Work,“help” and dispute : the etnography of lingerie making at home in the rural area

Abstract

The rural area in the State of Rio de Janeiro presents activities other than the already known rural ones, which is a stimulus to new social reproduction strategies and to create new social identities. The making of intimate clothes for women (lingerie) belongs to the textile industry of Nova Friburgo, RJ, the second in rank in this kind of industry in Brazil. This production is reported to be informal and centered in the familiar labor in its majority, centered in domestic offices scattered all over the rural small area. The present text presents a description and analysis of how those domestic offices work in the rural area, and the dynamics of their social relations that support them not only in the domestic sphere but also in the “community”.