community in Ecuador, who work in the flower industry. The studies summarized below

by way of introduction, were carried out in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

 Four case studies exist on the experience of Chilean peasant women in NTAES. Of

these, two conclude that the integration of rural women in the labor market is completely

positive. The workers were employed in fruit production. They have positive feelings

about their transformation into wage laborers, a role that has allowed them to discover a

new dimension of social life through regular interaction with other women with whom

they share experiences, something they had not been able to do as easily prior to joining

the work force (Lago Campafia 1984 and Lago Olavarria 1986, cited in Herrera 1999).

But in the other two cases, wage labor has had either no effect or a negative effect on

women's situation. Bee and Vogel (1997, cited in Dolan and Sorby 2003) found that

despite the increasing participation of women in the fruit industry, traditional household

gender relations remained largely intact. In another study in the same industry, Aranda

(1982, cited in Herrera) reports that women do not feel quite right working outside the

home because the long workdays exhaust them and produce social exclusion and social

under-valuation (Herrera 1999).

 Silva and Medrano (cited in Herrera 1999) studied Colombian women who work in

the flower industry. According to the researchers, women's participation is seen as a

"mal necesario" (necessary evil). While women appreciate the income they earn, they

know that by becoming wageworkers, they also experience disadvantages in society at

large and in the family.

 Because of the Mexico's long experience with industrialization in rural areas,

peasants have had more contact with different levels of paid work. Roldan (1982, cited by