The Ambiguous Experience of Motherhood in the Western Bohemian Countryside: Exploring Rural Gender Inequalities Through the Framework of Precarity

Abstract

Perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe rarely find their way into the debate on rural gender inequality. In this article, I aim to mitigate this imbalance by exploring everyday arrangements of women with dependent children in a peripheralised rural region of the Czech Republic. Using an expanded framework of precarity that integrates different spheres of work, I demonstrate that in the spatial context studied, motherhood increases the social disadvantage women face while simultaneously constituting an important field of female agency. I further show that in order to identify room for manoeuvre within configurations of insecurity the whole life‐situation of women must be taken into consideration. My findings add to a nuanced and context‐sensitive understanding of gender inequality in the European countryside, in particular by highlighting the field‐specific interaction of low‐wage economy, gendered division of work and mobility, and concepts of rural childhood, good (grand)parenting and self‐sufficiency. The study draws upon semi‐structured interviews and ethnographic research.

‘Finally, We Are Well, Stable’: Perception of Agency in the Biographies of Precarious Migrant Workers

“…According to her findings, the precarious worker’s sense of being a ‘capable individual’, in control of her life, relates to the capacity to navigate the perpetual ruptures of continuity in experience and knowledge (Jokinen, 2016: 95). The idea of an ability to navigate precarious forms of employment is taken further by Decker (2019), who describes the way in which precarious jobs can provide women with children in the countryside a sense of ability in shaping their lives.…”

Regional opportunity structures: A research agenda to link spatial and social inequalities in rural areas

“…Having personal resources-like economic capital, social networks, and access to public or private transport, such as a neighbour offering a lift (Bernard et al, 2016)-is a precondition for traveling long distances to make use of service infrastructure. Moreover, recognising individual preferences, values, and identities helps us better understand the tradeoffs people make between quality and accessibility when weighing the use of local or more distant facilities, as Decker (2019) showed in her case study on female agency under conditions of social precarity in a rural context. Outmigration at old age to regional centres providing better services is another active way to deal with lacking local opportunities (Steinführer and Grossmann, 2021).…”

Vállalkozók, nők és vállalkozónők vidéken

“…A vidéki nők új csoportjai, illetve a vidéki nők új perspektívában jelennek meg a vidékszociológiai irodalomban. Új téma például a vidéki nők munkaerőpiaci helyzetének (Henderson-Hoggart 2003), mobilitásának (Noack 2011, Villa 2019, Yáñez 1999) vizsgálata, de ugyanúgy a szociális ellátások és a gyermeknevelés, anyaság (Decker 2019, Halliday-Little 2001 vagy az élelmiszerfogyasztás (Alston-Clarke-Whittenbury 2017, Little-Ilbery-Watts 2009) kérdései is. A családon és gazdaságon belüli nemi szerepek vizsgálatán túl, amely a szakirodalmi elemzések (Brandth 2002;Sharma 2014) tanúsága szerint a 80-as, 90-es évek kiemelt témája volt a vidékszociológiában, új témaként jelenik meg a női identitás (Brandth-Haugen 2010, Heather et al 2005, az alternatív tevékenységformák (Brunori-Rossi 2000, Him-Hoşgör 2019, Wright-Annes 2014, a farmon kívüli munkavállalás (Haugen-Blekesaune 2005;Oldrup 1999), a vidékidill és a nemi szerepek kapcsolata (Munkejord 2006) és a szegénység, társadalmi kirekesztődés is (Him-Hoşgör 2019).…”