Rethinking the feminization of agriculture through translocality: Gendered labour and livelihoods in the Western Highlands of Guatemala

Male out-migration from rural areas shifts intra-household relations, with consequences for gendered power dynamics. Left behind women in rural migrant-sending communities are assumed to take on greater roles in agricultural production, a process known as the feminization of agriculture. As migrants and non-migrants become more closely linked through socio-spatial interconnections that transcend place, there is a need to understand how and why the feminization of agriculture is occurring in rural settings. This research explores the complicated and shifting terrain of the feminization of agriculture as experienced by translocal households in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Guided by a translocal Feminist Political Ecology (tFPE) framework, 59 qualitative interviews were conducted with individuals from households representing different migrant typologies. Findings highlight that translocal householding reshapes agricultural labour, decision-making, and resource control in uneven ways. In households with migrant husbands, women take on new agricultural tasks and expand their decision-making roles, but the double workload of productive and reproductive labour constrains agricultural productivity and individual agency. Where other male relatives migrate, labour is more often shared, with men assuming managerial authority. The flow of remittances restructures financial decision-making, producing partial and contingent shifts in gender roles but rarely translate into women's autonomy. Overall, this research emphasizes the translocal household as a deeply gendered sphere: translocal ties redistribute labour and responsibility, yet rigid social norms remain entrenched. Situating agricultural livelihoods within the realities of translocality positions the feminization of agriculture as an inherently translocal process shaped by circulating attitudes, resources, knowledge, and control.