Abstract

ARIAS GUEVARA, María de los A.; HERNANDEZ JUAREZ, Martín  and  HUESCA MARINO, José M.. Rural communities, family strategies and gender: reading from the perspective of sustainable livelihoods. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2014, vol.5, n.6, pp.1111-1124. ISSN 2007-0934.

The structural changes occurring since the mid-eighties have changed rural development policies and have a significant impact on the livelihoods of communities and families. The approaches to rural reality aimed to understand family strategies, their relationship with the revaluation or not of their community spaces and gender relations. The communities surveyed between February and August 2013, are located in the "Rural District of development 05 Cholula" in the State of Puebla. The methodology is based on the approach of sustainable livelihoods, the perspective of social actors and gender. Conclusions such as: Family strategies account for changes in their behavior, the ways they use their resources, as manner to face uncertainty of the context. The answersare not homogeneous ranging from resistance, organization, adaptation, empowerment or subordinate inclusion. Cracks are apparent in traditional gender relations, especially those strategies that result from empowerment, migration or diversification of activities.

Keywords : structural changes; rural families; gender relations; actor's perspective.