Across South America, women are not just entering existing markets; they are transforming them. From Cartagena’s micro-enterprises to Indigenous-led bio-economies deep in the Amazon, women are reshaping value chains, governance models, and ownership structures. Their work insists that economic growth must serve not only profit but also social and ecological well-being. This evolution, often described as the rise of a feminine economy, is not merely about increasing women’s participation in capitalism but about reimagining how economies function at their very core.
Rethinking Economic Power
The term feminine economy does not imply that women are inherently different economic actors. Instead, it acknowledges how women’s historic exclusion from formal power has inspired alternative approaches to wealth creation and distribution. In South America, where Indigenous traditions of reciprocity and solidarity intersect with contemporary feminist movements, women are pioneering models that challenge the extractive and hierarchical nature of traditional capitalism.
Scholars and activists such as Jennifer Armbrust and Amaia Pérez Orozco frame this movement as a feminist critique of capitalism’s blind spots, particularly its devaluation of care, unpaid labor, and community well-being. Armbrust’s Proposals for the Feminine Economy envision businesses built on collaboration, redistribution, and mutual care rather than relentless profit-seeking. Similarly, feminist economics highlights the invisible yet indispensable role of childcare, domestic work, and caregiving in sustaining societies, roles overwhelmingly carried out by women.
In South America, where marginalized and Indigenous women have long been the backbone of community survival, these critiques resonate powerfully. Here, the feminine economy converges with ecofeminism, connecting the exploitation of women’s labor with the degradation of the environment.
Women Leading Economic Transformation
Nowhere is this clearer than in the Amazon, where Indigenous women are redefining development itself. They reject capitalist blueprints that treat land as mere capital and instead see it as life-sustaining heritage.
The Uchunya women of the Shipibo tribe in Ucayali, Peru, exemplify this vision. Rooted in ancestral traditions, they link gender equality with environmental stewardship, resisting palm oil companies and other extractive industries that threaten their lands. Their feminism is collective, prioritizing community well-being over individual advancement. By combining farming, childcare, and community organizing, they prove that productivity can coexist with cultural preservation and ecological care.
Across the Amazon, similar initiatives thrive. Women’s cooperatives and collectives emphasize local needs, sustainability, and reciprocity, often standing in direct contrast to global market demands. These projects embody a holistic economy that values care as much as commerce.
From the Amazon to the World Stage
The innovations of Amazonian women are not confined to local communities—they are reshaping global debates on economics and sustainability. Their practices echo the principles of the global care economy movement, which advocates for recognizing care as a public good. Latin American economists like Alma Espino and Valeria Esquivel have advanced these ideas in international forums, influencing policy at the UN and ECLAC.
Ecofeminist approaches from the Amazon also add depth to global climate and sustainability discourse. By resisting extractive industries and championing sustainable agriculture, Indigenous women offer practical lessons for addressing the climate crisis. Their knowledge challenges Western-centric models and underscores the value of diverse worldviews in designing equitable economies.
The Corporate Paradox
Global corporations such as Amazon (the company) highlight the contradictions facing women in South America. While e-commerce platforms may provide new market access for small producers, these same corporations often perpetuate exploitative labor practices and environmental harm. Feminist economists argue that genuine transformation requires regulation that aligns corporate behavior with principles of equity and sustainability.
In the Amazon, women’s resistance to extractive and corporate-driven development reflects deep skepticism of profit-first models. Their activism underscores the urgency of locally controlled, culturally rooted economic frameworks.
Redefining Capitalism
The rise of the feminine economy in South America signals a bold reimagining of capitalism itself. By prioritizing care, collaboration, and ecological stewardship, women are proposing and practicing alternatives to extractive, profit-driven systems. From Bogotá’s care blocks to the Uchunya women’s defense of ancestral lands, these efforts show that another economy is not only possible but already underway.
The challenges remain formidable: entrenched patriarchal norms, the dominance of global capitalism, and the risk of co-optation. Yet the persistence of these women offers inspiration and a roadmap for change. Their work is not just a local experiment but a global call to action, one that urges societies everywhere to rethink what we value in economic life.
By centering women’s voices and Indigenous knowledge, South America’s feminine economy redefines wealth, power, and sustainability. It is not simply about inclusion, it is about transformation. In this reimagined future, economies serve people and the planet, not the other way around.
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