Poverty, Gender Relations, and Women’s Autonomy in the Brazilian Rural Environment

Abstract

The authors aim to present a discussion on poverty in rural contexts and how this phenomenon affects the livelihoods of women farmers. It presents the characteristics of the Brazilian rural context marked by a strong reality of poverty and inequality. In addition, the main public policies developed and their relationship with gender issues are also explained. Political participation and autonomy are taken as categories of analysis. These categories are exercised in daily domestic and community life, in marital and family relations, in working and income conditions, and in subjective positions. Thus, there is a need to understand more specifically the relationships between poverty, gender, and rurality.