Representación y participación femenina en los liderazgos campesinos: Un análisis de la construcción de identidad de mujeres pertenecientes a comités de impulso de zonas de reserva campesina en el departamento del Cauca.

Abstract

Political participation is one of those areas in which women's role has historically been relegated. This is often replicated in many spaces in society. In the case of peasant organizations, women's domestic labor is replicated in spaces of political participation within the organizational sphere. This research seeks to understand political participation, as it is linked to the organizational dimension of the peasantry, by understanding how peasant women manage to occupy decisionmaking positions within peasant organizations. It explores their journey through narratives and examines the difficulties involved in challenging these social hierarchies sustained around gender roles. The research focused on organizations in the department of Cauca, those organizations belonging to a national peasant platform such as the Popular Unity Process of Southwest Colombia (PUPSOC). This platform is a historical platform in the territory, which has survived over time due to its constant struggle to defend the peasantry and position it as a subject that is present in the territory. A narrative research methodology was used, using constructionism as a focus and feminist epistemologies as a paradigm. Data were collected through participant observation, body mapping, and in-depth interviews, in addition to a review of similar research backgrounds. The main findings were the interconnectedness between peasant families and the decision to join organizational dynamics, the identity of peasants beyond permanent residence in rural areas, and female empowerment linked to territoriality and the uniqueness of organizational dynamics in Cauca. Finally, it was possible to demonstrate the transformations in gender roles that are a product of organizational trajectories and impact the family.