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Farm Women in Ireland: Agency, Ownership and Rural Entrepreneurship

Tanya Watson (Teagasc Walsh Fellow)Teagasc Rural Economy Research Centre (RERC)School of Political Science and Sociology, NUIG

SUPERVISORS:Dr. Anne Byrne, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUIGDr. Áine Macken Walsh, Rural Economy Research Centre, TeagascDr. Nata Duvvury, Global Women’s Studies Programme, NUIG

Lunchtime SeminarRERC1st February 2010

Overview

Policy context Theoretical Framework Analytical themes:

Women’s roles in the rural economy & society in different policy regimes

Women’s ownership of property Contemporary rural women: agency, governance and

rural development Methodology Progress to date

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Policy context

Policy Context There has been a movement away from policy

conflations of (patriarchal) agriculture with the rural economy towards a broader conception of the rural economy (Gray, 2000)

Although the rural economy involves a wide range of actors, farm women are noted to be ‘more motivated’ and stronger agents than farm men (Haugen & Vik, 2008; Ventura, 1994)

What are the factors that frame farm women’s experiences as successful agents in the rural

economy?

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Theoretical Framework

Theoretical frame: How can women’s agency in the rural

economy & society be analysed and understood?

Gender Theory & Patriarchy

Intersectionality

Property Ownership & Agency

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Gender & Patriarchy Gender theory:

The social, cultural, economic and political constructions of masculinities and femininities

Gendered ascription of ‘roles’: Influence on participation, solidarity, and

conscientisation (Petterson & Solbakken, 2008)

Patriarchy: Different sites: males are dominant in economic,

cultural and social systems (Walby, 1998) Hegemonic masculinity (Connell,1996): Agriculture

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Intersectionality Gender is not a stand alone category:

It is “impossible to separate out ‘gender’ from the political and cultural intersections in which it is inevitably produced and maintained” (Butler, 1990: 3).

Intersectionality: Analytical tool to show how gender collides with other

institutional domains and social relations to create new systems of understanding (Walby, 2009):

Intersectional junctures of political, economic and social conditions and experiences

Property ownership

Utilitarianism Property exists to maximize the overall happiness or “utility” of all citizens.

Property rights are allocated and defined in the manner that best promotes the general welfare of society. (Sprankling, 2007)

Egalitarianism Generating or maintaining equality, such as equal access to resources,

especially with respect to social, political and economic affairs. (Widlock & Tadesse, 2006)

“How an object is acquired is not the only important issue when gauging its legitimacy but rather the utility its acquisition provides for the individual holder” (Lamb, p.277)

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Agency

The ‘power within’ The ability to define one's goals and act upon

them (Kabeer, 2000)Different forms of agency: limit or empower

Hegel & Marx: Collective agency: belonging to a community Inherited agency: reproduction of past

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Agency

Framed by constraints: Agent engages with social structures that limit them:

Gender, ethnicity, class, culture, economics “Women have struggled to change their immediate

circumstances and the wider social structure” (Walby, 1998, p.200)

Women as active and knowledgeable actors giving shape to their lives albeit in a constraining context (Oldrup, 1999)

Property ownership as a lens for examining women’s agency

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Analytical Themes

Overview

Analytical themes:Women’s roles in the rural economy & society

in different policy regimes Implications of policy regimes: women’s

ownership of property Contemporary rural women: agency,

governance and rural development

1. Women’s roles: different policy regimes

Agriculture in Ireland: Patriarchal, despite changes in other occupational spheres

Annual Work Units Spouses who work on farms, work longer hours than all other

family farm workers except holders (COA, 2000) Gendered division of Labour:

Men and women equally perceived: work women do on the farm but largely unremunerated (GEU, 2004)

Women reproduce patriarchal structures: Primary aim for both farm men and farm women: survival of

family farm (Bennett, 2001)

Women’s roles: different policy regimes Transition: ‘Masculinisation’ of Agriculture

(Almas & Haugen 1991) Transition towards modernisation & mechanisation

(1970s onwards) Female decline in farming and agriculture Reduction of input from farm spouse and offspring Move from family farm to ‘one-man farm’ (Almas,

2005) Marginalisation of farm women from farm enterprise:

a liberation

Women’s roles: different policy regimes Accompanying this transition: Off-farm employment

56% of farms the farmer and/or spouse; 40% farmer; 35% spouse (2008 NFS)

Women as main ‘breadwinners’ (Brandt, 2002; Kelly & Shortall 2002)

Women bearing ‘triple burden’: financial income; domestic tasks; work on farm

Women’s roles: different policy regimes ‘Progressive Feminization’: rural economic

diversification & the ‘feminization’ of (non-traditional) agriculture

Increase in women’s participation rates in the agricultural sector (Katz, 2003, p.33-35).

Innovative and high value-added use of farm resources “beyond imitating the male pattern or the traditional pattern”

(Inhetveen & Schmitt, 2004) Entrepreneurial charateristics of female farmers: convert household

activities to ‘non-agricultural’ market activities (Ventura, 1994) Farm Women: broad range of skills (administrative, food processing,

aesthetic adeptness); higher educational attainment than farm men (DJELF, 2007: p.32)

2. Property Ownership

Traditional agriculture: patrilineal system of inheritance Succession to male heirs: culturally accepted norm Attitudes:

Both women and men are likely to choose a male successor to the farm (NDP GEU, 2004)

Generational change: Farming as subsidiary occupation

Property Ownership

What do women own? Women own 10% of farms (COA, 2000; CSO,

2007): (47%) are aged 55-64 (27%) female holders 65+

What do they do with it? (54%) work full-time on the farm

Property Ownership

How do women acquire property? Farm Acquisition (CSO Census of Agriculture, 1991)

Marital Transfer 56% Natal Transfer 27% Purchase 10% Land Commission 2% Other 6%

Property Ownership

Joint Ownership Spousal Joint Ownership

3% of registered herds jointly owned (DAFRD, 2000)

90% of women and men agreed with joint ownership; but 17% were owned by ‘self and spouse’ (GEU, 2004)

International perspective Untapped potential: household has higher income

with joint ownership in USA (Perry & Ahearn, 1994)

Property Ownership

What does owning property mean for women? “The gender gap in the ownership and control of

property is the single most critical contributor to the gender gap in economic well-being, social status and empowerment.” (Agarwal, 1994, p.1455).

Agency and Decision-making power; better position to negotiate changes (family and state) and make choices. (The World Bank, 2009)

Property Ownership Entrepreneurship and property

“spouses want an ownership stake in the business in which they invest and help to create” (Macken-Walsh, 2009c)

Formalization of position in rural economy Crucial for facilitating & ‘tapping into’ female inputs

to rural economy & entrepreneurship ‘New’ non-agricultural rural Economy

Comparatively more women are emerging out of this system as entrepreneurs and property owners.

“Generating new norms of feminitities and masculinities” (Walby, 1998)

Gender equality – necessary for sustainability in the rural economy (Shortall & Byrne, 2009).

3. Contemporary rural women: agency, governance and rural development

Lack of research in the Irish contextPrimary research question of this

project: To what extent is women’s agency in

the rural economy & society leveraged by property ownership?

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Methodology

Methodology Overview

Secondary data sources

Primary data sources: qualitative field research exercises

Stakeholder consultation / focus group interviewing

Secondary Sources:

Census of Agriculture (CSO) 2010 question submitted on farm acquisition

Teagasc sources Diversification Survey

Questions added (representative of known farm diversifiers in Ireland)

Qualitative Research Methods

Prioritises analytical depth rather than breadth

Small number of interviews (10) Temporally unconfined Subjectivity:

“human feelings, perceptions and inclinations which are generated internally by the self and are influenced by socio-cultural influences such as collective values, tradition and forms of knowledge” (Macken-Walsh, 2009)

BNIM & Narrative Research Biographical Narrative Interpretation

Method (BNIM) Lived experiences

Women’s experiences of property ownership Cultural, social, political and economic issues framing

women’s ownership Agency

How these experiences facilitate or constrain choices Identities

How identities are formed based on choices available

Stakeholders’ Group

Purpose To facilitate communication and consultation between

the research team and stakeholders/practitioners who are experts in the field.

Help to identify crucial areas of consideration within the remit of the research project.

Who Representatives from 15 state and voluntary

organisations.

Stakeholders’ Group Agri Aware and IFJ Central Statistics Office, COA Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA) Irish Country Women’s Association Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association Irish Farmers’ Association Irish Rural Links Network LEADER - Irish LEADER Network Macra na Feírme Muintir na Tíre National Women’s Council of Ireland Organic Matters Athenry Teagasc

Focus groups

Focus groups: “a structured interviewing process where prompts are used to steer a discussion among a group of expert participants that is relevant to the research questions at hand” (Macken-Walsh, 2009)

Enhancing policy relevance and practical application of research findings

Broadening the discussion beyond the primary interviews conducted to give greater applicability to research findings generated from the project

Progress to date

Theoretical & conceptual framework Methodological design, training Secondary data analysis Field research; due to commence in

March 2010 Stakeholders’ Group Meeting

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Thank you