Rural Women’s Economic Contribution to Agricultural Work in Southern Europe

Thanailaki, Polly

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-66234-9_6

Polly Thanailaki²

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Abstract

The debate on women’s economic contribution to agricultural labor in southern Europe is largely excluded from the research area of feminist historians as in most of the work discussed in the field female economic agency mainly in urban areas focused on business elite heiresses. Additionally, the main bulk of the bibliography that discusses women’s lives and their economic contribution to family finances is staged in western, northern, and central Europe. As a result, the theme of rural women’s multifarious tasks in southern Europe and more precisely in regions of Greece, as well as in Italy and in parts of France, remains under researched. Female labor in agriculture was necessary as families received economic support from women’s earnings despite the fact that they were underpaid compared to men.

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Notes

1.
Thanailaki, P., (2018), Gender Inequalities in Rural European Communities During Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century: A Historical Perspective, Springer.
2.
Hufton, O., (2003), (the Greek edition), Historia ton Gynaikon stin Europi 1500–1800, Nefeli (publishers), Athens: Hufton, O., (1996), (The English edition), The Prospect Before Her: A History in Western Europe 1500–1800, Vintage Books, New York.
3.
Roberts, M., (1979), ‘Sickels and Scythes: Women’s Work and Men’s Work at Harvest Time’, History Workshop Journal, 7:1, (3–28).
4.
Wiesner, M.E., (1998), ‘Spinning out Capital. Women’s work in Preindustrial Europe, 1350–1750’, in: Bridenthal, R., et al. (eds), Becoming Visible: Women in European History, New York: Houghton Mifflin, (Chapter 8).
5.
Berg, M., (1994), The Age of Manufacturers, 1700–1820. Industry, Innovation and Work in Britain, Routledge, London & New York.
6.
Simonton, D., (ed.), (2006), The Routledge History of Women in Europe since 1700, Routledge, London & New York, pp. 139–140.
7.
Gullickson, G., (2002), The Spinners and Weavers of Auffay: Rural Industry and the Sexual Division of Labor in a French Village, Cambridge University Press, (Introduction).
8.
Gullickson, G., ibid., p. 1.
9.
Lehning, J.R., (1995), Peasant and French: Cultural contact in rural France during the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press, pp. 121–122.
10.
Gullickson, G., ibid., p. 1.
11.
Wiesner, M., ibid. p. 211.
12.
Wiesner, M., ibid., p. 211.
13.
Wilson, P., (2002), Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy: The Massaie Rurali, Routledge, London & New York, pp. 16–19.
14.
On the tobacco production in the northern regions of Greece, see: Kaffe-Gidarakou, I., (1980) Meleti tis Symvolis tou kapnou sti georgiki anaptyksi tvn kapnoparagogikon koinotiton ton nomon Xanthis, Rodopis, Evrou, Kavalas, Dramas [Study of the contribution in agricultural production of the tobacco-producing communities in Xanthi, Rodopi, Evros, Kavala, Drama], Ph.D. Dissertation, Geoponiko University of Athens.
15.
Aggeli, M., (2007), Ho cosmos tis ergasias: gynaikes kai Andres stin paragogi kai epeksergasia tou kapnou: Agrinio 19os-20s ai. [The world of labor: women and men in the production and processing of tobacco. Agrinio nineteenth and twentieth centuries], Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Ioannina, p. 87.
16.
Ibid., p. 88.
17.
Ibid., p. 91.
18.
Ibid., p. 91, Footnote 11.
19.
Gallant, T.W., (2015), The Edinburgh History of the Greeks, 1768 to 1913. The Long Nineteenth Century, Edinburgh University Press Ltd. (n.p).
20.
Ibid., p. 91.
21.
King, R., (2015), The Industrial Geography of Italy, Routledge Library Editions, p. 35.
22.
Tirabassi, M., (2002), ‘Bourgeois Men, Peasant Women: Rethinking Domestic Work and Morality in Italy’, (Translated by Scardellato, G.,) in: Gabaccia, D., and Iacovetta, F., (eds.), Women, Gender and Transnational Lives: Italian Workers of the World, University of Toronto Press, pp. 110–111.
23.
Wilson, R.P., (2002), Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy; ibid., p. 17.
24.
Ibid., p. 17.
25.
De Grazia, V., (1992), How Fascism Ruled Women: Italy, 1922–1945, University of California Press, pp. 181–182.
26.
Zappi, E.G., (1991), If Eight Hours Seem Too Few: Mobilization of Women Workers in the Italian Rice Fields, State University of New York Press, Albany, p. xii.
27.
Ibid., p. xi.
28.
Zappi, E.G., ibid., p. 279.
29.
Ruberto, L., (2007), Gramsci, Migration, and the Representation of Women’s Work in Italy and the U.S., Lexington Books (A Division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC), Lanham, p. 36.
30.
Wilson, R.P., ibid., p. 17.
31.
Ruberto, L., ibid., p. 36.
32.
Ruberto, L., ibid., p. 36.
33.
Garvin, D., (2016), ‘Singing Truth to Power: Melodic Resistance and Bodily Revolt in Italy’s Rice Fields’, Annali d’ Italianistica, vol. 34, p. (373–400), p. 2.
34.
Garvin, D., ibid., p. 7.
35.
Ibid., p. 7.
36.
The cost of 1 kilogram of rice was nearly 2 lire at that time: Garvin, D., ibid., p. 7.
37.
Ibid., p. 7.
38.
A public health officer in Mortara.
39.
Zappi, E.G., bid., p. 13.
40.
Wilson, R.P., ibid., p. 17.
41.
Aggeli, M., (2007), Ho cosmos tis ergasias…, ibid, pp. 125, 128.
42.
Ibid., p. 126.
43.
Ibid., p. 165.
44.
Aggeli, M., ibid., p.143.
45.
Ibid., p. 165.
46.
Garvin, D., ibid., p. 7.
47.
Aggeli, M., ibid., p. 284.
48.
Bull, C.A., (1991), ‘The Lombard Silk-spinners in the Nineteenth Century: An Industrial Workforce in a Rural Setting’, in: Baranski, Z.G., & Vinall, S.W., (eds.), Women and Italy: Essays on Gender, Culture and History, Palgrave Macmillan, p. 36.
49.
De Grazia, V., (1992), ibid., p. 182.
50.
King, R., (2015), The Industrial Geography of Italy, ibid., p. 182.
51.
Ibid., p. 145.
52.
King, R., (2015), The Industrial Geography of Italy, ibid, p. 92.
53.
Heliopoulos, D.E., (1885), ‘He Gyni en to Dikaio’ [Woman in the Law], Parnassos, Syggramma Periodikon Kata mina Ekdidomenon, vol. 10th, Athens, (501–520), p. 518.
54.
De Grazia, V., (1992), ibid., p. 182.
55.
Sussman, G.D., (1976–1977) ‘Parisian Infants and Norman Wet Nurses in the Early Nineteenth Century: A Statistical Study’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History VII:4 (637–653), p. 637.
56.
Sussman, G.D., (1976–1977), ‘ Parisian Infants…’, ibid., p. 637.
57.
Anderson, M.S., (2003³), The Ascendancy of Europe: 1815–1914, Routledge, London & New York, p. 189.
58.
Sussman, G.D., (1976–1977), ‘Parisian Infants…’, ibid., p. 637.
59.
Sussman, G.B., (1980), ‘The End of the Wet-Nursing Business in France, 1874–1914’, in: Wheaton, R., & Hareven, T.K., (eds.), Family and Sexuality in French History, University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 222–226: (also) Sussman, G.B., (1977), ‘The End of the Wet-Nursing Business in France, 1874–1914’, Journal of Family History, v. 2:3 (237–258).
60.
Sussman, G.B., (1980), ‘The End of the Wet-Nursing Business in France, ibid., p. 227.
61.
Stuart-Macadam, P., & Dettwyler K.A., (eds.), (2017), Breastfeeding: Bicultural Perspectives, Routledge, London & New York, n.p.
62.
Sussman, G.B., (1980), ‘The End of the Wet-Nursing Business in France, ibid., p. 226.
63.
Sussman, G.D., (1976–1977) ‘Parisian Infants…’, ibid., p. 637.
64.
Van de Walle, E., (2015), The Female Population of France in the Nineteenth Century: A Reconstruction of 82 Departments, Princeton University Press, p. 93.
65.
Skiadas, E., (2016), ‘Paramanes kai vyzaxhtres stin Athina’ [Governesses and Wet-nurses in Athens], Mikros Romios, electroniki Efimerida gia tin Athina tou Mouseiou tis poleos ton Athinon-Idrymatos Vourou-Eftaxia, http://mikros-romios.gr/paramanes.
66.
Ibid.
67.
Korasidou, M., (1996), Hoi Athlioi ton Athinon kai oi therapeutes tous: Ftocheia kai filanthropia stin Helliniki protevousa ton 19o aiona [The Miserable People of Athens and Their Therapists: Poverty and Philanthropy in the Greek capital in nineteenth century], (published by) Historiko Archeio Hellenikis Neolaias, Athens, pp. 117, 125.
68.
Ibid., p. 129.
69.
The laundry women constituted a very low social class that was very poor. Their job was used derogatively in order to signify the low social ranking.
70.
Skiadas, E., ibid.
71.
They were also characterized as having ‘golden tits’. See: Skiadas, E., ibid.
72.
Lindermann, M., (1981), ‘Love for Hire: The Regulation of the Wet-Nursing Business in Eighteenth-Century Hamburg’, Journal of Family History, v.6:4, (379–395), p. 379.
73.
Ephemeris ton Kyrion (1892) (newspaper), November 8th, issue 280, Athens, p. 5.
74.
Ibid., p. 6.
75.
Ephemeris ton Kyrion (1899), ibid., May 23rd, issue 577, pp. 6–7.
76.
Ephemeris ton Kyrion (1899), ibid., June 6th, issue 579, p. 7.

References

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Garvin, D., (2016), ‘Singing Truth to Power: Melodic Resistance and Bodily Revolt in Italy’s Rice Fields’, Annali d’ Italianistica, vol. 34, (373–400).
Google Scholar
Gullickson, G., (2002), The Spinners and Weavers of Auffay: Rural Industry and the Sexual Division of labor in a French Village, Cambridge University Press.
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Heliopoulos, D.E., (1885), ‘He Gyni en to Dikaio’ [Woman in the Law], Parnassos, Syggramma Periodikon Kata mina Ekdidomenon, vol. 10th, Athens, (501–520).
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Hufton, O., (1996), The Prospect Before Her: A History in Western Europe 1500–1800, Vintage Books, New York.
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Korasidou, M., (1996), Hoi Athlioi ton Athinon kai oi therapeutes tous: Ftocheia kai filanthropia stin Helliniki protevousa ton 19o aiona [The Miserable people of Athens and their therapists: Poverty and Philanthropy in the Greek capital in nineteenth century], (published by) Historiko Archeio Hellenikis Neolaias, Athens.
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Lehning, J.R., (1995), Peasant and French: Cultural contact in rural France during the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press.
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Lindermann, M., (1981), ‘Love for Hire: The Regulation of the Wet-Nursing Business in Eighteenth-Century Hamburg’, Journal of Family History, v.6:4.
Google Scholar
Roberts, M., (1979), ‘Sickels and Scythes: Women’s Work and Men’s Work at Harvest Time’, History Workshop Journal, 7:1, (3–28).
Article Google Scholar
Ruberto, L., (2007), Gramsci, Migration, and the Representation of Women’s Work in Italy and the U.S., Lexington Books, (A Division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC), Lanham.
Google Scholar
Simonton, D., (ed.), (2006), The Routledge History of Women in Europe since 1700, Routledge, London & New York.
Google Scholar
Stuart-Macadam, P., & Dettwyler K.A., (eds.), (2017), Breastfeeding: Bicultural Perspectives, Routledge, London & New York.
Google Scholar
Sussman, G.D., (1976–1977), ‘Parisian Infants And Norman Wet Nurses in the Early Nineteenth Century: A Statistical Study’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History VII: 4 (637–653).
Google Scholar
Sussman, G.D., (1977), ‘The End of the Wet-Nursing Business in France, 1874–1914’, Journal of Family History, v.2:3 (237–258).
Google Scholar
Sussman, G.D., (1980), ‘The End of the Wet-Nursing Business in France, 1874–1914’, in: Wheaton, R., & Hareven, T.K., (eds.), Family and Sexuality in French History, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Google Scholar
Thanailaki, P., (2018), Gender Inequalities in Rural European Communities during nineteenth and early twentieth century: A Historical Perspective, Springer.
Book Google Scholar
Tirabassi, M., (2002), ‘Bourgeois Men, Peasant Women: Rethinking Domestic Work and Morality in Italy’, (Translated by Scardellato, G.) in: Gabaccia, D., and Iacovetta, F., (eds.), Women, Gender and Transnational Lives: Italian Workers of the World, University of Toronto Press.
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Book Google Scholar
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Google Scholar
Wilson, P., (2002), Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy: The Massaie Rurali, Routledge, London & New York.
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Zappi, E.G., (1991), If Eight Hours Seem Too Few: Mobilization of Women Workers in the Italian Rice fields, State University of New York Press, Albany.
Google Scholar

Electronic Sites

Skiadas, E., (2016), ‘Paramanes kai vyzaxhtres stin Athina’ [Governesses and Wet-nurses in Athens], Mikros Romios, electroniki Efimerida gia tin Athina tou Mouseiou tis poleos ton Athinon-Idrymatos Vourou-Eftaxia, http://mikros-romios.gr/paramanes.

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International Hellenic University, Glyfada, Greece
Polly Thanailaki

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Thanailaki, P. (2021). Rural Women’s Economic Contribution to Agricultural Work in Southern Europe. In: Gendered Stereotypes and Female Entrepreneurship in Southern Europe, 1700-1900. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66234-9_6

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66234-9_6
Published: 27 April 2021
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
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