Rural women’s work in neoliberal Mexico: a 50-year journey

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to learn about the evolution of the labor participation of Mexican women of rural origin in the last 50 years. Most research on rural work focuses on the conditions of the primary sector as a wage-earning activity, and its contents have comparative purposes of urban and rural environments or are cross-sectional case studies, therefore this document is justified in exploring the field of rural women in all three economic sectors. The work combines historical, economic, bibliographic and statistical analysis to make a journey from 1970 to the first quarter of 2020 on rural women’s work in the Mexican Republic, in order to offer an overview of the phenomenon. Under a quantitative methodology with a descriptive approach and with the theoretical support of the theory of labour market segmentation, this work aims to be a contribution to work studies with a gender perspective in the rural environment, a field that is fundamental to the country’s development. The document has an introduction and is divided into five sections in addition to the conclusions: the first briefly addresses the theoretical perspective of labour segmentation, then contextualizes the object of study within the economic conditions prior to neoliberalism, in the third section describes the rural female economic participation during the period of transition between models [1970-1989], relevant aspects of the 1990s are then presented, fifth, the issue is addressed in the 21st century and, finally, the conclusions are presented.