Gender, Agroecology and Solidary Economy: A Case Study of the Women's Group of Recanto da Natureza Camp in Laranjeiras do Sul – PR

Abstract

The dominant productivist and market logic in the countryside modernization process, reinforced by neoliberal policies, caused damage to the environment, modified the production and food consumption processes and increased the poverty and social exclusion, with women being the most affected ones in this process. However, new strategies are emerging in this scenario, such as agroecology and solidary economy, that are enabling the peasant farming families to resist and to exist in the rural communities, with women being protagonists of these alternative policies for sustainability. This article aims at reflecting on the importance of the participation of rural women in productive groups, which adopt agroecology as a local development strategy, in order to enable greater inclusion of the gender issue in this discussion. To this end, a qualitative research was done, based on data drawn from collected interviews with men and women, members of the agroecology group of Recanto da Natureza Camp, in Laranjeiras do Sul (PR), from the Landless Workers Movement (MST). The research highlights the importance of women's participation in the development and strengthening of the community as well as in their economic and political autonomy, promoting their empowerment and identity reinterpretation. At the same time, it brings up the question of the accumulated workload, as a result of the naturalization of the idea that housework is just women’s responsibility, which hinders the building of a more equitable and sustainable community.