Inheritance and Gender Identity Among Brazilian Farming Families

Abstract

To understand the rules by which family estates are transmitted among farming families, particularly in the case of land and taking into account gender differences, it is necessary to identify the distinct roles reserved to men and women in the dynamics of social reproduction. The understanding of these distinct logics requires the investigation of the different meanings that the territorial patrimony itself has in each social and cultural context. Although inheritance is based on the notion of shared blood, common law rules do not recognize the same rights for all children. It is precisely these differences that we will deal with in this article, particularly in respect to those differences derived from gender identity. We will be seeking to understand the logic of different forms of transmitting inheritances and their relationship with the social reproduction of farming families in two different regions: in southern Brazil (state of Rio Grande do Sul), among descendants of Italian colonists, and in the mountainous region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, among descendants of Swiss and German colonists.