HARVESTING INSIGHTS FROM THE CONVERGENCE OF SOCIOECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS (SES) RESILIENCE AND FEMINIST POLITICAL ECOLOGY (FPE) IN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS

Abstract

Women in agriculture have been identified as an important research area at national and international scales to support resilient agricultural systems. Intersectional analyses of SocioEcological Systems (SES) resilience frameworks are increasingly necessary to investigate complex, context-specific social dynamics, including gender. Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) provides a complementary lens for studying gender in SES while benefiting from the broad applicability of SES frameworks. FPE approaches the individual and the social group within their context, recognizing that gender can influence one’s adaptive capacity. This mixed-methods research project is based in Cimarron County, OK, and Union County, NM, and advances a convergent SES and FPE framework to examine how women in rural agricultural communities foster SES resilience. Key SES-FPE components identified include environment, economics, production, institutions, community, and intrahousehold dynamics. Comparisons are drawn between the United States Department of Agriculture’s Census reports, oral histories of Dust Bowl survivors, and key informant interviews. Agricultural Census results reveal the increasing formal representation of women in agriculture, as heads of household, landowners, and/or producers. Qualitative results, however, reveal that women have always been intimately involved in agriculture, if not sometimes unseen. Their stories illustrate the complex pathways women navigate in support of agriculture and agricultural communities during SES disruptions. Overall, results show the role of women in agriculture, from the individual to the national scale, and the shared experiences of women when fostering SES resilience. Taken together, converging SES and FPE frameworks provide an intersectional analysis of SES, treating social differences as a crucial component to inform resilience strategies.