O trabalho das mulheres na agricultura familiar: um estudo no assentamento Contestado

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the sexual division of labor in family farming in the Contestado Settlement, located in Lapa, in the state of Paraná. To achieve this objective, the following specific objectives were defined: identify women’s perception of work; understand the role of women in family farming; and understand the relationship between work, the role of peasant women and the mode of production of the Contested Settlement. The central question of the research is to investigate the cultural and social factors that influence women’s working conditions and the mechanisms that the MST uses to debate gender and overcome the sexual division of labor in family farming in the context of agrarian reform. To address these questions, the research was qualitative, using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with ten rural women workers from the settlement as data collection tools. Data analysis was carried out based on Laurence Bardin’s content analysis methodology, in order to respond to the proposed objectives. The results demonstrated that workers have access to gender theories and recognize the sexual division of work in family farming. It is concluded, however, that there is still a lack of effective mechanisms to guarantee the participation of women in political spaces and to promote the protagonism of their work in family farming.