Masculine Tools and Feminine Tasks : The Dynamic Interplay of Gender and Technology Through System of Rice Intensification

Summary

Are sustainable transitions in agriculture necessarily women-friendly, or can they also increase gender imbalance? The mutual shaping of gender relations and technologies is an area that has been inadequately studied by sustainability transition scholars. This article investigates how the introduction of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) affected gender roles in rice cultivation, focusing on weeding practices in three villages in Odisha, India. The introduction of mechanical weeders under SRI led to complex shifts in labour divisions in weeding, traditionally women’s work. Deep-rooted gender relations hindered the reworking of wage and employment norms for men and women involved in weeding. Mechanical weeding did not shift women’s labour uniformly to men’s, while instances of women using mechanical weeders varied across villages, seasons and models. Technology was shaped locally by environmental conditions, sociocultural norms, weeder models, extension institutions and negotiations involving the agency of women. Sustainable transitions in agriculture are not gender-neutral, and they must be carefully integrated to avoid reinforcing existing disparities. The study provides insights into the need to invest in collective experimentation for longer-term societal transformations.