Redefining Gender Relations

Résumé du livre

This paper is a comparison of two rural women's organizations in Brazil and Mexico. They are the Rural Women Workers' Movement (MMTR) of Brazil and the Women's Council of the Lázaro Cárdenas Ejido Union (UELC) in Mexico. While both organizations grew out of mobilizations that involved both men and women, their differing contexts and histories have resulted in significantly different organizational characteristics, goals, and strategies. The purpose of comparing these two organizations is to understand why women in the MMTR have chosen a strategy that challenges traditional gender roles and why participants in the Women's Council of the UELC have chosen to work within traditional gender roles -- the ways in which women in these organizations emerged, and the multiple orientations (class, gender, religion, and ethnicity) each woman has as a political actor. This paper will look most closely at the influence of organizational history and political context.