Abstract

PENA, Mariela. Motherhood and upbringing in the Peasant Movement of Santiago del Estero-Vía Campesina (Argentina). Anthropologica [online]. 2019, vol.37, n.43, pp.175-202. ISSN 0254-9212.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18800/anthropologica.201902.008.

The diversity of ways of assuming motherhood, as well as the invisible physical and emotional costs that fall on women, have been problematized by feminist studies. These have shown the relevance of addressing the problems from different perspectives and contexts. In this article, I explore the heterogeneity of meanings and different ways of upbringing through an ethnographic case study of the Peasant Movement of Santiago del Estero - Vía Campesina of Argentina. Via Campesina is a mixed organization that aims to create a way of life opposed to capitalist individualism, on every level of social life. I argue that organized peasant women -therefore politically active subjects- redefine motherhood as a practice of defending a threatened way of life, and consider it a part of their processes of identity construction and dignification. At the same time, they were aware of the limitations that affect the realization of these ideals in community practices. They, therefore, put into action modifications linked to the redistribution of domestic and upbringing tasks. Unchosen motherhood, on the other hand, continues to be a difficult issue within the organization.

Keywords : peasant women; social movement; motherhood; gender; upbringing.

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