Abstract
Quem se senta à mesa? A experiência de uma ativista agrícola feminina durante a greve de trabalhadores rurais De Doorns, na África do Sul Este artigo conta a história de uma ativista agrícola e uma líder da greve dos fazendeiros De Doorns no período de 2012 a 2013. Nessa pequena cidade agrícola no Cabo Ocidental, na África do Sul, trabalhadores abatiam ferramentas na colheita de uvas e impediam a sua exportação, junto com vinhos, e exigiam um salário mínimo de R150 por dia. Nesse estudo, dados etnográficos - entrevistas, observação participante e documentos de arquivo - são usados para documentar a jornada de uma trabalhadora feminina e ativista, a sua evolução e consciência de si através do trabalho político e como participante da greve. A teoria de Rancière (1999) sobre a “presunção de igualdade” é usada para entender os ganhos e perdas ocorridos dos trabalhadores agrícolas durante e após essa greve. Palavras-chave: Trabalhadores Agrícolas, Agricultoras, África do Sul, De Doorns, Ativismo, Educação Popular e Presunção de Igualdade. Who Sits at the Table? A female farm activist’s experience during the De Doorns farm workers strike, South Africa ABSTRACT. This journal article tells the story of a female farm activist and a leader in the De Doorns 2012/2013 farm workers’ strike. In this small agricultural town in the Western Cape, South Africa, workers downed tools, disrupting the harvest of export grapes and demanded a minimum wage of R150 per day. Ethnographic data – interviews, participant observation and archival documents – is used to document the female farm worker’s journey into activism, her evolution and new consciousness of self through political work and participating in the strike. Rancière’s (1999) theory of the presumption of equality is used to understand the gains made and losses incurred by the farm workers during and after the strike. Keywords: Farm Workers, Farmwomen, South Africa, De Doorns, Activism, Popular Education and Presumption of Equality. ¿Quién se sienta en la mesa? La experiencia de una activista agrícola durante la huelga de trabajadores agrícolas de De Doorns, Sudáfrica. RESUMEN. Este artigo conta a história de uma ativista agrícola e uma líder da greve dos fazendeiros De Doorns no período de 2012 a 2013. Nessa pequena cidade agrícola no Cabo Ocidental, na África do Sul, trabalhadores abatiam ferramentas na colheita de uvas e impediam a sua exportação, junto com vinhos, e exigiam um salário mínimo de R150 por dia. Nesse estudo, dados etnográficos - entrevistas, observação participante e documentos de arquivo - são usados para documentar a jornada de uma trabalhadora feminina e ativista, a sua evolução e consciência de si através do trabalho político e como participante da greve. A teoria de Rancière (1999) sobre a “presunção de igualdade” é usada para entender os ganhos e perdas ocorridos dos trabalhadores agrícolas durante e após essa greve. Palabras clave: Trabajadoras Agrícolas, Agricultoras, Sudáfrica, De Doorns, Activismo, Educación Popular y Presunción de Igualdad.
Highlights
Strong physique and head wrap give her a regal air. We find her in De Doorns, a small agricultural town that is a pivotal node for export table grape and wine production in the Western Cape, South Africa
In De Doorns Activist 1, stands at the centre of the strike, at its place of origin, blowing her whistle to signal to her fellow workers that she is up and ready for another day of action
Little by little she begins to hear whistles reply. They start out slowly and gradually mount into a cacophony. From this response she knows that her compañeros stand in solidarity with her and that another day of rebellion in De Doorns has begun
Summary
Forty years of hard labour on farms have burnt her skin a deep olive and she has become physically strong, the years have taken their toll on her body One of her knees is damaged from farm work and she has had an operation on one hand – the result of years of washing laundry by hand. Women experience these social injustices more acutely They bear the brunt of the casualisation of labour (Greenberg, 2010), experience pay discrimination and often have no independent right to tenure or housing (Kehler, 2001 and HRW, 2011). In De Doorns Activist 1, stands at the centre of the strike, at its place of origin, blowing her whistle to signal to her fellow workers that she is up and ready for another day of action Little by little she begins to hear whistles reply. From this response she knows that her compañeros stand in solidarity with her and that another day of rebellion in De Doorns has begun
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