“Back to the Land” among “Neo-Rural” Farmers: The Price to Pay

Abstract

The article deals with the social processes that incite “neo-rural” women – i.e. who do not themselves originate from agricultural families – to become fruit and vegetable farmers alongside their partners and work in their shadow, with no professional status. It shows, first, the extent to which their decision to become independent workers is sometimes governed by family rather than professional considerations. Secondly, it exposes the causes of their statutory invisibility: beyond the feeble economic resources that constrain small farmers and limit their ability to pay into social security schemes, they largely ignore the existing systems and the risks incurred, and they mistrust the established forms of social protection, preferring to count on couple solidarity and develop individual strategies in compensation.