"Work with the home on your back". Gender tensions in the Argentine agricultural cooperativism: the case of CONINAGRO

Abstract

This article aims to make visible and analyze the discourses on the spaces of women in the Argentine agricultural cooperativism in relation to the sexual division of labor and power relations. Through a critical study of the media (the Integration magazine -its official publication-, minutes of national meetings of cooperative women, CONINAGRO-TV, etc.) produced by a cooperative of third degree, the Confederación Intercooperativa Agropecuaria Cooperativa Limitada (CONINAGRO) they have reconstructed the discourses of the entity linked to its internal organization, its structure and its functioning, with the intention of ascertaining whether there is continuity between the positions and roles played by women and the very bases of cooperative organization. The results show that in relation to the cooperative the dynamics of the traditional rural family are reproduced in all spheres, roles and interactions, affecting the decisions, action and inclusion of women in this institution that since 1956 represents the interests of the sector solidary agriculture in the country.