ABSTRACT
Using the recording and interpretation of the recent ethnographic past of the Greek traditional/pre-industrial society as a starting point, we shall focus on and bring light to the contribution made by women to the primary (agriculture, livestock farming, forest exploitation, resin extraction, etc.) and secondary/manufacturing sector (cheese making, weaving, coal and limestone production, etc.). The analysis of specific ethnographic examples from the above mentioned activities reveals, on one hand, the position of woman, and on the other, the continuities of the “long lasting” model and the changes observed during the transition from a pre-industrial to an industrial society.
The different perceptions and meanings of female agricultural labour as they are depicted in techniques, social, and cultural practices as well as in narrative forms (songs, traditions etc.) compose the canvas of gender labour relations in the Greek agricultural society.
