Trade unions and women's empowerment in north-east Brazil

Abstract

An important feature of contemporary globalisation has been the ‘feminisation of agriculture’ across the global south, as numerous new regions of export horticulture emerge to supply global retailers. Much literature details the poor conditions faced by women workers. This article details the formation and expansion of a highly globally integrated export horticulture sector in north-east Brazil, the reliance by farms on overwhelmingly female labour forces, and the role of the region's rural trade union in both representing workers generally, and, women workers in particular. It shows how women workers have become increasingly active within the trade union, and suggests that such outcomes are possible in other global regions of export horticulture.

Keywords:

• global retailers
• export horticulture
• feminisation of agriculture
• women workers
• trade unions

Notes

1. ‘Machismo’ here refers to attitudes of male chauvinism, that is, where men portray themselves as superior to women.

2. Estimates provided by the STR and the Ministry of Labour.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ben Selwyn

Ben Selwyn lectures in International Development and Global Politics at the University of Sussex. His main research interests are the role of labour and the state in late capitalist development