Rising Up and Plowing Down: How Can Two Women Make the Land and Arena for Justice
Dianna Hunter, Coordinator of Women's and Gender Issues, University of Wisconsin-Superior

In 1940, 31 million Americans lived on farms. By 1991, the number of farm residents had declined to 5 million, half of whom no longer actually worked their land. Throughout American history there has been a persistent image of this farmer as a white man; however, this case study of the long-standing current farm crisis suggests an alternative story. When the farm crisis deepened throughout the 1980s, it was two women - Lou Anne Kling and Anne Kanten - who challenged the gender norms of farm life and the local and national political establishments in order to address the social, political and economic needs of their communities. This case allows for discussions of Kanten's and Kling's challenges to gender norms, the political economy of agriculture, the benefits and risks of political alliances, and the utility and costs of activists working from within a state agency.