Locating the Global, Women in Agribusiness: Production, Care and Work Networks

SANTIAGO, ALEJANDRA

Otro; Gender and Economics Working Group at the YSI Virtual Plenary 2020; 2020

Young Scholars Iniciative, Institute for New Economic Thinking

The general purpose of my doctoral thesis in Geography is to study the position of women in the agricultural production model linked to agribusiness. On this matter the field work for the collection of qualitative information is carried out in Saladillo district, Buenos Aires, where a predominance of mixed production systems appears, that is the combination of livestock with agriculture.Globalization as an analytical starting point, invites us to distinguish between global and local scales. In a world where at first glance there seem to be no borders, it is important to be able to differentiate the elements of the global and those that are local. These blurred borders, far from making the old notion of central country-peripheral country disappear, they accentuate the international division of labor. The case of Latin America, along with other regions of the global south, it implied the reprimarization of the economies, particularly in terms of the extension of land dedicated to agricultural production.The analysis of globalization is closely related to the participation of women in labor markets that involve agribusiness. Currently there is an extensive bibliography that seeks to account for the role of women in international economic processes. Numerous studies have realized the importance of making the role of women visible in the global economy (Jubeto Ruiz, 2014; Massey, 2004). Recently, three instances are recognized that have made visible the role of women in the global economy. The first one highlights the subsidy to men's salaried work carried out by women through domestic production and subsistence agriculture. The second one would be located in the generalization of female salaried workers in the global economy (as a cheaper supply of labor and also for the insertion in new jobs) and the third one processes that highlight gender transformations in the subjectivities of women and their groups of belonging (Sassen, 2003). Returning to my thesis, it is interesting to observe carefully an emerging fieldwork: there are many women working and they appear invisible. An example of this is the case of technical advisory workers, professionals and sales of agricultural machinery. In these types of work, their participation has increased, although male participation continues to predominate. Along the same lines, some interviewees point out that work in the field is characterized as heavy work, therefore not suitable for women to work. Particularly noteworthy is the low participation in livestock and even lower in agriculture. Despite this, women appear ?helping? with daily tasks related to cleaning pens, feeding animals, etc. Several women do not recognize these tasks as part of the production process, they identify themselves as "housewives".and yet contribute to the work of their male spouses in administrative tasks and guarantee their continuity. Those who participate in decision-making in the management of large-scale productions are part of this group. They have a voice but they have no vote.To conclude Economic geography and feminist economics are the lens through which I propose to study what roles women play in agribusiness.