Gendered Agricultural Space and Safety: Towards Embodied, Situated Knowledge

ABSTRACT

The changing conditions, technologies, and labor markets have shifted the gender division of labor on the farm. Women have taken on off-farm labor, but also increased their involvement in agriculture. The work and occupational risks of women have received less attention and are to great extent invisible. The spatial division between on-farm, off-farm, and domestic work is one contributing factor to the situation. The different situations and contexts of agriculture increase the need for knowledge regarding the processes and positions of farming. Through analyzing the literature on the topic, this study examined the gendered understanding of occupational health and safety in Western agriculture and how the embodied positions on the farm can affect women’s exposure to risks and their knowledge about injury prevention. The findings are being discussed and framed in a dialogue with a gender theoretical framework, with the aim to produce a more comprehensive understanding of health and safety in agriculture through improving and refining methods. The review stresses the need of further gender research and the incorporation of qualitative methods, to increase the knowledge and understanding of the gendered relations, bodies, and situated knowledge of agricultural spaces.

KEYWORDS:

• Farming
• gender
• health
• injury
• occupational