Science and the Construction of Women (Rle Feminist Theory) by Mary Maynard

Author:Mary Maynard [Maynard, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781283843713
Goodreads: 17128979
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Agricultural Modernization, Class and Gender Differentiation

Much has been written about the success of the Green Revolution in increasing productivity and raising farm incomes of millions of peasants in the Third World. Recently, however, there have been questions pertaining to these success claims and achievements. One of the issues highlighted is the impact of modern technology, in particular rice technology, on rural female labour.

While the introduction of biotechnological and chemical inputs (for example, high-yielding variety or HYV seeds and chemical fertilizers) might in the short-term increase the use of labour, the widespread use of mechanization (for example, seed sprayers, combine harvesters, rice mills) has substantially reduced labour, especially female labour. Studies undertaken in Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia point to a general reduction, if not elimination, of female labour from poor households in particular, as a result of technological innovation in rice production. In addition, the introduction of machines has led to men taking over labour processes which were once the domain of women, particularly in transplanting and harvesting.

However, the impact of technology on female labour should not be seen in isolation from the agrarian relations determining its ownership and access to the income it generates. It is often the case that the beneficiaries of technological change are those who have access to and control over agricultural resources such as land. In Malaysia, for example, agricultural mechanization has benefited the large farmers who claimed back land from their previous tenants. Consequently, women from households with large landholdings have benefited at the expense of women from poor and landless households (Ng, 1991). Moreover, alternatives in other agricultural or non-agricultural employment are usually limited; hence young women and men migrate to towns to seek other sources of income. Thus while the introduction of new technology in rice production has increased productivity, it has also further accentuated gender and class differences in the countryside.3

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