SUPERVISOR: Stefanie LEMKE

PROJECT ASSIGNED TO: Charlotte VOIGT

Transformations in agriculture and rural areas are riddled with conflict and contestation. These are structured through social relations, which result in policies and developments having varying impacts on individuals, groups, and communities. Gender relations are one axis for analyzing unequal and discriminatory practices. These are especially visible in the sphere of food systems.

Women play a central role in food systems, from contributing farm labor to taking over a large portion of the reproductive labor and care work within the household. In Europe, the high number of family-run farms also means a high reliance on underpaid and unpaid labor (Eurostat, 2019; Vrolijk et al., 2010). With women being underrepresented as farm managers, contributing family labor to the farm also has varying implications for pension rights (Shortall and Marangudakis, 2022). European and nation-state policies have addressed the issue and put forward measures to work toward gender equality in agriculture, yet, compared to other sectors, agriculture continues to lag behind (Franić and Kovačićek, 2019). Additionally, ‘neutral’ or gender- blind policies represent systemic impediments to achieving gender equality (Bourke-Martignoni and Umlas, 2018).

Barriers to gender equality that have been identified in European agriculture include:

  1. unequal access to land and productive resources which limit the participation of marginalized groups and women,
  2. under-representation of women and marginalized groups in agricultural organizations and decision-making positions,
  3. agricultural training and education which reinforces stereotypes centering the male farmer,
  4. and practices of social closure resulting in exclusion, discrimination, and harassment which discourage marginalized groups and women from taking up tasks (Dunne et al., 2021; Sachs et al., 2021; Shortall et al., 2019).

Niches of resistance to these barriers have formed around concepts of social security, alternative production methods, and cooperative markets among others following the vision of dignified livelihoods for sustainable communities. Within wider social movements, such as agroecology, women-led initiatives also play an important role in strengthening the discourse on social and gender equality (Di Masso et al., 2021).

The research perspective on women-led innovations, some of which are explicitly feminist, is interesting and unique as they additionally challenge dominant and hegemonic gender relations. Leslie et al. (2019) highlight that women and feminist networks are central to women’s resistance to patriarchal structures. Thus, they have the potential to disrupt unsustainable production and consumption patterns, and social interactions, challenging larger societal patterns, how we interact with each other and with nature. Additionally, an intersectional lens points to multiple interlocking dimensions of discrimination, where dynamics of marginalization and discrimination are exasperated for individuals of different ages, heritage, race, and social classes (see for example Crenshaw, 1987).

Within my PhD project, I aim to employ theoretical and methodological approaches grounded in feminist political ecology to understand the barriers and opportunities that women-led social innovations face. By co-creating and conducting research with civil-society and the women-led innovations, I aim to build on the knowledge, experiences and needs of the involved groups. This will enrich our understanding of the deconstruction and reconstruction of societal relations in agriculture and rural areas as well as amplifying the activities of social innovations acting for change.

My doctoral project is situated within the context of the EU-Horizon project: Supporting Women-Led Innovations in Agriculture and Rural Areas (SWIFT). This transdisciplinary action research project aims to foster transitions towards sustainable, balanced, and inclusive developments in agriculture and rural territories by working together with Women-led innovations (WLIs) which are acting for change. The project consortium consists of 13 project partners from academia and civil society and 19 WLIs in 9 different European countries.

References:

Bourke-Martignoni, J. and Umlas, E. (2018). Gender-responsive due diligence for business actors: human rights-based approaches. Academy Briefing N°12. Geneva Academy.

Di Masso, M., López-Garciá, D., Clemente-Longás, J. and Garciá-Garciá, V. (2021). Taking food out of the private sphere? Addressing gender relations in urban food policy. Agroecology and Sustainanable Food Systems, 46(1), 108-132.

Dunne, C., Siettou, C., Wilson, P. (2021). Investigating the economic visibility and contribution of UK women in agriculture through a systemic review of international literature. Journal of Rural Studies, 86, 330-345. doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.06.012

Eurostat (2019). Statistics explained: family farming in the EU–statistics. Available at: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ statistics-explained/index.php?title=Agriculture_statistics_-_family_farming_in_the_EU

Franić, R. & Kovačićek, T. (2019) The professional status of rural women in the EU. Report commissioned for the European Parliament’s Committee on Women‘s Rights and Gender Equality.

Leslie, I.S., Wypler, J., Mayerfeld Bell, M. (2019). Relational Agriculture: Gender Sexuality, and Sustainability in U.S. Farming. Society & Natural Resources, 32, (8), 853-874.

Shortall, S. and Marangudakis, V. (2022). Is agriculture an occupation or a sector? Gender inequalities in a European context. Socilogia Ruralis, 62, 746-762. DOI: 10.1111/soru.12400

Shortall, S., McKee, A., Sutherland, L. A. (2019). The Performance of Occupational Closure: The Case of Agriculture and Gender. Sociologia Ruralis, 60(1), 40-57. DOI: 10.1111/soru.12279

Vrolijk, H.C.J., de Bont, C.J.A.M., Blokland, P. W. and Soboh, R.A.M.E. (2010). Farm viability in the European Union–assessment of the impact of changes in farm payment. LEI Report 2010–11, Project code, 31964. Wageningen UR, The Hague