Women

Citation:

Kameri-Mbote, Patricia. 2013. “Climate Change and Gender Justice: International Policy and Legal Responses.” In Climate Change: International Law and Global Governance, edited by Oliver C. Ruppel, Christian Roschmann, and Katharina Ruppel-Schlichting, 1st ed., 323–48. Volume I: Legal Responses and Global Responsibility. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. 

Author: Patricia Kameri-Mbote

Abstract:

Climate change raises issues of justice for different subjects of law – states and individuals. It is therefore not surprising that international policy and legal responses to climate change took equity concerns on board by considering differentiated responsibilities for climate change and taking respective capabilities of states into account in assigning the role to protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind. While the link between gender and climate change has not always been obvious, there is increasing evidence to demonstrate that women and men experience climate change differently; that climate change increases women’s vulnerability; and gender inequalities worsen women’s coping capacities. This article looks at the relationship between gender and climate change and how international policies and laws on gender and climate change address the interface. It also highlights the increasing advocacy for the inclusion of gender justice in international climate change debates. It concludes that including gender in the laws, policies and discussions on climate change brings a critical constituency to these platforms and also enhances the effectiveness of the interventions aimed at dealing with climate change because of the roles that women play in different programmes and contexts.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Men, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Law

Year: 2013

Citation:

Schild, Verónica. 2019. “Feminisms, the Environment and Capitalism: On the Necessary Ecological Dimension of a Critical Latin American Feminism.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 20 (6): 23–43.

Author: Verónica Schild

Abstract:

Latin American women are on the move today, taking their demands to the streets throughout the region in unprecedented numbers. What these demands reveal is a growing frustration and anger among women with the distance between official democratic promises and protections and the limited gains in basic rights, even the reversal of minimal achievements in places like Central America and Brazil. Feminists are weaving together different struggles into an intersectional movement explicitly linking gender demands to the end of a neoliberal capitalist model of development and its devastating social, economic and ecological effects on Latin America’s overwhelming majority. A critical Latin American feminism aimed at apprehending the present predicament of women in the region, I suggest, needs to extend its commitment to producing knowledge from below and to the left, by reaching further, and engaging critically with Marx and his feminist critics. Given the widespread impact of the present capitalist modernity, tethered to neo-extractivism, not only on the lives of peasant and indigenous Latin Americans but also of increasingly broader sectors of rural and urban society and in particular, on the lives of women, it is imperative that we understand the structural nature of the relation between women, capitalism and nature.

Topics: Development, Environment, Extractive Industries, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Intersectionality, Rights

Year: 2019

Citation:

Christensen, Wendy M. 2018. “The Politics of Foot Powder: Depoliticizing Motherhood during the US War on Terrorism.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 20 (3): 315–30.

Author: Wendy M. Christensen

Abstract:

This article uses the example of mothers of service members during the US War on Terrorism (October 2001 to present) to show how gendered maternal ideology can disempower women to participate in the political process. When their children join the Armed Forces, mothers seek out online support groups where their experiences of war are validated by other mothers. In these groups, they draw on their maternal relationship to war to define what “support” and “politics” mean. Support is defined as unconditional backing of the troops and the war, and political viewpoints are considered unrelated to this maternal support. Adopting militarized motherhood, mothers describe speaking out against the war politically as dangerous to the troops. Doing so hurts their morale, thus jeopardizing their mission and safety. Collectively, mothers police the boundaries of support and politics, and are disempowered to question war, or to engage in the political process during wartime.

Keywords: war and militarism, political participation, motherhood

Topics: Gender, Women, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Political Participation, Terrorism Countries: United States of America

Year: 2018

Citation:

Kuokkanen, Rauna. 2008. “Globalization as Racialized, Sexualized Violence.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 10 (2): 216-233.

Author: Rauna Kuokkanen

Abstract:

In my article, I suggest that indigenous women are among the hardest hit by economic globalization - the expansion of markets, trade liberalization and cheapening of labour - and that globalization represents a multifaceted violence against indigenous women. I consider this with the help of two examples. First, I discuss the largely ignored case of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada and how the interlocking systems of oppression (colonization, patriarchy and capitalism) are further intensified by globalization. Second, I examine the death of a Hopi woman, Private Piestewa, in the context of militarization, history of colonization and globalization. I analyse these examples in an intersectional framework that reveals the links between colonization, patriarchy and capitalism all of which inform the current processes of globalization.

Keywords: global capitalism, indigenous women, US military, violence against women, war on iraq

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Globalization, Indigenous, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Race, Sexual Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada, United States of America

Year: 2008

Citation:

Dhillon, Carla M. 2020. “Indigenous Feminisms: Disturbing Colonialism in Environmental Science Partnerships.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 6 (4): 483–500.

Author: Carla M. Dhillon

Abstract:

Efforts have been under way by Indigenous peoples to reanimate governance that includes people of all ages and genders. Simultaneous initiatives to decolonize science within environmental fields must confront how settler colonial systems can continue to operate under the guise of partnership. Indigenous feminist theories aid understanding of ongoing colonialism alongside heteropatriarchy and racism with attempts to dismantle oppression in everyday practice. The author examines governance in a North American environmental science partnership consisting of Indigenous and non-Indigenous climate scientists. Using a mixed-methods social network approach, the author evaluates central actors in the national-scale climate science organization on the basis of intersectional identities, relational ties, and structural leadership roles. Findings indicate that Indigenous women and youth were not among core governance dominated by elder Indigenous men and White women. However, Indigenous women consistently bridged distant members back into the group and provided less visible labor to support the organization. These did not translate to decision-making roles. The author argues that Indigenous values of relational reciprocity and self-determination need to supersede the rhetoric of diversity in environmental fields. The case demonstrates the importance of inclusive Indigenous governance to decolonize environmental partnerships and the potential lack of legitimacy should unexamined notions of tradition be used to obscure settler colonial dominance.

Keywords: Native Americans, climate change, social networks, inclusive governance, racism, patriarchy

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Gender, Gender Roles, Women, Indigenous Regions: Americas, North America

Year: 2020

Citation:

Zoloth, Laurie. 2017. “At the Last Well on Earth: Climate Change Is a Feminist Issue.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 33 (2): 139–51. 

Author: Laurie Zoloth

Keywords: climate change, women, feminist

Annotation:

Summary:

"Climate change is a feminist issue. If paying attention to the lives and fate of women, concern about women’s bodies, or women’s reproductive rights, or women’s equal opportunities are central tenets of feminist ethics, then we must attend to the crisis that is climate change, which is beginning to throw these rights, bodies, and fates into chaos. In the impending environmental crisis, women and children will be the first to be harmed. All the freedoms we have obtained in the West—all the fine capacities for voice and leadership—will mean little if feminists stand by and watch the world warm, the seas rise, the climate change, the refugees struggle, and the world we share disappear. Unless we turn our scholarly attention (which is, after all, the only sort of public voice we have) toward this crisis, there will be a time when the last well is dry. And then it will be too late" (Zoloth 2017, 141). 

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Climate Displacement, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Women

Year: 2017

Citation:

Sangita, Khapung. 2016. “Transnational Feminism and Women’s Activism: Building Resilience to Climate Change Impact through Women’s Empowerment in Climate Smart Agriculture.” Asian Journal of Women’s Studies 22 (4): 497–506.

Author: Khapung Sangita

Abstract:

The far western part of Nepal is the most under-developed region of the country. The majority of the population here relies on subsistence agriculture. Floods, landslides, drought and extreme temperatures associated with climate change are impacting the agricultural productivity of the region. Consequently, this area faces ongoing food insecurity, particularly affecting women and children of marginalized groups. Although the aid agencies are trying to mitigate agricultural issues associated with climate change by introducing climate smart technologies, such as Multi Water Use Systems (MUS), Multi Irrigation Technologies (MIT), Conservation Agriculture (CA) etc., the local population has been reluctant to adopt these. Moreover, the low productivity of land forces males to migrate in search of better livelihood options, leaving women to bear the extra burden of domestic and agricultural activities, resulting in adverse effects on their health and nutrition. The Anukulan-Building Resilience to Climate Change and Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) project funded by UKAID aims to create agricultural practices that are resilient in the face of climate change and natural disasters. Its target is 500,000 poor and vulnerable people (especially women and children) through the introduction and awareness generation about climate smart technologies.

Keywords: subsistence agriculture, gender, climate change, climate smart technologies, Agricultural productivity

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Girls, Women Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Nepal

Year: 2016

Citation:

Scannell-Desch, Elizabeth. 2000. “The Culture of War: A Study of Women Military Nurses in Vietnam.” Journal of Transcultural Nursing 11 (2): 87–95.

Author: Elizabeth Scannell-Desch

Abstract:

Many books and studies have described the male Vietnam War culture, whereas similar literature about women is almost nonexistent. This study describes the culture of war nursing as experienced by 24 U.S. women military nurses. Data were generated using a core question and in-depth interviews. Phenomenology served as the research method, incorporating data analysis procedures of Colaizzi and Lincoln and Guba. Nine theme categories were identified to describe the culture of war nursing. Core values of the military culture were threaded throughout descriptions, and activities to make their environment more homelike embodied the positive values of their culture.

Keywords: nurses, Vietnam, Vietnam War, women

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Health Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: United States of America, Vietnam

Year: 2000

Citation:

Mahapa, Sabina M., and Mac Mashiri. 2001. “Social Exclusion and Rural Transport: Gender Aspects of a Road Improvement Project in Tshitwe, Northern Province.” Development Southern Africa 18 (3): 365–76.

Authors: Sabina M. Mahapa, Mac Mashiri

Annotation:

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: South Africa

Year: 2001

Citation:

Kronsell, Annica, Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist, and Lena Winslott Hiselius. 2016. “Achieving Climate Objectives in Transport Policy by Including Women and Challenging Gender Norms: The Swedish Case.” International Journal of Sustainable Transportation 10 (8): 703-11.

Authors: Annica Krosnell, Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist, Lena Winslott Hiselius

Abstract:

This article explores whether women can become the change agents for a sustainable transport sector and how such a change can be accomplished through transport policy. Based on the Swedish case, women still on average have transportation behavior with lower environmental impact than men have; women also tend to have stronger preferences for improving sustainability in the sector. The results imply that there are interesting behavior and attitude characteristics expressed by women that ought to be recognized and applied, e.g., through contesting prevailing norms and methods, in order to achieve sustainability goals for the sector. Altogether this suggests that women, beyond democracy reasons, should become more active as change agents to challenge the dominant male norms. Policy implications of these findings include measures to improve gender equal participation that would, e.g., make it possible to take advantage of these differences by (1) putting more emphasis on the relationships among travel patterns, sustainability, and gendering on all levels in transportation planning as a measure for improved sustainability; (2) implementing new ways of framing the problems to be solved, challenging existing norms working against gender equity and raising consciousness of sustainability issues; and (3) using gender mainstreaming to monitor policy impacts on different groups of men and women. However, today there is a lack of incentives to apply these tools. Since there is a tremendous complexity in the relationships on all levels, more research is needed together with improved dissemination of knowledge for the competence to increase within the transport sector. 

Keywords: attitudes, CO2 emissions, gendered institutions, sustainability transitions, travel behavior

Topics: Gender, Gender Roles, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Sweden

Year: 2016