From peasant women to social change: The politicization of identities and materialities toward socio-ecological transformations

Abstract

Peasant movements are key to thinking and acting creatively in food and socioecological transformation processes. Drawing bridges between feminist political ecology and critical ecofeminisms, this article analyzes Chile’s National Association of Rural and Indigenous Women (ANAMURI) as key agents of social change. The study follows a qualitative methodology based on an analysis of ANAMURI’s working papers, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic observations of the organization’s women leaders (data collected in 2021-2023). The article explores how ANAMURI mobilizes political identity categories (women, peasantry) and politicizes key materialities for food production (land, water, seeds, among others) as strategies for food transitions. It also analyzes ANAMURI’s approach to popular peasant feminism and care and earthcare ethics at the center of its political work. The relevance of social organization and the political formation of rural women as agents of social change for food transitions is evidenced.