Class, Gender, Politics, and the American Family Farm Today. Issue 3 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ramey, Elizabeth A.
• Is Part Of: Rethinking Marxism. Volume 29:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 486
• Page End: 494
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: Alternative Food -- Family Farm -- Farm Women -- Female Farmer -- Food Justice; Communism -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 335.4305
• DOI: 10.1080/08935696.2017.1375292
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0893-5696

Abstract

Abstract : This essay responds to comments by three contributors to Rethinking Marxism's symposium on Class, Gender, and the American Family Farm in the 20th Century, which presents a class- and gender-based critique of family farms in the midwestern United States in the early twentieth century. The essay first explores the role of women in contemporary farming, including the recent increase in the number of female farmers in the United States. Second, the essay raises questions about the gender dynamics of alternative food initiatives. Finally, it considers the political implications of the death of the family farm for the rural Midwest. The questions raised in the essay underscore the importance of examining the class and gender dynamics of family farms as well as other food and agricultural institutions today.