G6.C 2, '37.1
TOTAL 97 62.1 53 37.9

SOUPCEI Field -NorK, Peru, 1-379.


The e:..pans ion of small -scale trading is a s tri iing feature of the

regiJon. Ilundreds of ormen travel ecer;yday; between the coluntri y ide and

the touns, carrying small quaintities of rarn produce -,egetables,

eggss, alfalfa, fodder rabbits, heen, muilY, etc.- Uhich the' sell

from house to house or from street stalls. Other Mooneil prepare food

to sell in the maren marVets of the region and in the ti eeta of the

toinis. Often ni thin the frTameMor of large family structures., some

traders collect together products from the small producers of the

region, and others transport them to Lilma to sell in the large -cale

mar Kets. Hleither of these tIo taso: is specific call nr en 's or iHo ler,'s

bIorV, but small scale trading is certainly colnsidlered e.-clus iael;y a

NoIarl a's domna in. Among the 140 cases that uere intert Jiewed, 07 acOirenr

tool part in trading, that is 62 per cent, Nithout aiich diffeienitce

being noticed between the touwi es idelnts and the Homersn fi oi the

communities fsee Table 3).














Tr adding is orot necessar ily l imi ted to the sale cif agr icul thm al

products, but Spr eads out to taKe in imani other i tean such as

clothes prepared foods int the tr eets, housc, ehol d ir.pl elrents ard

accesor ies. Hor is this actilitt' limited to the area of the local it;

or the legion: it e.;tends as far as Limsa and the tr op ical loulawads.

S tost trading is small-scale and tares place in marIKet- and streets.

For poor uomen, trading .is a precar iouis actii it-'. It is iot

permanent and depends on the opportunities foIr -ale of pai ticula

produce -e.g. "ege-table or anirals- and on the flluctuation s in pr ice

uh ich occur in the marKets. Ob,, ious i;', at ha rl-es tt ihse the

agr cultural act i'. it, of Mowmern increases, as also does Ismall :ale

trading in farmn produce. In this respect anjd Ielated to the stabilit:y

of tr adding, it was found that onrl' seen per cent of Humoen engage in

manKetin g on an occasional basis, 4G.5 per cent are semi permnenailt,

and 4-.5 per cent do it per nmanentl'.



Another er, r importan r t actic it;' ibt the region, focused ia inl,' oan

the comMuni t i es, is handicraft production. These harndlilraft are

high' thought of, and there is a rIead,' maarKet in the region, ina Linia

and abroad, through in ter media les who often coine fi o011 the same

,illages. In con tr as t to the other acti, ities descr ibed, handicr afts

are not e cluii i"el' practised b;' ormen ard mios-t uften whole fam, jl ies

in each coniirun iit; specialize inl particular cr afts. Dut, a! the

spin ing an-d wea".,ing of wool is also a h andicr aft which is e. changed

inl the mar Ket and produces income for both the iural a 1 nd ui bian

famuil ies, it happens that alrsiot all uoinen int the region Far tiL irate

in hanrdicraft wor:.














From in for mat ion supplied irn the ir teil ies rror i other reseal ch

stud ie c arr ied out in the region, and frolm celansus 13t, we can sll

that the onlI acti'.'it}, in which women do not tave 1-al I itn g eat

number-r is formal urban eiipl o-'naie t. Tlue sample showed that altsiJij

ur ban uomen onl;' nine per cent of uorlen admitted to being earmloy'ed in

the toun and none of these owned land ? 12.0 per cent of ur-ban Homeno .

Howe'.er if we taKe into account the fact that in Peru the urban

sector amounts to 70 per' cent of the population and, if we e trapola-te

these figures proport ionatel-, the number of wornae earning a wage

would be around a figure of 18 pet cent. This fii'ue is iin line with

that gsil.en by the last national population census which shows that 20

per cent of the Peru"eian worK force is female.



The data that we ha".e analyzed on the part icFt iaon of wotisen in the

economic actiiitv of the central region of Peru and on the dispet sion

of resources and the general conditions presented b;, the diff erent

sectors of the economy. of the region, suggest that the onl wsa' open

to households to obtain sufficient income to meet their repr coduct ion

needs, is through the participation of woifren in different occUaitions.

The types of occupation practised, however, depend urt.cn the soc ial

le"el to which the, belong and on the wa: in which the;, or.janize and

reinforce their family relationships. L.i,.ving in peasantl corudsatu ities

or in urban areas is not an important d ist in gui. shingi f,: tl.i,

cund it ion ing economic or s-ocial act i. i tie-i Si i I ar I. tt Ier of

family organ izat ion and sexual d i is ions of I abour pi lo'id-j the

connecting bonds between the differ ett isil ieut and ij.e it ir. ..s ii le

to "iew them as separate economic spher-es.










33
'n '

TABLE 10
MULTTPLIC ITT' OF ECOtOMIC OCCJUPATTOS AIOlMIGT I.rIntEll. I
tfi i.ber of Occuip. Nlo of Ikriene Perceirnt sje Totl t 2"

One Occupat ion 4 2.9 4
Two Occupations G3 45.0 126
Three Occupationsi 6 43.6 183
Four and more Occuip. 12 3.5 1G
TOTAL 140 100.0 31 I
-------------------------^--^---~----
SOUPCE: FieldworK in Perii, 1979.
(1 tNot including spinning and wea-,ing that all Momen perform.
'2) Total number of acHijities.


Lea,,inj as ide .social differences, a large majorit-, of women ca-rrt

out sei.'er a act i" it ies s imul taneouis l1 in order to accumrnul ate

sufficient income to enable them to co"er the daily expenses of food,

clothing, schooling, medicine, etc. for their households.



IIh ile the labouir opportunities open to tiien are scarce and insecure,

it is clear that, at least for an important sector of the population

of the region, the preservation of the family; is dependent primarily )

on women's worK, due as rmuch to the temporary absence of imen as to the

fact that women pros'ide a more certain source of income.



IJomen's act i, cities in the Central Sier-ra of Peru are earnestly

directed to ac-quiring income or drawing nore t i ghtl I together the

family ties that may promote the acculmuIlatiorn of an inal stoCc

business, land or whatever is li ely to produce the best profit at a

gi"en moment. But as this need for accrumul action is widely felt and,

as the econoutr as a whole is unstable, it is "er, diffi :clt to schiele

a process of capital concentration. On the contrary a, the terideinc is

towards the e pans ion of d i'.'ers ified acti, cities with in a s~'Y temis wh ich

embraces thous ands of iuns table small i or middle e ized fa ,isil

bus inesses.













Doing fieldworV, one can obsere the constant effort of Nomens to

di"ersif' income sources, to consolidate family networ-:s, to cope with

variouss economic aren as, and to contr ibuite to household income

bringing more stability and, in some cases, supporting the household

alone. In order to taP'e on this response ibilit, women hae created

t"arious forms of extracting from family netNorKs the necessary means

of l ielihood, combining different resources. I, this conte,. it

seems that the basis of diversified fanrily; enterprise ones a great

deal to women, who in the face of certain historical proce--es halle

fought to maintain the iability of their houseeholds. As men left

home for worK, so women diers if ied act iit ies. This, in turn played

an important role in regional de,"elopment, as well as in the way itn

which capitalism has expanded. Capitalist enterprise has not fully

developed in agriculture, which has remained as a secondary acti,"ity

for many households. Howe".er, as capitalism developed in other

economic areas, particularly in the mining enclave, the "ar ioils

act iolt ies de'-eloped by women themseli.'es helped the deeloprme t of

cFaitalism itself, pros id ing cheap I abour and reduce ing the

reproduction costs of the household and therefore also the labour

force. This eI.pansion of capitalist enterprise in the Central Pegjion,

then, has in great measure been su pported by the "aat-liKe" act i. ities

carried out by women.



3. Conclusions.



An examination of agricultural processes in Chile and Perui has

shown that most efforts to de,,elop a broad and dynamic agricultural














base in both countries ha"e been iuniucce- i s fu] ne either the

modernization of the haciendas, nor land reform, nor neo liberal

policies, ha"e achieved this. Indeed, in most cases they ha"e led to

greater poverty and marginalization of the rural popul action. It is in

the context of agrarian crisis that capitalist ex:pansiot has ta'enr

place, with une"en results in different regions. Peas ants ha"e

responded to this by d i.ers ify ing their production and incorporating

more household members into farm wor-K while, at the nme tirre,

corrmmitting themselves to a number of off-farm activities. Although

these processes ha oe occurred in different regional conte: ts women

haoe generally become progressiv.,ely more inol,"ed in production and in

all regions contribute substantially to household income.



The progress i"e in"ol"eent of women in incohie genert at ing

act I-ities is, I suggested, a direct result of the ,srg final sized

position of agriculture, and of the need to lower production costs.

It seems liKely that under better production conditions pea ant women

would tend to gi.,e up some of their present extra agr cultural tasKs

and become more in,"ol .ed in domestic activities whi ii t, in other

areas, where women taKe par t in wage 1 abour, such as irt fr u it

production, and where women can earn better wages than lheir husbands,

a major restructuring of economic roles between umet and wonen is

ocurring. The arrme can be said for the Peru" i an highlands, 1 here

women are becoming more independent through their trading act I ties.



Al though there e:ist a noltmber of iirmortiant differences between the

regional situations included in this study, there is, ne'ertheless,














one important and crucial similar ity with respect to the role of Nocl ler

in the economy' and that is that in all three --ses H, rtenn participate

to a large extent in production wor':, in trading or in cultii"ating

peasant plots, thus contributing in a sign ific:ant wMa, to the general

output of production. I.k~len combine these act i it ies with doiest ic

worV essential for the reproduction of labour'. Since in most cases

this worV is unpaid, the contribution of worsen remains unrrecognized or

taKen for granted.



In the fruit region of Chile women pla, an .i mpor tant part in the

expan sion of capital. Howueer, unl i'e other regions, their wort: is

seasonal but well paid. They enter the labour market only diiring the

peaK season, but this helps to maintain the ma-ss i"e unemp lorlment of

the rest of the worK force, .since the combined incomes of women and

men are sufficient to meet the basic needs of the household. This

pattern of employment, partly~ conditioned b, the labour requirements

of fruit, but also, and ma be more importan-tl, by male unenmploymer t

which is to a large extent a result of the neo-liberal model of

development. As men progress-i"el? earn less, women are obliged to do

overtime and became more and more in"ol"ed in wage labouti which suits

the specific errmployment requirements of fruit production.



The situation is different in the mi ed-cropping areas, where the

effects of neo-liberal policies are characterized by the redrawal of

capital from the agriculture with the r-esuilt that the I;easanti- has

now become the main ac-tor aof the agr ariant arena. This increases

women's in"ol "ement in agricultural production on peasant plots, as














well as increasing their commitment to Vitchen garden product ion and

to certa in handicrafts. Ic.mrnen ha"e also replaced wage leabolur on those

peasant holdings able to develop rar-ret-or iented product ion. Since

the major it- of Chilean population has no relation with gr icul tural

product ion only 18 per cent of the population li "es in the iur a

area), and a still smaller number, 12 per cent, own land, then,

women's worK in agriculture becomes of enormous imrrortance to the

country's economy.



Tn the central region of Peru. capital e.-pan ion ii seejmented.

Agriculture has become, to a large extent, marginal and has been taVen

oer by women. Agricultural production is unable, in rost cases, to

reproduce itself, requiring supplement ary inputs gener ated from

outs ide agriculture, mainly from mine worK. In this contet.. women

recycle a proportion of the mining wages into agricultural products,

both for home consumption and for the marKet Carmp ana, 1981'. Both

rural and urban women, participate in this process, being in"ol "ed i,

the production and trade of agricultural products. In this case, the

processes of change neither produce proletar ianization nor the

formation of capitalist family-Farmis. Comple family te twor :V eol"e

to cope simultaneously with the different economic fields, in which

worn seem to concentrate on agr icul fiire and men on migr ant labour

both within and outs ide the region.



In a First approach to the relationship between social strata and

women's worv one might suppose that fewer resources encoul age a

greater degree of women's participation in a3ar'icul tu.rl p1 roduIc: tion.













Howe,,er, w, research shows that the intensity of uorern' in,"o Ientert

tends to be rather similar for the different state, oh in the

amount of *time de"octed to product ion act i i t ies and int the

contribution to the common income household fund. IF we looK at the

cash contr ibut ion of minif undist s and parceler as in the isi ed-

cropping region, there is 9 great simil arit, between them. If we then

compare their incomes with those of the fruit region, we find that

also are similar, appro' matel%, V3.500 a irjiunth. The maiin difference

is the t'pe of wort., which "aries with the social strala from which

the woman comes. Thus those with large and better-tal lit; plots of

land intense ify their worr in agr icultiire, whilst those will poorer

resources dii"ers if their efforts in their search for subs istence.

Then, when the land owned is "er- s-mall and below the amcriint needed to

produce enough to maintain the household. Thus, the household menierts,

esreciall3 worn, di"ersify their acti.v cities ou side the holding, as

in the case of Peru. Finally,, when cond it ions for d i"ers i fy ing

sources of income through comb inig peas ant and trad ing acti cities do

not e- ist, then women tend to become wage labourers as we find ill the

fruit region of Chile.



At this point I would live to return to the aru'a3Lent F Boseit-i

S1970) and Garret (197G8 concerning Noraen 's Ho I| an d car i tl

e ns ion. Both Boser-up and Garre t point ot that w i th the

introduce ion of modern technologyy, the female labour force tend to

become di is -plac ed from prodic tion. This dis placement inc iJldes the

marginal izat ion of womer in the information of new technologies. Th is

argument seem "alid for the situ nations Ihey studied. Garret, for













example, shows how mi llIma ids are disl I aced by au tomrat ic r, il ing

machines in Chile, just as happens in South lWest England .asee Bouquet,

1984:142-143'. However, there are two aspects of this prohbleri, I would

l iVte to ansal yse further. The first concerns the heteroageneity1 of

agr icultur al s ituat ions, which raves it difFicult to F iltd in gle

overall trends in such processes of change. The second is concerned

with the specific crops and products through which capitalist

expansion actually occurs. The eq-pansion of frilit production in Chile

is in fact an e-..ample which contradicts the findings of Bo--erir,

Garret and Bouq-uet. It is a case where the introduce t ion of modern

technology combined with other factors, has entailed the incorporation

of women into the labour process. This leads us to conclude that,

depending on the specific labour re-qu irements of each crop, modern

technology can ha"e the effect of marginal izing or to incorporating

women into production. The fruit situation also under ines se,,eral

other factors, for e-ampl e differences in tre of land tenure,

product ion strategies, I aboCur .Patterni, household or: ganiza tion and

sexual di.,is ion oF labour. These last tfwo, T mi in ta in, are

part icil early important.



I hs,"e examined women's worry in different regional conte-ts i4 thin

the structure of households, trying to understand the role F.played b%,

worren as income pro",iders. Income is provided by different areas of

ac ti'.' ity which we may define as product i"e and reproduct i"e, depending

on whether they tave place within the domestic domain freproduct i"e

wort'' or outside. The se' u1al di" ision of Ilabout pl aces reproduct i"e

worK in the hands of women and product ie wore: in those of nien. This














div.,ision of labour, which is always,- defined bLt reference to srme ideal

cuIltlural pattern, does not operate in the same Eav in practice. It rmea

be true that a great number of women in the urban areas are more

concerned with reproductive worK, but in the rural areas this p picture

becomes much more comple- due to a number of factors, among them, the

lacK of clearly defined lines between domestic and producti,"e areas

In practical terms, peasant women consider their Kitchen gardens and

small animals as part of their domestic domain, and for that reason,

when asKed if they worK, the, usually reFply negatiel'.



There are also a number of other activities such as the selecting

of seeds,. processing of foods, establishing of leant nurseries, and

maY ing of commodities liKe cheese and handicrafts which, s since the-

are carried out within the "domestic space', likewise are cons idered a

part of women's domestic chores, lacking as a result the character of

product ie worK.



If production worK is defined as that which pertains to "ran" goods

vegetablesle s meat, legumes, as well as money, to bulY raw goods', and

this is separated from reproduction worK, which is defined as those

acti,.,ities which transform raw goods into eread,--to-eat meals, theti

the nature of "outdoor domestic wor'K 'garden in- and an imal

husbandry', and other similar worry carr led out in the "domes tic space"

(indoors and outdoors can be defined as product ion wor.. The serl

applies for clothes and hois ing. From this perspective the raising of

animals and the Keeping of a Kitchen garden are prodilctisle wor. and,

therefore, within the domestic sphere, Monen carry out both Production














and reproduction worP. Further s rmlre, NHoier alszo rlmae a siuistaitial

contr iblut ion in other spheres of production, such as obtaiining cash

income from wage labour or trade, and in contr ibut ini to the iurnn ing

of farming activities.



In simple terms, production norl' is that asso:ciated wi Eh labojur

that is, those activities which produce goods theoret icall

exchangeable in the marKet, and reproduction onrP with that which is

not subject to transaction. This definition operates fairly, clear-ly,

in the urban situiat ion, but in rural areas it i =s mo.ch more

complicated. In fact, what difference is there between wheat produced

on the farm for home consumption which is considered production NorNY

and chicken raised at home H'hich is not considered production norw'I,

when in fact neither of these products reach the marKet?. As a

consequence of defining worv in this wan, meru produce ing wheat for hour

consumption are included as part of the worKV force, agi, their worr'

forms as part of the National Product: whilst the produce ion of

chicKens is left out of e"ery one of these meas.urerments, e"en though

chicVens possibly need rmre tire and worK and pro, ide more protein.



This problem of definition and accounting has the effect of

considering the domestic domain as non e-;istent, and is for this

reason referred to as 'ghost' both by society and b;y women themselves.

For this reason Homen do not consider themsel les as 'woi ers '.

Capitalist society has implanted the not ion that only wor' done on the

farm or for wages is 'Hor while dom ces tic wHOIm is onl an

'act i'ity' Thus, Homen feel that they are performing ac ti cities, a













great number of them without time to rest, buit ornl nMen norit. The

conceptual division between worK and activities also maintain ns the

structure of subordination within the hoiisehold, in the setise that

only those who worf can command. IHomen, when asved about whether they

wory, usual I answered "I do not worV, I only help my husband". The,,

implicitly provide with this answer the leg itimation of power for

those who 'worY'. The transformations which occur when women begin to

*"orW" are also "ery interesting, as in the fruit region along the

temporary laborers, and in the central sierra of Peru-t both rl aces

where women feel that they can raise a household by themsel,.es. At

the same, however, at least in this last area, the rights of menr to

beat women still persist. It is possible that the reason for this is

the social effect of the separation of men from the ir homes by

beating women they are renewing their authority at home in front of

the community. In the case of the fruit-growing region, women perform

more sYilled worK and obtain better wages, and consequently also

demand for a major share of authority within the household. This in

fact entails a greater degree of democracy and discussion, and shared

responsib ility in the dec is ion-maY ing which concerns household

affairs.



As household income is "ariable throughout the year, both from

wages and farming, it is generally assumed that women are responsible

for planning the best way of spending an irregular amount of income.

In circumstances where a man's income is insufficient to co"er all the

necessities then, it is the woman who is.-sluposed to loov foir ways of

obtain supplementary income. An it is in this cornte t that the














variouss e ist ing forms of dii"ersifica-ion at the ho.iuehold level nist

be located. And the reason that most diverse of economic actillities

are performed by women is based on the need to obtain IsurppI ementary

income. This is also the reason why women NorV for wages while

continuing to perform household chores, and wHh they, spend more time

worKing in the Kitchen garden or on the farm, or developing e-tended

Kin networks for trading and production, as in the Peru,,ian central

highlands. In this contest, although in the Chilean situation

extended Kin networKs are Iunusual, minor forms of inter-household

cooperation do e'ist, such as caring for.children among the temporary

female worKers, and sharecropping chicKens in the mi .ed-cropp ing

areas. To a large extent, the observed forms of inter-hou.sehold

cooperation are centered around women's activities aimed at obtain irg

sutpplementary income, in order to provide more seclur i t' than is

provide by the irregular income of the husband. Also, this suggests,

that differences in the economic beha",iour of men anld Nomen are the

result of two main trends: regional economic structure and histor-ical

background. As Long puts it, "differences between men's and women's

income and expenditure patterns can only be adequately e'-plained in

relation to specific socio-cultural and historical factors associated

with particular forms of household organization and se-'ual division of

labour, but the, are also related to the e"eryday objective mater ial

conditions experienced by men and women" (Long, 1984:15-16'.



From another dimension, testimonies of wnmen highlight a number of

more general dimens ions concerning the position and self-image of

Momenn i society. From several testimonies of Peru",ian and chilean













rural women, we can see that in spite of their strong comrrmitrrment to

production worK and wage 1 bour, these act ii ties are seen as

peripheral to their main concern, which is the household itself. All

of them ha"e similar interests in their children, as well as in ha-ling

a house, and establishing this as their domain. They e-press the idea

that men belong to the world of production, to the e-ternal world,

while women belong to the domestic world, that of preparing meals and

looking after children. This is a "ery strong cultural pattern, part

of the sexual division of labour. This is the reason why wouten accept

the double burden of worK double e jornada de trabbjo*', continuing

with the domestic tasKs whether or not the? worK in product-tion. For

most women who are earning income, their worKing days include both

domestic and production worv. These worKing days. e-tend to as many as

16 hours without rest, From sih in the morning to 10 ini the e-ening.

In the fruit area, women may worK longer hours during short periods,

finishing at 2 or 3 o'cloK in the morning, and in the early morn p ing

preparing breaKfast for the children and leading the lunch read,

before starting on the pacKing line again. In the countryside there

is little time to spend on leisure, and in fact women are so

accustomed to working all da, long that they, Fill their short periods

of rest with "resting acti." cities l ie ironing, Knitting, wea",ing,

mending clothes, and selecting seeds. IHomen maKe a distinction

between those act i, it ies which are performed stand ing 't ir ing'

act i"ities and those which can be carried out sitting down

''resting' actil cities .



Although women may li,,e in different regions, perform different














act i. cities, and ha".e different cullltral an d historical bacFVarolruds,

the" still present a number of similarities. This s i irrmortant for

understanding the role of women in society. I belie".e that worien, iil

this case rural women, all share a similar condition which is that of

'to be woman', by which I mean the fact that the position of wom'-en in

society is generally one of subordination. And this position seems to

be universal. Beneria and Sen f1982:89) point out that the problem of

subordination is not only that of a lac of participation as Boserup

(1970) argues, but consist a complex system based on -structural

inequality, resulting in a large number of snall aspects, such as, for

ex.'amp le, in o"erworl: and malnutrition of rural woiien when coartared

with men of the same class. Folbre '19841 says that in the

Philippines, e"en within the same household, women eat some 25. per

cent less protein than men. The subordinate position of wHoen is

located within a system which maless use of gender inequalit ies in

such a Nwa that intensify and moKe them change their form, w i th the

result that women tend to be located in a position of subordination

between class and gender"
the same for both affluent and poor wone..



In the testimonies, subordination meant that these wonen Norled

from childhood, and for nmch longer than boys, in the "domestic

space", which included a number of different activities which it was

said should be "learned" at home. Boys can rely nore for their future

aorV on formal training, and during childhood ha"e fewer dJuties or

chores to perform. lher a h6lusehold becomes rmotherless, the older

sister as :smes the role of mother, e"en where an older brother is














319silable. Because they were subordinated, all the worien in the cases

abandoned school "er early, or did not study at all. Because they

are subordinated they ha e to under-tare "ar ioais act iit ies

s imv.ll tneous ly, beyond those which theoret iial 1 they shoul d do"

gi"en their positions as houselMies and are able to create space for

these activities without abandoning those which the, are currently

responsible for and, finally, because they are subordinated they

en, isage a future life not so much for themsel, es but For their

family, children and husband.



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