The transformative possibilities of eco-feminism. (original) (raw)
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A Revisionary Reading of Ecofeminist Theory
The present article questions the idea of the equation of nature with the woman and its very necessity to base a movement for bringing about a radical transformation in the present socioeconomic system. 'Woman=Nature' is a cultural construct which was generated by the pervasive patriarchal biases of our civilization. This patriarchal civilization has ignored women's efficiency in other fields apart from bringing up their children and degraded thoseas uncivilized, submissive, sexual objects. It is this civilization that has equated nature(wilderness/uncivilized) with woman to devalue both.Indeed ecofeminist theory is incoherent, amorphous and logically unsound. This theory must needs be replaced by something so logical as to base a whole movement for a radical reshaping of the contemporary society. In fact, there is no necessity of perpetuating the term ecofeminism which may be replaced by the term ecohumanitarianism as it questions any kind of exploitation, be it environmental exploitation or class oppression or gender oppression.
Ecofeminism: Essentialism, Shared Experience or Quintessential Environmentalism?1
2008
Ecofeminism originated in political activism in the late 70s and 80s and only found its way into literary criticism in the 90s. Throughout human history, nature has constantly been feminized and women naturalized, particularly due to aspects of fertility and natural cycles. While some feminists reject this association of women and nature, others embraced the relationship between women and nature, based on the shared experience of oppression and domination. Ecofeminists highlight the conceptual connection between the domination of women and the domination of nature as being located in an oppressive and patriarchal conceptual framework characterized by a logic of domination. This round table pretends to analyze both ecofeminist literary theory and representative literary works. The panelists will discuss writers such as Ana Castillo, Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Octavia Butler. We will also show several photographs from the campaigns of the PETA organization and analyze them from an ecof...
Roots, Routes and Fruits: Feminism and Ecofeminism
Creative Saplings, 2022
Ecofeminism is the missing link that connects woman and nature, while tracing out the patriarchal structures of exploitation and oppression. This paper searches for the origination of 'Ecofeminism' that lies somewhere in the fusion of 'Feminism' and 'Ecology.' While defining the concept of 'Feminism', it explores its different forms along with its chronological order through wave metaphor. Feminism nurtures the sapling of Ecofeminism, and with the passage of time, it turns into a tree that bears fruits of the various forms which can be viewed through different perspectives. It presents roots, routes and fruits that come out of 'Feminism' and 'Ecofeminism.' Knowing nature leads to knowing woman, and knowing woman, leads to knowing nature. The real emancipation lies in saving the earth and woman from exploitation and oppression.
A Critique of Eco-Feminism: An Attempt Towards Environmental Solution
International Journal of Environmental Pollution and Environmental Modelling, 2020
The scriptures and the early Church all pronounced upon women in almost exclusively masculine voice. Aristotelian philosophy deemed a woman to be 'inferior man' and this was corroborated by the interpretation of the creation of Eve as 'posterior et inferior' (last and lesser). Even in Medieval Europe there was a debate in which male writes attacked and defended women; the humanist writers of the Renaissance also showed the same trend. Ecofeminism is a twin concept encompassing both ecology and feminism. It is justified by saying that ecology or environment is closely associated with the female. The primary belief of ecofeminism is that the supremacy over women parallels the suppression of nature and that this mutual domination has led to environmental destruction by the controlling patriarchal society. This philosophy is based on the principle that there is a vital connection between the oppression of nature and women. Hence understanding these connections is necessary to understanding the two veins of oppression. Feminist theory must include an ecological perspective, and ecological problems must include a feminist perspective. Eco-feminists further argue that an environmental philosophy that fails to attend to these important links will be theoretically and practically deficient. The objective of the research is to explicate and examine with critically the objective of Ecofeminism. Ecofeminism is a twin concept of both ecology and feminine and as such being a forceful approach in environmental deserves considerable attention to modern environmentalists.
2019
The concept ‘Eco-feminism’ originates from last three decades which cuts across two critical perspectives specifically ecology and feminism. The prefix ‘Eco’ hails from ecology which is the branch of biology that studies the relationship between the biotic and the abiotic factors of earth or it means examining and analyzing the relationship between the living organisms with their environment. The word ‘ecology’ evolves from the natural environmental system of biological sciences. It is social, economical as well as biological movement to study how man is continually polluting and contaminating the earth by causing various pollution i.e. land pollution, air pollution, water pollution, thermal pollution and causing demolition, devastation, destruction and extinction to the natural system thereby threatening the basis of life. Feminism being a complex movement of political, social, economical, ideological and philosophical ideas with multiple layers focuses on the empowerment of women....
Ecology: Scientific, Deep and Feminist
Environmental Values, 1996
The application of hierarchy theory to ecological systems presents those who seek a radical change in human perspectives toward nature with a unique window of opportunity. Because hierarchy theory has enabled scientific ecologists to discover that the window through which one chooses to observe a system influences its reality, they may now be more amenable to including the perspectives of deep and feminist ecologists into their self-definition. A synergy between deep, feminist, and scientific ecology could improve environmental policy by encouraging more ecofeminists to encompass the marginalisation of nonhuman life-forms within the ethic of care, more deep ecologists to encompass the issues of overconsumption and militarisation within the anthropocentricbiocentric polarity, and more scientific ecologists to scrutinise the politiCS behind their investigations.
Ecofeminism: Essentialism, Shared Experience or Quintessential Environmentalism?
Proceedings from the 31st AEDEAN Conference. Ed. María Jesús Lorenzo Modia, 2009
Ecofeminism originated in political activism in the late 70s and 80s and only found its way into literary criticism in the 90s. Throughout human history, nature has constantly been feminized and women naturalized, particularly due to aspects of fertility and natural cycles. While some feminists reject this association of women and nature, others embraced the relationship between women and nature, based on the shared experience of oppression and domination. Ecofeminists highlight the conceptual connection between the domination of women and the domination of nature as being located in an oppressive and patriarchal conceptual framework characterized by a logic of domination. This round table pretends to analyze both ecofeminist literary theory and representative literary works. The panelists will discuss writers such as Ana Castillo, Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Octavia Butler. We will also show several photographs from the campaigns of the PETA organization and analyze them from an ecofeminist approach.