From Private to Public: Women’s Leadership, Social Reproduction, Care, and Gendered Struggles in Colombian Peasant/Campesino Organizations

• In Event: 21061 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Labor and Workplace Dynamics

Abstract

Over the last decade, more women have assumed leadership roles in mixed-gender peasant organizations. These agrarian struggles now have a strong gender component, transforming the organizational structures of these movements. This study explores the evolving roles of women in leadership positions within two rural organizations in Colombia: the Peasant Association of Inza-Tierradentro (ACIT) and the Peasant Association of Cimitarra River Valley (ACVC). Through participant observation and interviews with key leaders from these two organizations, this research analyzes how social reproduction, once confined to the private sphere, is now becoming integral to the organizations' public and political work. Women's involvement in social reproduction is seen as a critical component of organizational functioning and decision-making. However, while their roles within these organizations have gained agency and visibility, underlying patriarchal structures and binary gender divisions persist. This process reveals a paradox: Although women's participation in leadership and decision-making has shaped the contemporary reality of organizational structures and, with it, social reproduction, it has not fundamentally transformed the traditional gender roles that enclose them. This presentation argues that while women's participation has influenced organizational structures, it has not significantly altered the traditional gender roles that confine them. Patriarchal binary dualities remain in force, merely shifting the location of these roles from private to public spaces. Nonetheless, the increased visibility and importance of care work within these organizations suggest a subtle yet significant shift in the value and agency of women's roles. This study hypothesizes that this shift may be critical in transforming women's agency within peasant/campesina organizations.

Author

• Aura Angelica Hernandez Cardenas, New School For Social Research