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From left behind to leader: gender, agency, and food sovereignty in China

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  • Li Zhang

    (University of California, Irvine)

Abstract

Capitalist reforms usually drive outmigration of peasants to cities, while elders, children, and women responsible for their care are “left behind” in the countryside. The plight of these “left behind” populations is a major focus of recent agrarian studies in China. However, rural women are not merely passive victims of these transformations. Building on ethnographic research in Guangxi and Henan provinces from 2013 to 2017, and drawing on critical gender studies and feminist political ecology, I show how the food safety crisis in China creates conditions for peasant women to increase control and income from organic food production, often establishing alternative food networks with the support of female scholars and NGO organizers. Thus, I shift focus of scholarship on rural women from “left behind” to leaders in struggles for justice and food sovereignty.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Zhang, 2020. "From left behind to leader: gender, agency, and food sovereignty in China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1111-1123, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:37:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10460-020-10114-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-020-10114-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt & Mohanraj Adhikari, 2016. "From sharecropping to crop-rent: women farmers changing agricultural production relations in rural South Asia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 997-1010, December.
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    6. World Bank, 2010. "Gender and Governance in Rural Services : Insights from India, Ghana, and Ethiopia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2410, December.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Li Zhang, 2021. "China and the UN Food System Summit: Silenced Disputes and Ambivalence on Food Safety, Sovereignty, Justice, and Resilience," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 64(3), pages 303-307, December.
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