Ecofeminism
Encyclopedia
Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which points to the existence of considerable common ground between environmentalism
and feminism
, with some currents linking deep ecology
and feminism
. Ecofeminists argue that important experiential, theoretical, and linguistic parallels exist between the oppression
and subordination of women
and nature
in Western cultural tradition through the transformation of differences into culturally constructed conceptual binaries and ideological hierarchies that allow a systematic justification of domination ("power-over power") by subjects classed into higher-ranking categories over objects classed into lower-ranking categories (e.g. man over woman, culture over nature
). Beyond these nature/culture, male/female dualisms, ecofeminists posit that the Western cosmology dichotomizes all aspects of perceived reality; in examples without a cultural "opposite," the category "x" is split into "x" and "not-x" or the absence of "x." Ecofeminists also explore the intersectionality
between sexism
, the domination of nature, racism
, speciesism
, and other characteristics of social inequality
. In some of their current work, ecofeminists argue that the capitalist and patriarchal systems that predominate throughout the world reveal a triple domination of the Global South (people who live in the Third World
), women, and nature. This domination and exploitation of women, of poorly resourced peoples and of nature sits at the core of the ecofeminist analysis.
. It is a philosophy
and movement born from the union of feminist and ecological thinking and the belief that the social mentality that leads to the domination and oppression of women is directly connected to the social mentality that leads to the abuse of the natural environment. It combines eco-anarchism or bioregional democracy with a strong ideal of feminism. Its advocates often emphasize a deep reverence for all life, and the importance of interrelationships between humans, non-human others (e.g. pigs, squirrels, toads), and the earth.
A central tenet in ecofeminism states that male ownership of land has led to a dominator culture (patriarchy
), manifesting itself in food export, over-grazing, the tragedy of the commons
, exploitation of people, and an abusive land ethic, in which animals and land are valued only as economic resources. Other ecofeminists claim that the degradation of nature contributes to the degradation of women. For example, Thomas-Slayter and Rocheleau detail how in Kenya, the capitalist driven export economy has caused most of the agriculturally productive land to be used for monoculture cash crops. This led to intensification of pesticide use, resource depletion and relocation of subsistence farmers, especially women, to the hillsides and less productive land, where their deforestation
and cultivation led to soil erosion, furthering the environmental degradation that hurts their own productivity (Thomas-Slayter, B. and D. Rocheleau. (1995) Gender, Environment and Development in Kenya: A Grassroots Perspective).
Vandana Shiva
makes it clear that one of the missions of ecofeminism is to redefine how societies look at productivity and activity of both women and nature who have mistakenly been deemed passive, allowing for them both to be ill-used. For example, she draws a picture of a stream in a forest. According to her, in our society it is perceived as unproductive if it is simply there, fulfilling the needs for water of women’s families and communities, until engineers come along and tinker with it, perhaps damming it and using it for generating hydropower
. The same is true of a forest unless it is planted with a monoculture plantation of a commercial species. A forest may very well be productive, protecting groundwater, creating oxygen, allowing villagers to harvest fruit, fuel, and craft materials, and creating a habitat for animals that are also a valuable resource. However, for many, if it is not for export or contribution to GDP, without a dollar value attached, it cannot be seen as a productive resource (4 Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development 1988).
Some ecofeminists point to the linguistic links between oppression of women and land, such as the term "rape the land." Terms also express nature as feminine (using the pronoun "she" and the term "Mother Nature
") and women as "wild" and "untamed" (like nature). Ecofeminists also criticize Western lifestyle choices, such as consuming food that has travelled thousands of miles and playing sports (such as golf
and downhill skiing) which inherently require ecological destruction.
Feminist and social ecologist
Janet Biehl
has criticized ecofeminism as idealist
, focusing too much on the idea of a mystical connection with nature and not enough on the actual conditions of women. However, this line of criticism may not apply to many ecofeminists who reject both mysticism
and essentialist
ideas about the connection between women and nature. This antiessentialist ecofeminism has become more prominent since the early 1990s http://www.lancs.ac.uk/staff/twine/ecofem/bookreview.html : it has an epistemological analysis of the Enlightenment
, places the spirituality in immanent world and then practices modern activism. The materialist ecofeminism discuss economical and political issues and can use metaphorically the link of Great mother earth or Gaia
(while the idealistic tendency uses it literally).
proposed a cooperative system in small unities (villages) with autonomization, without alienating technology. With ecofeminist ideals and pagan practices, these projects are sometimes seen as a form of primitivism
. However, while some ecofeminists see technology as inherently alienating, many see a substantial role for modern technologies in the creation and operation of such villages. A number of ecofeminists advocate the use of technologies such as solar power
as a way to stay off 'the grid', which they regard as more important than relying upon poisonous industrial processes or materials. The ecological movement is itself split on issues like this. However, it is likely that an intermediate technology, appropriate technology
, would be preferred in general if an ecofeminist movement sought to spread into developing nations quickly.
and Greta Gaard
has consistently argued that veganism
is an important part of ecofeminist ethics. Other positions represented by Val Plumwood
and Karen J. Warren
argue for a contextual vegetarianism which ties animal ethics more to material and social context. Yet other ecofeminists place ethical emphasis on ecosystem health at the expense of valuing individual animals or stipulating vegetarianism
or veganism
.
position, attributing it to biological factors, or from a position that explains it as a social construct. Vandana Shiva claims that women have a special connection to the environment through their daily interactions with it that has been ignored. "Women in subsistence economies, producing and reproducing wealth in partnership with nature, have been experts in their own right of holistic and ecological knowledge of nature’s processes. But these alternative modes of knowing, which are oriented to the social benefits and sustenance needs are not recognised by the capitalist
reductionist paradigm, because it fails to perceive the interconnectedness of nature, or the connection of women’s lives, work and knowledge with the creation of wealth.”
Feminist environmentalists study gender interests in natural resources and processes based on their different roles in daily work and responsibilities. Social feminists focus on the role of gender in political economy by analyzing the impact of production and reproduction of men and women’s relation to economic systems. Feminist poststructuralists explain gender’s relation to the environment as a reflection of beliefs of identity and difference such as race, class, gender, age, and ethnicity. In this way they try to explain the relation of gender and development. Liberal feminist environmentalists treat women as having an active role in environmental protection and conservation programs. This role can become problematic. There is a common symbolism in the idea of ‘man’ pitted against nature while nature is feminized and “woman” is assumed to have profound connections with her environment.
These views of gender and environment constitute feminist political ecology
, which links feminist cultural ecology, political ecology, geographical ecology and feminist political ecology into one concept. It argues that gender is a relevant factor in determining access and control of natural resources as it relates to class, race, culture and ethnicity to transform the environment and to achieve the community’s opportunities of sustainable development.
The ecofeminist approach that best fits the Nariva Swamp issue in Trinidad and Tobago comes from “Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism (1990) in which the editors, Irene Diamond and Gloria Orenstein lay out three strands in ecofeminism (quoted in Mack-Canty, 2004). One strand emphasizes that social justice has to be achieved in concert with the well-being of the Earth since human life is dependent on the Earth. Another strand in ecofeminism is spiritual, emphasizing that the Earth is sacred unto itself. A third strand emphasizes the necessity of sustainability—a need to learn the many ways people can walk the fine line between using the Earth as a resource while respecting the Earth’s needs. MacGregor (2004) writes that a focus on women acting on “survival” or “subsistence” imperatives erases moral choice and practices of making principled decisions to act, or not to act, in particular ways by focussing solely on “the view from below”: the moral insight that comes out of so-called unmediated experiences of survival. MacGregor (2004) states the problems that arise from the lack of acknowledgement that many of the women who ecofeminists romanticize as exhibiting a “subsistence perspective” or “barefoot epistemology” do so in conditions that they did not choose and that “lifestyle” does not necessarily determine human morality.
The push towards quantifying Nature as ‘ecosystem services’, or the economic benefits provided by natural ecosystems is part of a market-oriented mechanism for conservation says McCauley (2006) in a much-discussed article in the journal Nature. The underlying assumption is that if scientists can identify ecosystem services, like the Manzanilla Windbelt, Bush Bush and Bois Neuf islands for birds, other wildlife, and the mud volcanoes and the tourist potential they represent, then they can quantify their economic value, and align conservation with market ideologies. This will then move decision makers away from environmental destruction (McCauley, 2006).
This McCauley claims is akin to saying that civil-rights advocates would have been more effective if they provided economic justifications for racial integration. Nature conservation should be framed as a moral issue and argued as such to policy-makers, says McCauley, since policy makers are just as accustomed to making decisions based on morality as on finances.
Non-fiction
Fiction
Also see ecotopian literature and feminist science fiction
"Clementa" by Jim Martin Always Coming Home
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight
by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Fifth Sacred Thing
by Starhawk
The Gate to Women's Country
by Sheri S. Tepper
The Holdfast Chronicles by Suzy McKee Charnas
Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Surfacing
by Margaret Atwood
The Wanderground by Sally Miller Gearhart
Woman on the Edge of Time
by Marge Piercy
The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You
by Dorothy Bryant
Bear by Marian Engel
The Temple of My Familiar
by Alice Walker
A Bengali play "NEELKANTHA DESH" (2010) by Supratim Roy. (A theatre group named GOTROHEEN is performing this play in Kolkata.)
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, with some currents linking deep ecology
Deep ecology
Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
and feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. Ecofeminists argue that important experiential, theoretical, and linguistic parallels exist between the oppression
Oppression
Oppression is the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. It can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing, the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, and...
and subordination of women
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
and nature
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
in Western cultural tradition through the transformation of differences into culturally constructed conceptual binaries and ideological hierarchies that allow a systematic justification of domination ("power-over power") by subjects classed into higher-ranking categories over objects classed into lower-ranking categories (e.g. man over woman, culture over nature
Nature vs. Culture
Nature versus culture, or the nature/culture divide, refers to a theoretical foundation of contemporary anthropology. Early anthropologists sought theoretical insight from the perceived tensions between culture, as a social entity, and nature, as a bio-physical entity...
). Beyond these nature/culture, male/female dualisms, ecofeminists posit that the Western cosmology dichotomizes all aspects of perceived reality; in examples without a cultural "opposite," the category "x" is split into "x" and "not-x" or the absence of "x." Ecofeminists also explore the intersectionality
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is a feminist sociological theory first highlighted by Kimberlé Crenshaw . Intersectionality is a methodology of studying "the relationships among multiple dimensions and modalities of social relationships and subject formations"...
between sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
, the domination of nature, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, speciesism
Speciesism
Speciesism is the assigning of different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership. The term was created by British psychologist Richard D...
, and other characteristics of social inequality
Social inequality
Social inequality refers to a situation in which individual groups in a society do not have equal social status. Areas of potential social inequality include voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, the extent of property rights and access to education, health care, quality housing and other...
. In some of their current work, ecofeminists argue that the capitalist and patriarchal systems that predominate throughout the world reveal a triple domination of the Global South (people who live in the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
), women, and nature. This domination and exploitation of women, of poorly resourced peoples and of nature sits at the core of the ecofeminist analysis.
Ecofeminist analysis
Ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, is a term coined in 1974 by Françoise d'EaubonneFrançoise d'Eaubonne
Françoise d'Eaubonne was a French feminist, who introduced the term ecofeminism in 1974....
. It is a philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and movement born from the union of feminist and ecological thinking and the belief that the social mentality that leads to the domination and oppression of women is directly connected to the social mentality that leads to the abuse of the natural environment. It combines eco-anarchism or bioregional democracy with a strong ideal of feminism. Its advocates often emphasize a deep reverence for all life, and the importance of interrelationships between humans, non-human others (e.g. pigs, squirrels, toads), and the earth.
A central tenet in ecofeminism states that male ownership of land has led to a dominator culture (patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
), manifesting itself in food export, over-grazing, the tragedy of the commons
Tragedy of the commons
The tragedy of the commons is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this...
, exploitation of people, and an abusive land ethic, in which animals and land are valued only as economic resources. Other ecofeminists claim that the degradation of nature contributes to the degradation of women. For example, Thomas-Slayter and Rocheleau detail how in Kenya, the capitalist driven export economy has caused most of the agriculturally productive land to be used for monoculture cash crops. This led to intensification of pesticide use, resource depletion and relocation of subsistence farmers, especially women, to the hillsides and less productive land, where their deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
and cultivation led to soil erosion, furthering the environmental degradation that hurts their own productivity (Thomas-Slayter, B. and D. Rocheleau. (1995) Gender, Environment and Development in Kenya: A Grassroots Perspective).
Vandana Shiva
Vandana Shiva
Vandana Shiva , is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D...
makes it clear that one of the missions of ecofeminism is to redefine how societies look at productivity and activity of both women and nature who have mistakenly been deemed passive, allowing for them both to be ill-used. For example, she draws a picture of a stream in a forest. According to her, in our society it is perceived as unproductive if it is simply there, fulfilling the needs for water of women’s families and communities, until engineers come along and tinker with it, perhaps damming it and using it for generating hydropower
Hydropower
Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...
. The same is true of a forest unless it is planted with a monoculture plantation of a commercial species. A forest may very well be productive, protecting groundwater, creating oxygen, allowing villagers to harvest fruit, fuel, and craft materials, and creating a habitat for animals that are also a valuable resource. However, for many, if it is not for export or contribution to GDP, without a dollar value attached, it cannot be seen as a productive resource (4 Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development 1988).
Some ecofeminists point to the linguistic links between oppression of women and land, such as the term "rape the land." Terms also express nature as feminine (using the pronoun "she" and the term "Mother Nature
Mother Nature
Mother Nature is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother. Images of women representing mother earth, and mother nature, are timeless...
") and women as "wild" and "untamed" (like nature). Ecofeminists also criticize Western lifestyle choices, such as consuming food that has travelled thousands of miles and playing sports (such as golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and downhill skiing) which inherently require ecological destruction.
Feminist and social ecologist
Social ecology
Social ecology is a philosophy developed by Murray Bookchin in the 1960s.It holds that present ecological problems are rooted in deep-seated social problems, particularly in dominatory hierarchical political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncritical acceptance of an overly...
Janet Biehl
Janet Biehl
Janet Biehl is a writer associated with social ecology, the body of ideas developed and publicized by Murray Bookchin. In 1986 she attended the Institute for Social Ecology and there began a collaborative relationship with Bookchin, working intensively with him over the next two decades in the...
has criticized ecofeminism as idealist
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
, focusing too much on the idea of a mystical connection with nature and not enough on the actual conditions of women. However, this line of criticism may not apply to many ecofeminists who reject both mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
and essentialist
Essentialism
In philosophy, essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess. Therefore all things can be precisely defined or described...
ideas about the connection between women and nature. This antiessentialist ecofeminism has become more prominent since the early 1990s http://www.lancs.ac.uk/staff/twine/ecofem/bookreview.html : it has an epistemological analysis of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, places the spirituality in immanent world and then practices modern activism. The materialist ecofeminism discuss economical and political issues and can use metaphorically the link of Great mother earth or Gaia
Gaia (mythology)
Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...
(while the idealistic tendency uses it literally).
Views on technology
Françoise d'EaubonneFrançoise d'Eaubonne
Françoise d'Eaubonne was a French feminist, who introduced the term ecofeminism in 1974....
proposed a cooperative system in small unities (villages) with autonomization, without alienating technology. With ecofeminist ideals and pagan practices, these projects are sometimes seen as a form of primitivism
Primitivism
Primitivism is a Western art movement that borrows visual forms from non-Western or prehistoric peoples, such as Paul Gauguin's inclusion of Tahitian motifs in paintings and ceramics...
. However, while some ecofeminists see technology as inherently alienating, many see a substantial role for modern technologies in the creation and operation of such villages. A number of ecofeminists advocate the use of technologies such as solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
as a way to stay off 'the grid', which they regard as more important than relying upon poisonous industrial processes or materials. The ecological movement is itself split on issues like this. However, it is likely that an intermediate technology, appropriate technology
Appropriate technology
Appropriate technology is an ideological movement originally articulated as "intermediate technology" by the economist Dr...
, would be preferred in general if an ecofeminist movement sought to spread into developing nations quickly.
Views on human/animal relations
One strand of ecofeminism, associated with Carol J. Adams, Marti KheelMarti Kheel
Marti Kheel was a vegan ecofeminist activist scholar credited with founding in California in 1982. She authored several books in deep ecology and ecofeminism, including , and several widely-cited articles in college courses and related scholarship, such as , , and...
and Greta Gaard
Greta Gaard
Greta Claire Gaard is an ecofeminist writer, scholar, activist, and documentary filmmaker. Gaard's academic work in the realms of ecocriticism and ecocomposition is widely cited by scholars in the disciplines of composition and literary criticism...
has consistently argued that veganism
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
is an important part of ecofeminist ethics. Other positions represented by Val Plumwood
Val Plumwood
Val Plumwood , formerly Val Routley, was an Australian ecofeminist intellectual and activist, who was prominent in the development of radical ecosophy from the early 1970s through the remainder of the 20th century....
and Karen J. Warren
Karen J. Warren
Karen J. Warren is an author, scholar, and former Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Macalester College.-Biography:Karen Warren received her B.A. in philosophy from the University of Minnesota and her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1978.Before her long tenure at Macalester...
argue for a contextual vegetarianism which ties animal ethics more to material and social context. Yet other ecofeminists place ethical emphasis on ecosystem health at the expense of valuing individual animals or stipulating vegetarianism
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
or veganism
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
.
Schools of ecofeminist thought
There are different relevant schools of feminist thought and activism that relate to the analysis of the environment. Ecofeminism argues that there is a connection between women and nature that comes from their shared history of oppression by a patriarchal society; this connection also comes from the positive identification of women with nature. This relationship can be argued from an essentialistEssentialism
In philosophy, essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess. Therefore all things can be precisely defined or described...
position, attributing it to biological factors, or from a position that explains it as a social construct. Vandana Shiva claims that women have a special connection to the environment through their daily interactions with it that has been ignored. "Women in subsistence economies, producing and reproducing wealth in partnership with nature, have been experts in their own right of holistic and ecological knowledge of nature’s processes. But these alternative modes of knowing, which are oriented to the social benefits and sustenance needs are not recognised by the capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
reductionist paradigm, because it fails to perceive the interconnectedness of nature, or the connection of women’s lives, work and knowledge with the creation of wealth.”
Feminist environmentalists study gender interests in natural resources and processes based on their different roles in daily work and responsibilities. Social feminists focus on the role of gender in political economy by analyzing the impact of production and reproduction of men and women’s relation to economic systems. Feminist poststructuralists explain gender’s relation to the environment as a reflection of beliefs of identity and difference such as race, class, gender, age, and ethnicity. In this way they try to explain the relation of gender and development. Liberal feminist environmentalists treat women as having an active role in environmental protection and conservation programs. This role can become problematic. There is a common symbolism in the idea of ‘man’ pitted against nature while nature is feminized and “woman” is assumed to have profound connections with her environment.
These views of gender and environment constitute feminist political ecology
Feminist political ecology
Feminist political ecology is a feminist perspective on political ecology, drawing on theories from post-structuralism, feminist geography, and cultural ecology. Unlike ecofeminism, feminist political ecology does not essentialize women by equating the oppression of women with the domination of...
, which links feminist cultural ecology, political ecology, geographical ecology and feminist political ecology into one concept. It argues that gender is a relevant factor in determining access and control of natural resources as it relates to class, race, culture and ethnicity to transform the environment and to achieve the community’s opportunities of sustainable development.
The ecofeminist approach that best fits the Nariva Swamp issue in Trinidad and Tobago comes from “Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism (1990) in which the editors, Irene Diamond and Gloria Orenstein lay out three strands in ecofeminism (quoted in Mack-Canty, 2004). One strand emphasizes that social justice has to be achieved in concert with the well-being of the Earth since human life is dependent on the Earth. Another strand in ecofeminism is spiritual, emphasizing that the Earth is sacred unto itself. A third strand emphasizes the necessity of sustainability—a need to learn the many ways people can walk the fine line between using the Earth as a resource while respecting the Earth’s needs. MacGregor (2004) writes that a focus on women acting on “survival” or “subsistence” imperatives erases moral choice and practices of making principled decisions to act, or not to act, in particular ways by focussing solely on “the view from below”: the moral insight that comes out of so-called unmediated experiences of survival. MacGregor (2004) states the problems that arise from the lack of acknowledgement that many of the women who ecofeminists romanticize as exhibiting a “subsistence perspective” or “barefoot epistemology” do so in conditions that they did not choose and that “lifestyle” does not necessarily determine human morality.
The push towards quantifying Nature as ‘ecosystem services’, or the economic benefits provided by natural ecosystems is part of a market-oriented mechanism for conservation says McCauley (2006) in a much-discussed article in the journal Nature. The underlying assumption is that if scientists can identify ecosystem services, like the Manzanilla Windbelt, Bush Bush and Bois Neuf islands for birds, other wildlife, and the mud volcanoes and the tourist potential they represent, then they can quantify their economic value, and align conservation with market ideologies. This will then move decision makers away from environmental destruction (McCauley, 2006).
This McCauley claims is akin to saying that civil-rights advocates would have been more effective if they provided economic justifications for racial integration. Nature conservation should be framed as a moral issue and argued as such to policy-makers, says McCauley, since policy makers are just as accustomed to making decisions based on morality as on finances.
See also
- Anarcha-feminismAnarcha-feminismAnarcha-feminism combines anarchism with feminism. It generally views patriarchy as a manifestation of involuntary hierarchy. Anarcha-feminists believe that the struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class struggle, and the anarchist struggle against the state...
- Anarcho-primitivismAnarcho-primitivismAnarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. According to anarcho-primitivism, the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural subsistence gave rise to social stratification, coercion, and alienation...
- Deep ecologyDeep ecologyDeep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
- Deep Green ResistanceDeep Green ResistanceDeep Green Resistance is a perspective emerging from the current environmental movement that views mainstream environmental activism as being largely ineffective.- Beliefs :...
- IntersectionalityIntersectionalityIntersectionality is a feminist sociological theory first highlighted by Kimberlé Crenshaw . Intersectionality is a methodology of studying "the relationships among multiple dimensions and modalities of social relationships and subject formations"...
- Green syndicalismGreen syndicalismGreen syndicalism or eco-syndicalism has been used as a name for the philosophy of the green guild or sustainable trades movement.- Background :...
- List of ecofeminist authors
- Social ecologySocial ecologySocial ecology is a philosophy developed by Murray Bookchin in the 1960s.It holds that present ecological problems are rooted in deep-seated social problems, particularly in dominatory hierarchical political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncritical acceptance of an overly...
- UbuntuUbuntu (ideology)Ubuntu or "uMunthu" is an African ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. Some believe that ubuntu is a classical African philosophy or worldview whereas others point out that the idea that ubuntu is a philosophy or worldview has developed in...
- VeganismVeganismVeganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
- Women and the environment through historyWomen and the environment through historyEnvironmental history books have mostly focused on men’s roles, and generally women’s involvement with nature has been ignored. Even historical texts have been deficient in writing about women participation in environmentalist actions. So, the result is that women’s role in environmental struggles...
Further reading
- Anthologies
- Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations, edited by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan
- Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature, edited by Greta GaardGreta GaardGreta Claire Gaard is an ecofeminist writer, scholar, activist, and documentary filmmaker. Gaard's academic work in the realms of ecocriticism and ecocomposition is widely cited by scholars in the disciplines of composition and literary criticism...
- EcoFeminism & Globalization: exploring culture, context and religion, edited by Heather Eaton & Lois Ann Lorentzen
- Ecofeminism and the Sacred, edited by Carol J. Adams
- The Politics of Women's Spirituality: Essays on the Rise of Spiritual Power within the Feminist Movement, edited by Charlene SpretnakCharlene SpretnakCharlene Spretnak is an American author, activist, academic, and feminist. Born in 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Spretnak was raised in Columbus, Ohio. She earned her B.A. from St. Louis University and her M.A. in English and American literature from the University of California, Berkeley, in...
- Readings in Ecology and Feminist Theology, edited by Mary Heather MacKinnon and Moni McIntyre
- Reclaim the Earth, edited by Leonie Caldecott & Stephanie Leland
- Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, edited by Irene Diamond and Gloria Feman Orenstein
- Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, and Religion, edited by Rosemary Radford Ruether
- Mack-Canty, Colleen. 2004. Third-Wave Feminism and the Need to Reweave the Nature/Culture Duality NWSA Journal 16 (3): 154-179.
- MacGregor, Sherilyn. 2004. From care to citizenship: Calling ecofeminism back to politics. Ethics & the Environment 9 (1):56-84.
- Huggan, Graham. 2004. "Greening" Postcolonialism: Ecocritical Perspectives. MFS Modern Fiction Studies 50(3): 701-733.
Non-fiction
- Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, by Helena Norberg-HodgeHelena Norberg-HodgeHelena Norberg-Hodge is an analyst of the impact of the global economy on cultures and agriculture worldwide, a pioneer of the localisation movement, and the articulator of the core ideas of Counter-development...
- The Body of God by Sallie McFagueSallie McFagueSallie McFague is an American feminist Christian theologian, best known for her analysis of how metaphor lies at the heart of how we may speak about God. She has applied this approach in particular to ecological issues, writing extensively on care for the earth as if it were God’s ‘body’.McFague...
- The Chalice & The Blade: Our History, Our Future, by Riane EislerRiane EislerRiane Tennenhaus Eisler is an Austrian-born American scholar, writer, and social activist. Born in Vienna ca. 1937, her familyfled from the Nazis to Cuba when she was a child; she later emigrated to the United States. She has degrees in...
- The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution by Carolyn MerchantCarolyn MerchantCarolyn Merchant is an American ecofeminist philosopher and historian of science most famous for her theory on 'The Death of Nature', whereby she identifies the Enlightenment as the period when science began to atomize, objectify and dissect nature, foretelling its eventual conception as inert...
- Ecofeminism by Maria MiesMaria MiesMaria Mies is a professor of sociology and author of several influential feminist books, including Indian Women and Patriarchy , Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale , and Women: The Last Colony .She is Professor of Sociology at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, which is a...
and Vandana ShivaVandana ShivaVandana Shiva , is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D... - Ecofeminist Philosophy by Karen J. WarrenKaren J. WarrenKaren J. Warren is an author, scholar, and former Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Macalester College.-Biography:Karen Warren received her B.A. in philosophy from the University of Minnesota and her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1978.Before her long tenure at Macalester...
- Environmental Culture by Val PlumwoodVal PlumwoodVal Plumwood , formerly Val Routley, was an Australian ecofeminist intellectual and activist, who was prominent in the development of radical ecosophy from the early 1970s through the remainder of the 20th century....
- Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, by Val PlumwoodVal PlumwoodVal Plumwood , formerly Val Routley, was an Australian ecofeminist intellectual and activist, who was prominent in the development of radical ecosophy from the early 1970s through the remainder of the 20th century....
- Gaia & God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing, by Rosemary Radford RuetherRosemary Radford RuetherRosemary Radford Ruether is an American feminist scholar and theologian.-Biography:Ruether was born in 1936 in Georgetown, Texas, to a Roman Catholic mother and Episcopal father. She has reportedly described her upbringing as free-thinking and humanistic as opposed to oppressive...
- Integrating Ecofeminism, Globalization, and World Religions, by Rosemary Radford RuetherRosemary Radford RuetherRosemary Radford Ruether is an American feminist scholar and theologian.-Biography:Ruether was born in 1936 in Georgetown, Texas, to a Roman Catholic mother and Episcopal father. She has reportedly described her upbringing as free-thinking and humanistic as opposed to oppressive...
- Neither Man Nor Beast by Carol J. Adams
- Refuge: A Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest WilliamsTerry Tempest WilliamsTerry Tempest Williams , is an American author, conservationist and activist.Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah in which she was raised...
- The Resurgence of the Real: Body, Nature, and Place in a Hypermodern World by Charlene SpretnakCharlene SpretnakCharlene Spretnak is an American author, activist, academic, and feminist. Born in 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Spretnak was raised in Columbus, Ohio. She earned her B.A. from St. Louis University and her M.A. in English and American literature from the University of California, Berkeley, in...
- Sacred Longings: Ecofeminist theology and Globalization by Mary Grey
- The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams
- Silent SpringSilent SpringSilent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement....
by Rachel CarsonRachel CarsonRachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.... - The Spiral DanceThe Spiral DanceThe Spiral Dance: a Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess is a best-selling book about Neopagan belief and practice written by Starhawk. It was first published in 1979, with a second edition in 1989 and a third edition in 1999...
by StarhawkStarhawkStarhawk is an American writer and activist. She is well known as a theorist of Paganism, and is one of the foremost popular voices of ecofeminism. She is a columnist for Beliefnet.com and On Faith, the Newsweek/Washington Post online forum on religion... - Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development by Vandana ShivaVandana ShivaVandana Shiva , is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D...
- Thinking Green! Essays on Environmentalism, Feminism, and Nonviolence, by Petra KellyPetra KellyPetra Karin Kelly was a German politician and activist. She was instrumental in founding the German Green Party, the first Green party to rise to prominence worldwide.- Early life :...
- Tomorrow's Biodiversity by Vandana ShivaVandana ShivaVandana Shiva , is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D...
- Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her, by Susan GriffinSusan GriffinSusan Griffin is an eco-feminist author. She describes her work as "draw[ing] connections between the destruction of nature, the diminishment of women and racism, and trac[ing] the causes of war to denial in both private and public life." She received a MacArthur grant for Peace and International...
Fiction
Also see ecotopian literature and feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
"Clementa" by Jim Martin
Always Coming Home
Always Coming Home is a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin published in 1985. This novel is about a cultural group of humans—the Kesh—who "might be going to have lived a long, long time from now in Northern California." Always Coming Home is a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin published in 1985. This novel is...
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight is a science fiction novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin, originally published in the November 1987 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and collected in Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences....
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
The Fifth Sacred Thing
The Fifth Sacred Thing is a 1993 post-apocalyptic novel written by Starhawk.-Plot:The novel describes a world set in the year 2048 after a catastrophe which has fractured the United States into several nations...
by Starhawk
Starhawk
Starhawk is an American writer and activist. She is well known as a theorist of Paganism, and is one of the foremost popular voices of ecofeminism. She is a columnist for Beliefnet.com and On Faith, the Newsweek/Washington Post online forum on religion...
The Gate to Women's Country
The Gate to Women's Country is a post-apocalyptic novel by Sheri S. Tepper written in 1988. It describes a world set three hundred years into the future after a catastrophic war which has fractured the United States into several nations. The setting of the story is Women's Country, apparently in...
by Sheri S. Tepper
Sheri S. Tepper
Sheri Stewart Tepper is an American author of science fiction, horror and mystery novels; she is particularly known as a feminist science fiction writer, often with an ecofeminist slant....
Suzy McKee Charnas
Suzy McKee Charnas is an American novelist and short story writer, writing primarily in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. She has won several awards for her fiction, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. A selection of her short fiction was collected...
Suzette Haden Elgin
Suzette Haden Elgin is an American science fiction author. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed languages...
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
Surfacing (novel)
Surfacing is the second published novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1972. It has been called a companion novel to Atwood's collection of poems, Power Politics, which was written the previous year and deals with complementary issues.The...
by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
Sally Miller Gearhart
Sally Miller Gearhart is an American teacher, feminist, science fiction writer, and political activist. In 1973 she became the first open lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the first women and...
Woman on the Edge of Time
Woman on the Edge of Time is a novel by Marge Piercy. It is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic.-Plot summary:...
by Marge Piercy
Marge Piercy
Marge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Gone to Soldiers, a sweeping historical novel set during World War II.-Biography:...
The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You
The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You is the second novel by Dorothy Bryant. It deals with the idea of how the negation of dreams as a guide to life affects the real world...
by Dorothy Bryant
Dorothy Bryant
Dorothy Bryant is an American novelist, playwright, essayist and feminist writer.Bryant is known for her mystical, feminist and fantastic novels and plays that traverse the space between the real world and her character's inner psyche or soul...
Marian Engel
Marian Engel, OC, née Marian Ruth Passmore was an award-winning Canadian novelist.-Summary:Born May 24, 1933 in Toronto, Ontario, to teacher parents Frederick Searle and Mary Elizabeth Passmore...
The Temple of My Familiar
The Temple of My Familiar is a 1989 novel by Alice Walker. It is an ambitious and multi-narrative novel containing the interleaved stories of Arvedyda, a musician in search of his past; Carlotta, his Latin American wife who lives in exile from hers; Suwelo, a black professor of American History who...
by Alice Walker
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
External links
- www.ecofem.org Includes the regularly updated Ecofeminism Bibliography
- ecofeminism.net
- Catherine Keller's 2005 pdf article: Ecofeminism and the Democracy of Creation
- An Ecology of Knowledge: Feminism, Ecology and the Science and Religion Discourse" by Lisa Stenmark
- Toward a Queer Ecofeminism" by Greta Gaard