This study aims to conduct a critical analysis of the report The State of Food and Agriculture: Women in Agriculture, Closing the Gender Gap in Development, pointing to solutions to "close the gender gap" in rural development projects. The two main critiques center on the lack of analysis on the value of domestic work and the productivist nature of the proposals. The analysis draws on calculations performed by feminist economists concerning the importance of domestic work for the National Accounts, in addition to books, articles, and documents on the situation of women farmers in the world, besides material on rural women"s movements in Brazil, obtained through direct participation in meetings and public demonstrations, besides newspapers, manuals, correspondence, and ethnographic fieldwork.

Dans cet article, on fait l'analyse du document El Estado Mundial de la agricultura y la alimentación: Las mujeres en la agricultura. Cerrar la brecha de género en areas del desarrollo, dans lequel se trouvent des solutions pour "combler le fossé de genre" dans les projets de développement rural. Les deux principales critiques concernent l'absence d'analyse de la valeur du travail domestique et le caractère productiviste des propositions. On a donc utilisé des calculs élaborés par des économistes féministes à propos de l'importance des activités domestiques dans la Comptabilité Nationale, plusieurs ouvrages, textes et documents produits sur la situation des femmes agricultrices dans le monde, ainsi que des articles sur les mouvements ruraux des femmes au Brésil, sur la base de leur participation à des réunions et manifestations publiques, la pratique de recevoir des journaux et prospectus, l'activité d'échange de correspondance et de travail ethnographique.

O objetivo do artigo é explicitar o conceito de natureza que dá substrato às ideias e às ações do Movimento de Mulheres Camponesas - MMC, procurando refletir sobre as possibilidades de diálogo entre militantes e intelectuais, levando-se em conta que, enquanto o feminismo acadêmico tem forte influência das correntes desconstrucionistas, as mulheres agricultoras conservam o pressuposto da identificação entre natureza e feminino, tendo por base uma visão profundamente religiosa. Nas possibilidades de diálogo, é levantada a importância de correntes ligadas à sociologia da compreensão.

The purpose of this article is to explain the concept of Nature that founds the ideas and actions of the Peasant Women's Movement, and to reflect on the possibilities of dialogue between militants and intellectuals. For this it must take into account that, while academic feminism is strongly influenced by the deconstructionist lines of thought, farming women sustain the idea, based on a deeply religious vision, of a natural identification between women and Nature. In pointing out possibilities for dialogue, the paper underlines the importance of lines of thought connected with the sociology of comprehension.

O objetivo do artigo é explicitar o conceito de natureza que dá substrato às ideias e às ações do Movimento de Mulheres Camponesas - MMC, procurando refletir sobre as possibilidades de diálogo entre militantes e intelectuais, levando-se em conta que, enquanto o feminismo acadêmico tem forte influência das correntes desconstrucionistas, as mulheres agricultoras conservam o pressuposto da identificação entre natureza e feminino, tendo por base uma visão profundamente religiosa. Nas possibilidades de diálogo, é levantada a importância de correntes ligadas à sociologia da compreensão.

The purpose of this article is to explain the concept of Nature that grounds the ideas and actions of the Peasant Women's Movement, and to propose means for dialogue between militants and intellectuals. The paper duly takes into account that, while academic feminism is strongly influenced by deconstructionist lines of thought, farming women sustain the idea, based on a deeply religious vision, of a natural identification between women and Nature. In pointing out possibilities of dialogue, the paper underlines the importance of schools of thought connected with the sociology of comprehension.

In this article, I reflect upon demands of class and gender in three Brazilian social movements: syndicalism, Rural Women's Movement (MMC) and the Rural Landless Workers Movement (MST). The relevance of this study is that it helps to elucidate differences between demands of class and gender using a qualitative methodology, based on interviews with women and leaders from the movements. Conclusions show the ideological, political and gender complexities present in each of these tendencies. Class demands consider labor rights in equality with men, without questioning the traditional family approach; while gender demands consider labor rights more in relation to education and health, questioning the traditional family approach. The conducting thread of the analysis is exclusion of women in land ownership.

En este artículo se reflexiona sobre las reivindicaciones de clase y género en tres movimientos sociales brasileños: el sindicalismo, el Movimiento de Mujeres Campesinas (MMC) y el Movimiento de los Sin Tierra (MST). La relevancia de este estudio es que ayuda a dilucidar las diferencias entre las reivindicaciones de clase y de género a partir de una metodología cualitativa basada en entrevistas a las mujeres y líderes de los movimientos. Las conclusiones muestran la complejidad ideológica, política y de género que está presente en cada una de estas tendencias. Las reivindicaciones de clase consideran los derechos laborales en igualdad con los hombres, sin cuestionar el enfoque tradicional de familia; mientras que las reivindicaciones de género consideran los derechos laborales, más los relativos a educación y salud, cuestionando el enfoque tradicional de familia. El hilo conductor del análisis es la exclusión de las mujeres a la tenencia de la tierra.

A influência do marxismo na Sociologia do trabalho e no feminismo foi e ainda é muito grande, o que trouxe uma ênfase nos estudos sobre o operariado. Com isso, o campesinato tornou-se um tema de difícil articulação dentro do marxismo e do feminismo. Havia uma crença generalizada de que liberação das mulheres passaria necessariamente por sua independência financeira, fruto da inserção individual no mercado de trabalho. Como 'encaixar' aí as mulheres em regime de trabalho familiar? Elas não foram bem 'encaixadas', havendo com freqüência um 'viés urbano' perpassando as análises do trabalho feminino no campo. O surgimento de vários movimentos de mulheres agricultoras no Brasil colocou em cheque a visão corrente de 'vítimas' que se tinha sobre elas, na medida em que estão se impondo como 'atoras'. Neste momento, porém, os movimentos feministas estão mais voltados para questões de reconhecimento, de identidade, que de redistribuição de renda, propriedades e, o que nos interessa mais, terra. Nosso objetivo neste trabalho é desvelar os preconceitos imbricados na análise do campesinato e trazer de volta questões sobre a condição econômica desigual das mulheres envolvidas na agricultura familiar, cujo acesso à terra se faz quase unicamente pelo casamento. O direito de tomar decisões sobre a própria vida pode ser desvinculado da obtenção de um salário individual, mas não do acesso a uma renda própria.

The influence of Marxism on Labor Sociology and Feminism was and still is very strong. This has led to an emphasis on working class studies. Questions concerning the peasantry became difficult to work with within Marxism and Feminism. There used to be a general belief the liberation of women would necessarily require their financial independence, which would be the result of individual insertion in the labor market . This has raised the question of where to consider the role of women's work within the family. This issue was not adequately considered by theory that was frequently dominated by urban perspectives and that overlooked issues of the role of women in rural activities. The rise of various rural women's movements in Brazil has questioned the "victim" status normally attached to such women, to the degree that they have proved to be true social "actors". At this time, however, feminist movements are more concerned with issues of recognition and identity, then with income redistribution, property, and that which most interests us, land. The purpose of this paper is to unveil the prejudices permeating the analysis of peasantry and bring back the issue of the economic inequality of women involved in family agriculture, whose access to land is achieved almost exclusively through marriage. The right to take decisions about one's own life may not depend on an individual salary, but it certainly depends on access to one's own source of income.