A case study about indigenous seed preservation movement led by Korean Women Peasants' Association (KWPA) working for the food sovereignty as an alternative to the current global food system. In particular, it examines primarily on how peasant women's knowledge, which had been looked down on was reinterpreted into the main mechanism of the food sovereignty movement by KWPA as one of the major points of their movement.
This study conducted a case study about indigenous seed preservation movement led by Korean Women Peasants' Association (KWPA) working for the food sovereignty as an alternative to the current global food system. In particular, it examines primarily on how peasant women's knowledge, which had been looked down on was reinterpreted into the main mechanism of the food sovereignty movement by KWPA as one of the major points of their movement.
This study deals with peasant women’s positions and contributions which have been rarely appreciated in the process of industrialization of Korea from an agricultural society. It, in particular, focuses on women's knowledge and how it has been regarded under the condition of subsistence production mode which largely relied on their knowledge. The existing studies about peasant women, nevertheless, have placed heavy weight on understanding women's roles and activities to improve their status. The indigenous knowledge of peasant women, which has been treated as useless in the process of modernization, is reconsidered indepth as an alternative knowledge inevitable for sustainable development, but rarely discussed in Korea.
Hyo Jeong Kim, PhD student, Department of Women’s Studies, Ewha Womans University (EWU) Hyo Jeong, Kim started her feminist activism as an NGO activist to support women in sex-trafficking in Asian countries and recognized development issues in Asia. She wrote her M.A. thesis of Women’s Studies ‘A Study about the Indigenous Knowledge of Peasant Women through the Indigenous Seed Preservation Movement’ at EWU. She was a researcher at Asian Center for Women’s Studies in EWU. Her current research interests include women’s collectives of urban agriculture and agricultural development utilizing women’s knowledge and skills in Asia.
Food Sovereignty: a critical dialogue, 14 - 15 September, New Haven.
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