Glaciers, Gender, and Science: A Feminist Glaciology Framework for Global Environmental Change Research

Citation:

Carey, Mark, M. Jackson, Alessandro Antonello, and Jaclyn Rushing. 2016. “Glaciers, Gender, and Science: A Feminist Glaciology Framework for Global Environmental Change Research.” Progress in Human Geography 40 (6): 770-93

Authors: Mark Carey, M. Jackson, Alessandro Antonello, Jaclyn Rushing

Abstract:

Glaciers are key icons of climate change and global environmental change. However, the relationships among gender, science, and glaciers – particularly related to epistemological questions about the production of glaciological knowledge – remain understudied. This paper thus proposes a feminist glaciology framework with four key components: 1) knowledge producers; (2) gendered science and knowledge; (3) systems of scientific domination; and (4) alternative representations of glaciers. Merging feminist postcolonial science studies and feminist political ecology, the feminist glaciology framework generates robust analysis of gender, power, and epistemologies in dynamic social-ecological systems, thereby leading to more just and equitable science and human-ice interactions.

Keywords: feminist glaciology, feminist political ecology, feminist postcolonial science studies, folk glaciology, glacier impacts, glaciers and society

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Environment, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender

Year: 2016