Women, Self-production, and Precarity: Situated Lessons from Monterre Femmes, autoproduction et précarité: Apprentissages situés depuis Monterrey Mulheres, Autoprodução e Precariedade: Aprendizados Situados a Monterrey Mujeres, autoproducción y precariedad: Aprendizajes situados desde Monterrey
Academic Article in Scopus
Domestic space is not neutral; its configuration reveals the androcentric structures under which it was created. This study analyzes the self-production of housing by Mexican women to understand how their domestic configurations reproduce or challenge these structures and to identify the spatial and symbolic dimensions through which they negotiate and give meaning to everyday life in contexts of scarcity. The conceptual framework articulates gender studies, homemaking theories, and the notion of the home as a site of resistance. The methodology combines nine case studies on the periphery of Monterrey with a design-based analysis from a gender-and care-oriented perspective¿focused on flexibility, hierarchies, kitchen, laundry cycle, and storage¿and semi-structured interviews coded around ¿processes¿ and ¿values.¿ Findings show highly flexible dwellings without rigid spatial hierarchies and with kitchens that structure daily life, though limitations in storage and laundry cycles still affect habitability. The study concludes that these women, situated at the intersections of gender, class, and racialization, transform domestic space into an act of resistance and use self-production as an active strategy in the face of contemporary precarity.
