From Peasant Women to Social Change: The Politicization of Identities and Materialities Towards Socio-Ecological Transitions

Peasant movements are key actors for thinking and acting creatively in processes of food and socio-ecological transition. Drawing bridges between feminist political ecology and critical ecofeminisms, this article analyzes the National Association of Rural and Indigenous Women (ANAMURI) in Chile as key agents of social change. The study follows a qualitative methodology based on an analysis of ANAMURI's working papers, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic observations of the organization's women leaders (data collected from 2021 – 2023). There are various ways in which ANAMURI mobilizes political and identity categories (such as women, feminisms, care, and earthcare) as strategies in search of the food systems transformation in the context of a civilizational crisis. ANAMURI's case also contributes to understand the politicization processes of materialities for food production (land, seeds, water, among others), resulting in key factors for the political formation of rural women as agents of social change. Thus, care and earthcare become political tools used in the daily life of ANAMURI's women to foster food transitions.