Verónica Vázquez García

Gender, rural households, and biodiversity in native Mexico

Knowledge about maize varieties is the key to rural households survival in native Mexico. Native peoples relate to nature in particular ways and they play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity. This paper discusses the relationship between native womens accumulated knowledge on maize varieties and the laboratory analysis of the species that they manage. Fieldwork was conducted in an Otomí community, San Pablo Arriba, located in the state of Mexico.

Does Contraception Benefit Women? Structure, Agency, And Well-Being In Rural Mexico

The authors of this paper examine Amartya Sens contributions to the concept of human well-being from a gender perspective and argue that this concept is particularly useful for explaining womens decisions on contraceptive use. The study draws on data collected in six rural communities of Chiapas, Mexico. It emphasizes the ways in which public discourse articulates the apparent benefits of having small families; the context of the household and community in which rural women make reproductive decisions; and the impact of family planning programs on womens sense of subjective well-being. In particular, it questions the assumption that reduced fertility through contraception necessarily enhances womens well-being and points to the importance that women attach to being a party to reproductive decisions. The authors also explore the links between womens assessment of these decisions and of paid work, and their actual education levels and real possibilities of employment.