Ecofeminism

Citation:

Perkins, Patricia E. 2010. Equitable, Ecological Degrowth: Feminist Contributions. Paper presented at the 2nd Conference on Economic Degrowth: For Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity. March 26-29.

Author: Patricia E. Perkins

Abstract:

This paper uses feminist ecological economics and ecofeminist methodologies and theory to contribute to Degrowth in theory and practice. These feminist contributions involve highlighting unpaid work and ecological services, redistribution, and participatory processes as crucially important in developing the new paradigm and movement for equitable material Degrowth. 

Keywords: feminist ecological economics, ecofeminism, unpaid work, economic redistribution, political participation, diversity

Topics: Economies, Ecological Economics, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Livelihoods

Year: 2010

Citation:

Sturgeon, Noël. 1997. Ecofeminist Natures: Race, Gender, Feminist Theory and Political Action. New York: Routledge.

Author: Noël Sturgeon

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Topics: Environment, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Indigenous, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Race

Year: 1997

Citation:

Ress, Mary Judith. 2008. “Remembering Who We Are: Reflections on Latin American Ecofeminist Theology.” Feminist Theology 16 (3): 383-96.

Author: Mary Judith Ress

Abstract:

Since 1990 I have been deeply involved in the development of Latin American ecofeminist thought and its theological, ethical and spiritual perspectives as a founding member of the Con-spirando Collective, a team of women working in the areas of ecofeminist theology, ethics and spirituality in Santiago, Chile. This article describes the results of a research project I conducted based on interviews with twelve faith-based activist women who had historically aligned themselves with liberation theology and its practice and who now describe themselves as ecofeminists. The aim was to document the shift that took place in their identities and their growing ecofeminist awareness. This is made visible through the ways that these women perceive themselves in relation to the rest of the Earth community and to the Universe as a whole; in the way they re-image/re-name Ultimate Mystery; in their beliefs about death and rebirth; and in their spiritual and ethical practice.

Keywords: ecofeminism, universe, liberation theology, intuition, feminist

Topics: Feminisms, Ecofeminism Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Chile

Year: 2008

Citation:

Salazar, Marilú Rojas. 2010. “Experiences and Reflections on a Latin American Feminist Theology of Liberation Using an Ecofeminist Key Towards an Indigenous Women’s Perspective: Experience and Reflections on a Latin American Feminist Theology of Liberation.” The Ecumenical Review 62 (4): 411-22.

Author: Marilú Rojas Salazar

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Summary:
“Women have been present, supporting and building together praxis and a transforming commitment in places and scenarios in which many religious, political and social male ‘‘leaders’’ have been absent. Women’s religious leadership in the churches has not been recognized, nor has their political and social leadership in Latin American societies. The same has happened in the sphere of theological reflection, where it seems that others have reflected or ‘‘theorized’’ about what women have practised. Women, who because of their commitment with the preferential option for the poor did not have access to academic-theological formation, are now starting to reflect from their praxis and are taking up their theological formation from a different perspective: their life experience.

The lack of academic-theological formation among women (which is not the case among men liberation theologians) is an element that shows what Latin American theologians have called ‘‘the feminization of poverty." This feminization of poverty uncovers the face of the injustice, exclusion and marginalization of Latin American women, who have suffered a triple exclusion: for being women, for being poor, and for being indigenous.

Women in Latin America, besides having to overcome the patriarchal and machismo systems operating in society in general, must face constantly in the church the dominant clericalism and control over the theological thought by men. Despite these realities, women have made their Latin American feminist theological reflection from the parameters of liberation beginning from their own experiences of marginalization and exclusion, as we shall see now” (Salazar 2010, 412).

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Indigenous, Religion Regions: Americas

Year: 2010

Citation:

Trinlae, Bhikshuni L. 2015. “Is South Asia’s Buddhist Leader the Gyalwang Grupka an Ecofeminist? Dialectical, Grounded Analysis of Eminent Feminist Theology Illuminates the Foundations for a Vajrayana Buddhist Ecofeminism.” International Journal of Dharma Studies 3 (3): 1-14.

Author: Bhikshuni L Trinlae

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Summary:
“Cross-cultural, cross-theological, and ethnic invariance of the constructs of feminism and ecofeminism remain unresolved, particularly in relation to dharma traditions primarily situated in Asia. One might assume that since feminism and women’s studies disciplines have long been established in the academy, that therefore the conventional, popular acceptance of a personal or social identity embodying the ethic of ending gender-based discrimination across multiple cultural, ethnic, and religions contexts is well known. However, neither universally-accepted definitions of feminism or ecofeminism constructs nor the functional dynamics underlying presumptions of such cross-cultural construct invariance have been established empirically among South Asian and Himalayan Vajrayāna Buddhist populations” (Trinlae 2015, 1).

Topics: Ethnicity, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Religion Regions: Asia, South Asia

Year: 2015

Citation:

Cuomo, Christine. 1998. Feminism and Ecological Communities: An Ethic of Flourishing. London: Routledge.

Author: Christine Cuomo

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Summary:
Feminism and Ecological Communities presents a bold and passionate rethinking of the ecofeminist movement. It is one of the first books to acknowledge the importance of postmodern feminist arguments against ecofeminism whilst persuasively preseenting a strong new case for econolocal feminism. Chris J.Cuomo first traces the emergence of ecofeminism from the ecological and feminist movements before clearly discussing the weaknesses of some ecofeminist positions. Exploring the dualisms of nature/culture and masculing/feminine that are the bulwark of many contemporary ecofeminist positions and questioning traditional traditional feminist analyses of gender and caring, Feminism and Ecological Communities asks whether women are essentially closer to nature than men and how we ought to link the oppression of women, people of colour, and other subjugated groups to the degradation of nature. Chris J.Cuomo addresses these key issues by drawing on recent work in feminist ethics as well as the work of diverse figures such as Aristotle, John Dewey, Donna Haraway adn [sic] Maria Lugones. A fascinating feature of the book is the use of the metaphor of the cyborg to highlight the fluidity of the nature/culture distinction and how this can enrich econfeminist ethics and politics.

An outstanding new argument for an ecological feminism that links both theory and practice, Feminism and Ecological Communities bravely redraws the ecofeminist map. It will be essential reading for all those interested in gender studies, environmental studies and philosophy. (Summary from Amazon)

Topics: Environment, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Race

Year: 1998

Citation:

Bell, Shannon Elizabeth, Cara Daggett, and Christine Labuski. 2020. “Toward Feminist Energy Systems: Why Adding Women and Solar Panels Is Not Enough.” Energy Research & Social Science 68 (October): 101557.

Authors: Shannon Elizabeth Bell, Cara Daggett, Christine Labuski

Abstract:

Growth in renewable energy does not displace fossil fuel use on a one-to-one basis, but rather increases the total amount of energy that is produced. As numerous scholars have argued, an energy transition away from – rather than in addition to – fossil fuels will require more than technology and financial capital. Here we argue that a feminist perspective on energy provides an important framework for understanding what keeps us stuck in unsustainable energy cultures, as well as a paradigm for designing truly just energy systems. Feminist approaches have been widely taken up in environmental and ecofeminist work, as well as in climate change research. In energy studies, however, gender-related research has tended to focus more narrowly on women's issues. Although this is crucial work, the focus on women represents just one dimension of what feminism can bring to the study of energy. Feminist theory also offers expertise in the study of power more broadly, which is widely applicable to the full spectrum of energy research. This article outlines a feminist energy research agenda that addresses many aspects of energy system design, planning, exchange, and use. We analyze energy along four intersecting coordinates: the political (democratic, decentralized and pluralist); economic (prioritizing human well-being and biodiversity over profit and unlimited growth); socio-ecological (preferring relationality over individualism); and technological (privileging distributed and decentralized fuel power and people power). In doing so, we show that feminism is well-suited for navigating the tangled web of power, profit, and technological innovation that comprises human fuel use.

Keywords: ecofeminism, just transition, energy democracy, fossil fuels, feminist energy, degrowth

Topics: Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Infrastructure, Energy

Year: 2020

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Sargisson, Lucy. 2001. “What’s Wrong with Ecofeminism?” Environmental Politics 10 (1): 52-64.

Author: Lucy Sargisson

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Summary:
"Where to begin? Ecofeminism is essentialist, biologist and it lacks political efficacy. Ecofeminism is inconsistent, intellectually regressive and it lacks rigour. Ecofeminism is the fluffy face of feminism. Challengers of this view of ecofeminism insist that ecofeminism is scientific, profound, and essential to human and non-human survival. Criticisms of ecofeminism, they insist, are inaccurate, infected by patriarchy and/or simply naïve. They tell us that ecofeminism is political [Salleh, 1997]; ecofeminism is practical [Sturgeon, 1997]; ecofeminism is complex [Birkeland, 1993]; ecofeminism is ethical science [Mies and Shiva, 1988]; and that ecofeminism is the salvation of the world [Spretnak, 1990; Plant, 1989]. Women are said to be closer to nature than men are, and so only they can save the planet [Starhawk, 1990].

Debates regarding the efficacy and rigour of ecofeminism are well established and I have little to add to them. Critiques like those offered by Janet Biehl are thorough and thoughtful [Biehl, 1991]. Such critiques of ecofeminism are on the whole accurate and appropriate but, I suggest, what’s really wrong with ecofeminism is that it denies its full potential. Ecofeminism is utopian in all senses of that term and it fails to acknowledge and exploit this. Understanding of this allows us to see both the value and the dangers of ecofeminist thought. Utopianism is both the beauty and the beast of ecofeminism" (Sargisson 2001, 52).

Topics: Feminisms, Ecofeminism

Year: 2001

Citation:

Moore, Niamh. 2008. “Eco/Feminism, Non-Violence and the Future of Feminism.” International Journal of Politics 10 (3): 282-98.

Author: Niamh Moore

Abstract:

This article turns to an eco/feminist peace camp of the early 1990s in order to revisit the often passionate and troubled debates in feminism about pacifism, non-violence, maternalism and essentialism. Many readings of feminist peace activism, and eco/ feminism, have collapsed a complicated politics into simple manifestations of maternalism, while at the same time reducing maternalism to essentialism. In this process essentialism has been invoked to disavow feminist peace activism and eco/feminist activism. Yet the critique of essentialism has now been the subject of much reflection by feminists. Rather than ascribing the category of ‘essentialism’, genealogical approaches attend to how the categories of ‘essentialism’ and ‘woman’ are invoked and to what ends. Such approaches thereby open up possibilities for understanding ecofeminist activism beyond essentialism. While an eco/feminist peace camp may appear an archetypal site for the re-inscription and repetition of essentialism, I suggest that without returning to such sites it will remain impossible to go beyond essentialism. Through a genealogical examination of contestations over the meanings and practice of eco/feminism at the camp, I understand this late-twentieth century peace camp, not as a quaint throwback to the disavowed activism of the 1970s and 1980s, but as a site through which the future of eco/feminist politics was, and can be, re-imagined.

Keywords: Clayoquot Sound, ecofeminism, essentialism, genealogy, maternalism, non-violence, peace camp, the 1980s, the 1990s

Topics: Feminisms, Ecofeminism Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada

Year: 2008

Citation:

Alaimo, Stacy. 2008. “Ecofeminism without Nature?: Questioning the Relation between Feminism and Environmentalism.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 10 (3): 299-304.

Author: Stacy Alaimo

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The essay ‘Eco/Feminism, Non-Violence and the Future of Feminism’ takes on an important issue within ecofeminism and feminist theory generally – the relationship between maternalism, pacifism, ecofeminism, and essentialism – arguing for new ways of reading ‘eco/feminist’ activism as an engaged mode of theory. Ironically, even though the purpose of the peace camp in Clayoquot Sound was to protest the logging of the rainforest, this essay does not examine the meaning of nature or environmentalism for the protestors. Nature becomes a mere background for the gendered human drama that unfolds. It is crucial that we interrogate the grounds, purposes, and consequences of linking environmentalism and feminism, by analyzing specific articulations within particular places and contexts. Whether or not it is beneficial to merge feminism and environmentalism remains an open question.

Keywords: feminism, environmentalism, gender, nature, ecofeminist activism, feminist theory

Topics: Environment, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender

Year: 2008