Gender, State and Rural Transformation — Background to the ‘Fruit Explosion’

An important aspect of women’s integration into agribusiness is its mediation of the traditional and the modern. At one level, the commercialisation of agriculture has transformed social and gender relations in the agrarian sector, but at another level it has perpetuated traditional relations as an essential element of its functioning. In the Chilean case, therefore, we must explore the historical context in which agribusiness evolved, before examining women’s employment in NTAE production and the specific effects this has had on gender relations. We need to consider the role of women in more traditional agrarian relations, and the process of change that preceded and was surpassed by the expansion of Chilean fruit export production. This will allow us to assess better the extent to which traditional relations have been transformed and the extent to which they have been reinforced and embedded through the expansion of agribusiness. We shall explore three aspects in particular: the role of women under the traditional agrarian system in Chile; the outcome of state policies in the reform of agriculture and the marginalising effects of these policies on gender relations; and, finally, how the boom in the fruit export sector led to the employment of a large female temporary labour force.