Women’s work and the Green Revolution: Rethinking the history of agricultural science and transformation

Women rarely feature as central actors in histories of the Green Revolution. This talk restores women to the story of mid-twentieth century agricultural science and transformation through close study of a critical women-dominated research infrastructure: the library. Attending to libraries as important elements of the Green Revolution not only makes visible the gendered professional expectations and possibilities of mid-twentieth century agricultural science, philanthropy, and international development, but also leads to a revised narrative of agricultural transformation. The absence of library science and information services in existing histories of the Green Revolution reflects the persistent devaluing of the gendered labor of library work.  Yet library and information workers stationed at key institutions collected, curated, circulated, and ultimately created agricultural knowledge, work that was essential to the operations and outcomes of international agricultural development efforts. A robust account of the Green Revolution therefore requires attention to both libraries and women’s work. This talk draws on research co-authored with Diana Méndez Rojas of UNAM, Mexico City.