Farm women, gender relations and household strategies on the coast of Galicia

The aim of this paper is to present an empirical analysis of the survival strategies of family farms in Galicia within the framework of restructuring theory, integrating into it the gender perspective. Our top priority is to discuss the role of women farmers within the context of the household survival strategies that are being put into effect in Galicia during the process of restructuring the Spanish economy. In order to grasp women's role in this process at the household level we could not rely on statistical data, but had to gather data through fieldwork. To obtain broadly representative information we conducted a survey of a sample of households, and to explore issues that are hard to quantify we completed a series of in-depth interviews. This paper has five major sections. The first one focuses on the general economic context of the study region—Galicia—while the second refers to our previous statistical work on the subject and points to the need for fieldwork. The third section is devoted to the methodology of the fieldwork, the questionnaire and the sample, as well as the in-depth interviews. The following section draws on the survey data as well as the in-depth interviews, and deals with the results in relation to topics such as women's reproductive and productive work, the gender division of labour and other aspects of women's work and life. In the final section, we present some conclusions on gender roles and relations in the farm households of Galicia within the context of a changing and uncertain economic environment.