Pakistan country study of anthropological gender and (wheat-based) livelihood literature

Abstract

This review provides a synthesis of the literature on the links between gender and social relationships, livelihood choices, and wheat-based systems in Pakistan. The majority of the data presented is of an anthropological nature. Drawing from a rich tradition of anthropological research, this study outlines the socio-cultural, religious, and existential environments in which Pakistani men and women: participate in a variety of agricultural and non-agricultural activities to secure their livelihoods; struggle with, and challenge, cultural constraints and financial problems; perceive of their own needs and performances; and make decisions over material and immaterial resources. The introduction highlights how the crop sector of the small-farm economy remains somewhat unexplored by economists and anthropologists alike. One standout issue is the involvement of women within these agricultural microcosms. Is it through crop production that women empower themselves? Is it via agriculture that women can struggle to increase their economic prosperity, and through prosperity overcome their confinement and seclusion? Do women like to take part in agricultural work? Do women find it emotionally interesting and rewarding? This literature review endorses the hypothesis that an exclusive focus on agricultural production results in women’s involvement in agriculture fading away into invisibility/illegibility, and it therefore aims at providing alternative and more complex entry points into the lives, feelings, concerns, and unofficial and informal networks of rural Pakistani women. Following the introduction is an annotated bibliography, which includes the sections: (a) Development, Livelihood Strategies, Vulnerabilities; (b) Gender Division of Labor; and (c) Domesticity and Agency Revisited. The existing literature points to a meaningful relationship that links women’s energies, goals, and interests with home gardens (harvesting vegetables), storage of cereals (post-harvest activities), natural resources management, and, especially, livestock tending and animal rearing. The reasons for these deep connections are illustrated and analyzed, along with observations of male dominancy (patriarchy) and other cultural mores that are generally regarded in the eyes of Western observers and developers as hindering women’s agency. Despite the strict insistence of purdah (the code of honor and modesty, with the resulting seclusion of women) in public spaces, women and men’s actual participation in such fora points to there being some flexibility in this code. The literature provides substantial evidence that the spheres of Pakistani men and women overlap much more than they are likely to admit. Nevertheless, there remains a knowledge gap regarding the life histories, local experiences, and unofficial, unritualized, or informal networks of small farmers in general, and of poor and marginalized women in particular. Much information is available on urban, literate, middle- and upper-class women, on the ways they articulate notions of family, individuality, and sexual mores in rapidly changing social and economic milieu. This neglect of rural subjects also results in a missed opportunity to learn and, consequently, to engage in improved program design that contributes to enhanced food security and resilience in rural communities. Case studies are presented to illustrate how existing development approaches may have overlooked localized, culturally determined concepts of empowerment.