O trabalho de mulheres no feirão colonial de Santa Maria/RS: a reprodução da condição camponesa e a geração de renda

Abstract

This work presents a study on female labor in Colonial Home Show of Santa Maria/ RS, the reproduction of peasant status and income generation. This research aimed to study the participation of female labor in the Colonial Home Show of Santa Maria, as this fair means/ represents a space for the reproduction of the peasant condition and enables income generation for these women. Regarding the specific objectives, we sought to understand the functioning of the Colonial Home Show as a practice of Solidarity Economy in the municipality of Santa Maria; to know the trajectory of the executor of this space, Br. Lourdes Dill; analyse the work of women with regard to production and marketing at the fair; understand the gender relations of the peasant women of the fair and verify what the destination given to the income that women withdraw from the fair through their work and the sense of Solidarity Economy in their lives. Empirical studies began in the first half of 2019 and extended until the end of 2022, as there were some moments of interruption of field trips. To carry out the work, the research method used was ethnographic research, along with a literature review, given the pandemic situation of Covid-19. In addition, questionnaires and interviews were applied and photographic images were used. Initially, it was about the methodological procedures used in the work. After that, the presentation of the Colonial Home Show of Santa Maria was held as a local practice of Solidarity Economy. Therefore, the Project Hope/ Cooesperança is an example of that another economy happens, because it has maintained the Home Show for 30 years. Many efforts were made so that this project remained firm and solidified more and more. Finally, working women, as participants and active in the fair, know their strengths, know their value and are at the fair to prove that they can change their living conditions and emancipate themselves, because they are able to manage their lives and that of their family. They produce, sell, stay ahead of the fair and take responsibility for the income that is generated there to meet their family needs.