CHANGING GENDER-ROLES IN PRODUCTIONIST AND POST-PRODUCTIONIST CAPITALIST AGRICULTURE

Under conditions of productionist agriculture the lives of farm women have been largely subordinated to the needs of the farm business and have been relatively untouched by changes to the demographic, economic and social worlds beyond the farm gate. On small farms their labour potential has been exploited without proper financial reward or legal recognition. By contrast, the large farm has provided little scope for integrating farm women into the routines of agricultural production. In many cases their roles have been effectively replaced by hired labour and machines, yet they remain tied to the farm by a combination of domestic obligations and seemingly trivial farm duties. Post-productionist policies imply a threat to the survival of the family firm in capitalist agriculture. Some modification of the subordinate, farm-centred roles of farm women may be anticipated as a result of the emergence of post-productionist farm strategies. The diversification of enterprise structures on the farm and the development of 'distance working' may help to create opportunities for farm women to seek greater autonomy within the overall structure of the farm business. But potentially stronger pressures for change may arise from a closer convergence of the social world of farming with the 'external environments' of demographic change, regional economic development and changing global values. © 1991.