Female Micro-enterprises in Rural Central Chile. Construction and Reconstruction of the Role of Women in Agriculture. A Case Study

In recent decades, rural areas in Chile and Latin American, largely product of globalization and modernization of society, have been undergoing substantial transformations, influence each other. This paper argues that rural female work paths and meanings associated with work and family are undergoing deep transformation in Central Chile as a result of the rural/urban spatial mobility derived from labor, education and consumer reconfigurations. The study is conducted in Nuble province, which exhibits high rural population and intermediate cities and towns with a historic, structural and symbolic linkage with the rural environment. The analysis is done from recent statistics and a survey to a sample of 248 rural women applied in 2011. Results show the increasing feminization of agricultural labor at expense of male employment, a female greater visibility in productive and social organizations at local level, rural family restructuring which show some tendencies similar to urban paths, and changes in traditional rural/urban linkages.