What difference does gender make? Rethinking peasant studies

This article argues that gender analysis has challenged and enriched many of the standard assumptions and concepts utilized in the analysis of Third World peasantries. Drawing primarily on the literature regarding Latin America, the impact of gender analysis on seven assumptions and concepts of peasant studies is illustrated: the family farm as the basic unit of production; the undifferentiated return to family labor; peasant household strategies; the competitive edge of peasant farms in capitalist markets; peasant social differentiation; the class analysis of peasantries; and the determinants of peasant household reproduction.