Dependency, Paternalism and Financial Control of Women on South African Wine Farms

This study examined the experiences of women farmworkers on South African wine farms, which have a troubling history of paternalism and dependency. This article discusses the enactment of patriarchal norms on South African wine farms today, especially concerning women of colour. Our qualitative study draws on the experiences of 30 farmworkers on five wine farms in the Western Cape. We argue that the women on these farms are reduced to the most exploited participants in the production network and that their exploitation and dependency subsidise the functioning of farm production networks. Our study finds that farms are able to secure the reproductive and casual labour of women through their dependency on men as their partners and farmers, with their partners sometimes acting as informal labour brokers. Increased labour casualisation on wine farms places women at risk, exposing them to the danger of financial control and abuse. We conclude that current norms and practices on South African wine farms rely on the continued oppression of women farmworkers.