Other recent publications, such as those from W. John Green. Both men and women have equal rights and access to opportunities in law. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. While there are some good historical studies on the subject, this work is supplemented by texts from anthropology and sociology. They explore various gender-based theories on changing numbers of women participating in the workforce that, while drawn from specific urban case studies, could also apply to rural phenomena. Sowell attempts to bring other elements into his work by pointing out that the growth of economic dependency on coffee in Colombia did not affect labor evenly in all geographic areas of the country. Bogot was still favorable to artisans and industry. The use of oral testimony requires caution. Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes: The Story of Women in the 1950s. In the two literary pieces, In the . Sibling Rivalry on the Left and Labor Struggles in Colombia During the 1940s. Latin American Research Review 35.1 (Winter 2000): 85-117. Employment in the flower industry is a way out of the isolation of the home and into a larger community as equal individuals. Their work is valued and their worth is reinforced by others. Crafts, Capitalism, and Women: The potters of La Chamba, Colombia. Viking/Penguin 526pp 16.99. For example, a discussion of Colombias La Violencia could be enhanced by an examination of the role of women and children in the escalation of the violence, and could be related to a discussion of rural structures and ideology. As never before, women in the factories existed in a new and different sphere: In social/sexual terms, factory space was different from both home and street.. As did Farnsworth-Alvear, French and James are careful to remind the reader that subjects are not just informants but story tellers.. Buy from bookshop.org (affiliate link) Juliet Gardiner is a historian and broadcaster and a former editor of History Today. A 1989 book by sociologists Junsay and Heaton is a comparative study between distinct countries, with Colombia chosen to represent Latin America. Junsay, Alma T. and Tim B. Heaton. French, John D. and Daniel James, Oral History, Identity Formation, and Working-Class Mobilization. In The Gendered Worlds of Latin American Women Workers (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1997), 298. I specifically used the section on Disney's films from the 1950s. Bergquist, Charles. According to the United Nations Development Program's Gender Inequality Index, Colombia ranks 91 out of 186 countries in gender equity, which puts it below the Latin American and Caribbean regional average and below countries like Oman, Libya, Bahrain, and Myanmar. Often the story is a reinterpretation after the fact, with events changed to suit the image the storyteller wants to remember. A reorientation in the approach to Colombian history may, in fact, help illuminate the proclivity towards drugs and violence in Colombian history in a different and possibly clearer fashion. Green, W. John. This poverty is often the reason young women leave to pursue other paths, erod[ing] the future of the craft., The work of economic anthropologist Greta Friedmann-Sanchez reveals that women in Colombias floriculture industry are pushing the boundaries of sex roles even further than those in the factory setting. He notes the geographical separation of these communities and the physical hazards from insects and tropical diseases, as well as the social and political reality of life as mean and frightening. These living conditions have not changed in over 100 years and indeed may be frightening to a foreign observer or even to someone from the urban and modern world of the cities of Colombia. Gender Roles In Raisin In The Sun. A higher number of women lost their income as the gender unemployment gap doubled from 5% to 10%. Women are included, yet the descriptions of their participation are merely factoids, with no analysis of their influence in a significant cultural or social manner. Miguel Urrutias 1969 book The Development of the Colombian Labor Movement is considered the major work in this genre, though David Sowell, in a later book on the same topic, faults Urrutia for his Marxist perspective and scant attention to the social and cultural experience of the workers. Sofer, Eugene F. Recent Trends in Latin American Labor Historiography. Latin American Research Review 15 (1980): 167-176. (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2000), 75. Farnsworth-Alvear, Ann. Gender includes the social, psychological, cultural and behavioral aspects of being a man, woman, or other gender identity. A group of women led by Georgina Fletcher met with then-president of Colombia Enrique Olaya Herrera with the intention of asking him to support the transformation of the Colombian legislation regarding women's rights to administer properties. Yo recibo mi depsito cada quincena.. Unions were generally looked down upon by employers in early twentieth century Colombia and most strikes were repressed or worse. Most union members were fired and few unions survived., According to Steiner Saether, the economic and social history of Colombia had only begun to be studied with seriousness and professionalism in the 1960s and 1970s., Add to that John D. French and Daniel Jamess assessment that there has been a collective blindness among historians of Latin American labor, that fails to see women and tends to ignore differences amongst the members of the working class in general, and we begin to see that perhaps the historiography of Colombian labor is a late bloomer. Only four other Latin American nations enacted universal suffrage later. Female Industrial Employment and Protective Labor, Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Pedraja Tomn, Women in Colombian Organizations, 1900-1940., Keremitsis, Latin American Women Workers in Transition., Mujer, Religin, e Industria: Fabricato, 1923-1982, Farnsworth-Alvear, Ann. By 1918, reformers succeeded in getting an ordinance passed that required factories to hire what were called, whose job it was to watch the workers and keep the workplace moral and disciplined. Latin American Feminism. Pedraja Tomn, Ren de la. Unfortunately, they also rely on already existing categories to examine their subjects, which is exactly what French and James say historians should avoid. What was the role of the workers in the, Of all the texts I read for this essay, Farnsworth-Alvears were the most enjoyable. Womens work in cottage-industry crafts is frequently viewed within the local culture as unskilled work, simply an extension of their domestic work and not something to be remunerated at wage rates used for men.. The press playedon the fears of male readers and the anti-Communism of the Colombian middle and ruling classes. Working women then were not only seen as a threat to traditional social order and gender roles, but to the safety and political stability of the state. The main difference Friedmann-Sanchez has found compared to the previous generation of laborers, is the women are not bothered by these comments and feel little need to defend or protect their names or character: When asked about their reputation as being loose sexually, workers laugh and say, , Y qu, que les duela? Women Working: Comparative Perspectives in, Bergquist, Charles. They were interesting and engaging compared to the dry texts like Urrutias, which were full of names, dates, and acronyms that meant little to me once I closed the cover. Most are not encouraged to go to school and there is little opportunity for upward mobility. Among women who say they have faced gender-based discrimination or unfair treatment, a solid majority (71%) say the country hasn't gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men. Often the story is a reinterpretation after the fact, with events changed to suit the image the storyteller wants to remember. Duncan, Crafts, Capitalism, and Women, 101. French, John D. and Daniel James, Oral History, Identity Formation, and Working-Class Mobilization. In. The way in which she frames the concept does not take gender as a simple bipolar social model of male and female, but examines the divisions within each category, the areas of overlap between them, and changing definitions over time. This understanding can be more enlightening within the context of Colombian history than are accounts of names and events. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2000. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1969. While he spends most of the time on the economic and political aspects, he uses these to emphasize the blending of indigenous forms with those of the Spanish. The ideal nuclear family turned inward, hoping to make their home front safe, even if the world was not. Many men were getting degrees and found jobs that paid higher because of the higher education they received. is a comparative study between distinct countries, with Colombia chosen to represent Latin America. Women's experiences in Colombia have historically been marked by patterns of social and political exclusion, which impact gender roles and relations. Paid Agroindustrial Work and Unpaid Caregiving for Dependents: The Gendered Dialectics between Structure and Agency in Colombia, Anthropology of Work Review, 33:1 (2012): 34-46. Bergquist, Labor History and its Challenges: Confessions of a Latin Americanist.. For example, while the men and older boys did the heavy labor, the women and children of both sexes played an important role in the harvest. This role included the picking, depulping, drying, and sorting of coffee beans before their transport to the coffee towns.Women and girls made clothes, wove baskets for the harvest, made candles and soap, and did the washing. On the family farm, the division of labor for growing food crops is not specified, and much of Bergquists description of daily life in the growing region reads like an ethnography, an anthropological text rather than a history, and some of it sounds as if he were describing a primitive culture existing within a modern one. could be considered pioneering work in feminist labor history in Colombia. These narratives provide a textured who and why for the what of history. The book, while probably accurate, is flat. The supposed homogeneity within Colombian coffee society should be all the more reason to look for other differentiating factors such as gender, age, geography, or industry, and the close attention he speaks of should then include the lives of women and children within this structure, especially the details of their participation and indoctrination. Generally speaking, as one searches for sources on Colombia, one finds hundreds of articles and books on drugs and violence. In the early twentieth century, the Catholic Church in Colombia was critical of industrialists that hired women to work for them. For example, while the men and older boys did the heavy labor, the women and children of both sexes played an important role in the harvest., This role included the picking, depulping, drying, and sorting of coffee beans before their transport to the coffee towns., Women and girls made clothes, wove baskets for the harvest, made candles and soap, and did the washing., On the family farm, the division of labor for growing food crops is not specified, and much of Bergquists description of daily life in the growing region reads like an ethnography, an anthropological text rather than a history, and some of it sounds as if he were describing a primitive culture existing within a modern one. Working in a factory was a different experience for men and women, something Farnsworth-Alvear is able to illuminate through her discussion of fighting in the workplace. Junsay, Alma T. and Tim B. Heaton. In 1957 women first voted in Colombia on a plebiscite. Familial relationships could make or break the success of a farm or familys independence and there was often competition between neighbors. Labor in Latin America: Comparative Essays on Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. If, was mainly a product of the coffee zones,, then the role of women should be explored; was involvement a family affair or another incidence of manliness? Sofer, Eugene F. Recent Trends in Latin American Labor Historiography. Latin American Research Review 15 (1980): 167-176. Required fields are marked *. While most of the people of Rquira learn pottery from their elders, not everyone becomes a potter. While there are some good historical studies on the subject, this work is supplemented by texts from anthropology and sociology. In G. This focus is something that Urrutia did not do and something that Farnsworth-Alvear discusses at length. Many indigenous women were subject to slavery, rape and the loss of their cultural identity.[6]. both proud of their reputations as good employees and their ability to stand up for themselves. Using oral histories obtained from interviews, the stories and nostalgia from her subjects is a starting point for discovering the history of change within a society. Womens work in cottage-industry crafts is frequently viewed within the local culture as unskilled work, simply an extension of their domestic work and not something to be remunerated at wage rates used for men. This classification then justifies low pay, if any, for their work.
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