Note: Hot-linked terms are defined elsewhere in the glossary.

agribusiness
agricultural production that encompasses mechanization, massive redistribution in the agricultural work force, specialization according to locality and within the production process (arable crops, breeding, livestock fattening), a technical revolution through the use of industrial inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides), the use of genetically improved seeds so that crops can withstand greater environmental stress like dry climates and can grow more quickly and with more durability, and the intensification of livestock production (poultry, pigs, and cattle) on the basis of industrially-processed feed (cereals and soybeans). Agribusinesses have their roots in the plantation system.

barrio
a spanish term for informal settlements.

commodification
process by which an object comes to be seen as something that can be bought or sold.

debt service
the amount of interest owed on a loan.

double day
the blending of the domestic sphere with the waged one. For example, although a woman might work outside home or engage in subcontracted homework, she still faces many daily chores and responsibilities within her household.

emigrant
an individual who moves from his/her own home community to settle in another.

emigration
migration from a location.

free market economics
a perspective in economic theory that holds that the market can function most efficiently in the absence of governmental regulation or other forms of intervention.

gender ideology
a socially constructed set of norms in a particular cultural context and place that defines femininity, masculinity, and the domestic and productive work carried out by women and men. Custom and/or tradition are often invoked to explain behaviors, responsibilities, and norms for women and men in particular social (and historical) settings (i.e., women as caretakers and men as breadwinners); these customs and traditions attribute power differently to women and men and create a hierarchy of access to economic and social power.

GDP
Gross Domestic Product; a monetary measure of the value (at market prices) of goods and services for final use produced within a national economy over a given time period, usually a year or a quarter.

GNP
Gross National Product; a monetary measure of the value (at market prices) of the goods and services produced within a national economy (or the GDP), plus net income from abroad, over a given time period, usually a year or a quarter.

homework
a paid productive activity carried out at home largely, but not exclusively, by women. Homework is popular with employers in some industries because workers have little contact with one another thereby preventing workers from organizing to protest working conditions or to demand higher wages.

immigrant an individual who moves to a new location to live outside his/her community of origin.

immigration
migration to a new location.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)
an agency of the United Nations founded in 1945 to promote monetary cooperation, currency stabilization, and trade expansion.

migration
the long-term relocation of an individual, household, or group to a new location outside the community of origin.

neoliberalism
see free market economics.

patriarchy
a situation defined by the privileging of men (and masculinity) over women (and femininity).

plantation system
an agricultural system involving enclave economies and monocropping for export that grew in importance during the post-independence period in Latin America (nineteenth century). Production was capital intensive, requiring more "inputs" (i.e., fertilizers and mechanized farm equipment) than subsistence farming and was financed by Europeans for profit. This pattern of production oriented countries toward agricultural production for export and facilitated the growth of agribusiness during the twentieth century.

political economic perspective
an approach to understanding the world that views the political and  the economic spheres as inextricably connected; focuses on the processes of production, accumulation, and distribution (economics) and the opportunities and constraints these processes present for the behavior and decision making of different groups of individuals (political).

primate cities
cities that contain a majority of a country’s population.

pull factors
conditions that attract people to new locations from other places.

push factors
conditions in a given place perceived by people to be detrimental to their well-being or economic security and that induce them to leave their homes or migrate.

structural adjustment
a process aimed at restructuring a nation’s economy, increasing its trade linkages, and altering government spending; see structural adjustment programs.

structural adjustment programs (SAPs)
programs initiated by the World Bank and the IMF during the debt crisis of the 1980s to provide loans to countries to help them meet their debt service with the condition that they implement structural adjustments; SAPs generally included cutbacks on government spending, cutbacks in wages, privatization of state enterprises, deregulation of the economy and other structural adjustments.

structural forces
broad social, political, and/or economic processes that are beyond an individual’s direct control and that present opportunities for and constraints on individual behavior and decisions.

subcontracting
a corporate strategy that moves production of certain parts/components off factory premises and outside of formal employment (i.e., to smaller production facilities or to individuals’ homes and/or small storefronts). Subcontracting offers corporations wage savings and flexibility in an increasingly competitive world trade market, but it also places workers outside of state protection and state regulation without guaranteed working condition or guaranteed wages.

urban primacy
the demographic, economic, social, and political dominance of one city over all others within an urban system.

urban sprawl
low- density development of new areas of housing, employment, retail facilities, or other urban structures on the fringe of existing developed areas.

urbanization
transformation of an area from a rural/agrarian system to an urban/industrial system; involves population growth in cities and related economic, social, and political changes.