conversation in a given place where both the parties involved could more or less follow a

guide for such interviews. I had previously prepared a questionnaire for the interviews,

but the interviews with these women turned into narratives in which they expressed their

experiences. Thus, I could not restrict these women to answering only my questions.

Then I understood that in this way of answering, they enriched me with more information

than what I asked for. Therefore instead of trying to follow my interview questions, I

encouraged them to freely express their point of view. Under these circumstances, I was

forced to alternate between semi-structured and unstructured interviews.

 The feminist perspective used proved to be effective when the interviews turned

into friendly conversations between two women who shared similar concerns and needed

to express their feelings.

 Fieldwork Explanation

 Concurring with the reflections on methodology, this study is based on qualitative

data collected during fieldwork carried out in Ecuador between July and August of 2003

in the rural Comuna of Mulauco, where semi-structured and unstructured interviews of

women flower workers were conducted. In addition to these workers, I also interviewed

some relatives of women flower workers, flower entrepreneurs, and scholars or officers

related to the flower industry. In total, I interviewed 20 people, including seven women

flower workers, and one former women flower worker; two flower agribusiness

representatives, and relatives of these workers.1

 The semi structured and unstructured interviews were a particularly useful tool for

research because they permitted the interviewed women workers to express themselves

freely, and allowed me to explore particular details provided by these workers that I

1 See Appendix B for a list of interviewed people.