Women's recollection of farming and managing for drought in Australia, 2006-2010: What role for local government?

Abstract

Women who farmed and local government may have played key roles in managing for drought in Australia during 2006-2010 but their knowledge and experiences were not always documented or evaluated. Research has demonstrated how agrarian and neoliberal ideologies and Australia’s negation of women who farmed from the national census resulted in knowledge and experiences of women who farmed being marginalised and discounted by agricultural leadership organisations and decision making processes. Smith’s (1990a) feminist standpoint theory was used to establish the everyday lives of women who farmed and locate their experience as significant to enhancing agricultural knowledge. Prioritising their recollection of the drought enabled the women to recognise the importance of their ideas, experiences and expertise. Other theoretical tools such as Bourdieu’s (Swartz 1997; Raedeke, Green, Hodge & Valdivia 2003) notions of ‘habitus’, ‘capital’ and ‘field’ along with Heller’s (2005) theoretical perspective about ideology were used to enhance the theoretical framework. Qualitative methods of in-depth interviews and text analysis of documents were used to gather and analyse the data. The study was located in the latter four years (2006-2010) of Australia’s Millennium Drought and focused on the Goulburn Valley, a mixed farming region of Australia’s south-eastern state of Victoria. A thematic analysis of eleven in-depth interviews from women who farmed in the Goulburn Valley during that time formed the foundation from which findings were analysed and discussed. This was followed by an interpretive text analysis of the role local government played during that drought using, with permission, the Greater Shepparton City Council’s Drought Program reports written at that time. Evidence suggested initially agrarian and neoliberal ideologies provided some support for women and men who farmed during Australia’s Millennium Drought. As the drought continued, norms around notions of preparedness and resilience appeared to fragment and issues arose regarding the impact of hardship, providing appropriate services and preparing for the longer term impact of recurring droughts and climate change. The thesis found that women did have experience and expertise that could enhance the knowledge of people who farm to better prepare and manage for future droughts in Australia and they identified how local government could be better utilised to support rural communities more effectively. Show more