A-04/02 On the relationship between feminism and farm women

Much international research has pointed out that farm women in a Western agricultural context have not identified with the ideas and politics of feminism. This issue has troubled feminist scholars in the field, since much research has documented the subordinate position of farm women. However, into the question of why farm women have not adopted feminism, can be read assumptions of progress: that gender equality and emancipation of women will eventually take place once the agricultural sector has reached a higher stage of development; of universalism: that there exists a common women’s identity and experience of male oppression that forms the basis for identity politics. The question may also be identified as a researcher question embedded within the assumptions of the feminist research community, which struggles with establishing a subject-subject relationship between the researcher and the researched. As such, it is basis for the production of partial, situated knowledge and must be recognized as such.