WOMEN FARM-WORKERS ON SOUTH-AFRICAN DECIDUOUS FRUIT FARMS - GENDER RELATIONS AND THE STRUCTURING OF WORK

Utilizing a feminist perspective and based on data obtained by intervi ewing 350 women farm workers on South African deciduous fruit farms, t he article analyses how existing gender relations structure various as pects of women's paid work on farms. It explores the recruitment and e mployment of women, the division of labour and existing wage different ials between women and men workers, and the nature of women's work rel ations. Women's participation in the reconstitution of existing gender relations and the obstruction of women's choices are interpreted with in the context of 'the farm as family' and the farm worker community a s subculture. It is suggested that some women workers on fruit farms a re gaining a measure of control over certain aspects of their work liv es. The transformation of traditional to neo-paternalistic labour rela tions, the extension of labour legislation to the agricultural sector, and especially farmers' changing perceptions of women (and consequent ly their utilization as farm workers) have been central to women farm workers gaining more power in the workplace. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevi er Science Ltd