Ecofeminism

Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which unites environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism. Ecofeminists argue that a relationship exists between the oppression of women and the degradation of nature, and explore the intersectionality between sexism, the domination of nature, racism, speciesism, and other characteristics of social inequality. Some current work emphasizes that the capitalist and patriarchal system is based on triple domination of the "Southern people" (those people who live in the Third World, the majority of which are south of the First World), women, and nature.

Ecofeminist analysis

Ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, is a term coined in 1974 by Françoise d'Eaubonne. 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 environment. It combines eco-anarchism or bioregional democracy with a strong ideal of feminism. Its advocates often emphasize the importance of interrelationships between humans, non-human others (e.g., animals and insects), 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 explain how 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 marginalization of the 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 (Thoma-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 isn't 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 terms, "rape the land", "tame nature," and "reap nature's bounty." 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 bobsledding) 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 [1] : 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).

Views on technology

Françoise d'Eaubonne 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.

Schools of Feminist 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 western society; this connection also comes from the positive identification of women with nature. This relationship can be argued from an essentialist position, attributing it to biological factors, or from a position that explains it as a social construct. Vandana Shiva explains how women's special connection to the environment through her daily interactions with it 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 it tries 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. This becomes problematic because it places all the responsibility for conserving on her rather than him and doesn’t allow her to be seen as profiting from using the environment as well.

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.

Notable ecofeminist anthologies

• Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations, edited by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan
• Ecofeminism: Animals, Women, Nature, edited by Greta Gaard
• EcoFeminism & Globalization: exploring culture, context and religion, edited by Heather Eaton & Lois Ann Lorentzen
• Ecofeminism and the Sacred, edited by Carol J. Adams
• 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

Notable ecofeminist books

Non-fiction

• Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, by Helena Norberg-Hodge
• The Chalice & The Blade: Our History, Our Future, by Riane Eisler
• Ecofeminism by Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva
• Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, by Val Plumwood
• Gaia & God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing, by Rosemary Radford Ruether
• Integrating Ecofeminism, Globalization, and World Religions, by Rosemary Radford Ruether
• Neither Man Nor Beast by Carol J. Adams
• Sacred Longings: Ecofeminist theology and Globalization by Mary Grey
• The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams
• The Spiral Dance by Starhawk
• Tomorrow's Biodiversity by Vandana Shiva
• Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her, by Susan Griffin
• Ecofeminist Philosophy by Karen J. Warren
• Environmental Culture by Val Plumwood
• The Body of God by Sallie McFague
• Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development by Vandana Shiva
• "Silent Spring"Silent Spring by Rachael Carson Rachael Carson

Fiction

Also see ecotopian literature and feminist science fiction

• A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski
• 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

Organizations

Women's Voices for the Earth, Montana, U.S.A.

Notable ecofeminists

• Vandana Shiva
• Wangari Maathai
• Marie Haisová
• Karen J. Warren
• Ariel Salleh
• Alice Walker

See also

• List of ecofeminist authors
• Deep ecology
• Anarcha-feminism
• Anarcho-primitivism
• Social ecology
• Green syndicalism
• Ubuntu

External links

• www.ecofem.org
• An Ecofeminist Look at the Patriarchal Social Order
• Ecofeminism Web Ring
• ecofeminism.net
• Eve Online
• 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