In the Shadow of the Harvest

Trajectories and experiences of migrant boias-frias women in Northeastern São Paulo (second half of the 20th century)

Abstract

Based on in-depth interviews and dialogue with specialized literature, this article investigates the trajectories of former migrant rural women workers who labored as boias-frias in northeastern São Paulo throughout the second half of the twentieth century. The interpretive framework focuses on analyzing how these women experienced the unequal modernization of the countryside, a process marked by the expansion of sugarcane plantations, the intensification of labor exploitation, and the reconfiguration of the sexual division of rural labor. The findings highlight the social, economic, and symbolic mechanisms that led to the progressive exclusion of women from sugarcane harvesting, often justified by discourses of lower productivity in comparison to male workers. By reconstructing memories of work and migration that have frequently been silenced, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of women’s experiences in rural labor and underscores the central role of women in the historical formation of agricultural work, reaffirming the importance of reinscribing these trajectories within the broader narrative of agribusiness and agricultural modernization in São Paulo.