“Just doing what needs to be done:” Rural Women’s Everyday Peacebuilding on the Prairies by Jessica Robin Neustaeter A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of the University of Manitoba In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Peace and Conflict Studies University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2016 Jessica Robin Neustaeter ABSTRACT Usually bubbling under the surface of the ordinary everyday routines of life, women’s volunteering in their communities, helping out and just doing what needs to be done, represent a significant phenomenon in sustaining and developing human life and civilization. Embedded within their everyday community action is a dialectical learning and cognitive praxis which informs their situated public care practice. Grassroots peacebuilding is dependent on the efforts of volunteers. As well, volunteering itself is a means for building social cohesion, solidarity and trust—factors fundamental to sustainable development and peace. Rural women’s community involvement is situated within the everyday of their diverse communities. There is diversity both within and between rural communities; as well rural women represent a diverse group in regards to age, race, class, ethnicity, language, marital and family status, ability, and religion. Blending participant observation and in-depth interviewing, this ethnographic study explored rural women’s community involvement practice and learning in South-Central Manitoba. This study invited women from across the region; representing a mix of age, race, education, ability, ethnicity, religion and areas of involvement, to share their stories of being involved in their communities. Their narratives revealed a rich story of women’s peacebuilding for individual and community wellbeing fitting into a tradition of rural women’s community development. As well, their learning narratives revealed a situated community involvement learning within the action and reflection of being community involved. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I’m deeply grateful to many who have encouraged and supported me throughout this process. The seeds of this study were planted by countless women who shared their lives and stories of community involvement, advocacy and activism with me – these women showed me what women are capable of. Bushels of gratitude I extend to the women who participated in this study, as well as those who inquired, encouraged and supported this work. To my friends and family for supporting and encouraging me in this journey, I say thank you, many times over. My advisors and committee – Jessica Senehi, Anna Snyder, Charlotte Enns and John Wiens, inspired and mentored me in this process. I thank you for your interest, encouragement and support in my research. I feel extremely blessed to have you all on my committee. I’m grateful for the following financial support to do this research: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Fellowship, University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship, Janice Filmon Award for Peacebuilding and the Dr. Karl and Carmel Riese Peace and Conflict Studies Bursary. And finally, to my daughter, Tabitha – thank you for your patience and encouraging me to play, and challenging me to show you, through my own and other women’s stories, what girls are capable of. In peace, with love. Thank-you. ii DEDICATION Dedicated to Tabitha and all who continue the tradition. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Snap Shot: Spring Supper 1 Prelude: Women’s Everyday Peacebuilding on the Prairie 3 Snap Shot: ‘Just doing what needs to be done’ 12 Chapter 1: ‘You just do what needs to be done.’ Naming women’s community involvement 14 Snap Shot: Ladies Aid Society, January 1951 30 Chapter 2: In the field 32 Snap Shot: Four women + one idea = Thrift Shop Movement 73 Chapter 3: ‘The stuff of life’: Everyday and adult learning 75 Chapter 4: Community development and peacebuilding 103 Snap Shot: Cooking Community 126 Chapter 5: Researching women’s community involvement 128 Snap Shot: In Passing: Barb Gifford 158 Chapter 6: More than soup and pie suppers 160 Snap Shot: Ladies Aid Society, September 1952 206 Chapter 7: Women’s community involvement learning 208 Chapter 8: What women learn 247 Snap Shot: Coming soon to a community near you 274 Chapter 9: Gleanings: Concluding analysis and discussion 275 Appendix: Interview Guide 295 Reference List 297 iv S N A P S H O T Spring Supper, May 3, 2013 Dark clouds slowly move across the mid-afternoon sky and cast shadows on the young green shoots breaking through the black spring soil. A bolt of lightning flashes behind the trees. In the west and north the sun is shining. The storm is moving southwest. The rain starts and the wipers slap across the windshield. My daughter fell asleep somewhere between mile roads 5 and 8 East1. We reach our turn off and head one mile north on a well-travelled corduroy2 road. In the middle of farmyards, fields, and brush stands the hall. The faded, peeling light blue plywood walls contrast against the bright wet emerald green grass and the charcoal sky. Thunder rumbles and another bolt of lightning cracks the heavens. Rain pours down. We park and under an umbrella quickly run inside straight into a flurry of preparation for the local annual spring supper. In the kitchen, three men with carving knives slice baked hams to fill the waiting roasting pans. Women are negotiating how to fit all the colourful Tupperware, glass, and ceramic bowls of coleslaw, potato, and carrot salads in the fridges. Dutch ovens3 are warming on the stove. Every kitchen outlet is in use. In the hall, the long tables are decked with cups, filled creamers and sugar bowls, and saucers of salt and pepper packages. The front stage is a hive of pie- cutting: apple, pineapple, blueberry, lemon meringue, mixed berry, banana, raisin, sour cream and raisin, chocolate, coconut, and rhubarb. Women cut pies into sixths, carefully lifting and 1 Southern Manitoba is surveyed on a grid system with road allowances based on mile roads indicating miles east and west of the Principal Meridian (north south roads), and north of the United States-Canada border (east west roads). Rural civic addresses are located based on this system. Thus, mile roads 5 and 8 east are located 5 and 8 miles east of the Principal Meridian which runs through the eastern portion of the research area. 2 Corduroy roads are gravel roads worn by travel, wind and rain into ridges going across the road which resemble the ridges of corduroy material. Driving on them creates a vibrating effect. 3 A Dutch oven is a large heavy cooking pot with a lid. The thickness of the pot retains heat ensuring that the food inside keeps hot for longer periods of time – making it a favoured choice when putting hot food out for serving. 1 placing each piece onto white Styrofoam plates and arranging each plate according to pie in long queues, front to back on the stage. The assembly of pies wait patiently for the hungry folk. Parents remind their children not to stick their fingers in the smooth whipped toppings. To the side of the hall the regular silent auction features prizes donated by the members of the women’s group. When the doors open neighbours fill their plates and settle next to friends, acquaintances and family members, some they may only see annually at this event. 2 PRELUDE Women’s Everyday Peacebuilding on the Prairie Have you seen the roots of prairie tall grasses? The long thin subterranean fractals of these native plants spread wide and go deep into the soil to gather moisture and nutrients for the thin erect blades scorching in the hot prairie sun. Like these grassroots, women’s everyday peacebuilding in their communities goes deep and wide, and often below the surface or radar of acknowledgement. Traditions and cultures of women’s community involvement and peacebuilding stretch deep into our collective history. Like the early settlers who brought saved garden seeds from the ‘Old Country’ over to the prairies in their trunks (Fisher, 2015; Lehr, 1996), women brought their community and peacebuilding knowledge and practice with them to the New Country. Long before Europeans settled in this area Indigenous women had been actively caring and advocating for their families’ and communities’ wellbeing. Similarly, Métis women have been involved in ensuring their communities’ wellbeing over generations and on into the future. Why I wanted to do this study Wherever I’ve found myself—in North America, Europe, Asia or the Caribbean, in urban or rural settings—I’ve witnessed the same phenomenon: women involved in their communities. Through formal volunteering with organisations, or through the informal volunteering of helping others outside of their family, women perform a plethora of public acts of caring in their communities. This community work is fundamental to ensuring and improving the wellbeing of communities for individuals, families, and the women themselves. Women are creating 3 abundance in their communities. Unfortunately, all too often, women’s community action goes unnoticed leaving an incomplete picture of what really happened and is happening in the social, economic, political, and cultural development of our communities, societies, and nations (Boulding, 1995; Dominelli, 1995, 2006; Reinharz, 1983). Lena Dominelli (1995) once wrote “without women’s community work, life as we know it would not exist” (p. 133). Women’s acts of public caring represent a crucial aspect of women’s work which sustains communities. Not only is it important to consider what women are doing and how—such as advocating for new seniors housing or a foodbank, organising a farmers’ market, or fundraising for new safe playground equipment or a skate-park—we also must acknowledge that the connecting, reciprocity, and trust-building that happens when a group of citizens come together to address a need in their community are vitally important to building peace.