Implications Of Ecofeminism For Political Theory

Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Women Studies / Gender Studies, grade: A, University of Auckland, course: Political Theory of the Environment, 22 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Feminism and Environmentalism are both recent phenomens in political theory. They both challenge mainstream politics as movements and as critical concepts. Thus they have in common that they are in themselves political and question the establishment. As concepts they can be applied in political theory to a variation of ideologies and interrupt the political scene. Andrew Dobson and Robyn Eckersley argue that there is a rising interest of the mainstream in environmental thoughts as they can contribute to major political concepts like democracy, justice and others. Herein they see a parallel to feminist theory which has a major impact on a broad range of aspects in political theory (Dobson/Eckersley. 2006: 3). In ecofeminism both concepts merge together. Val Plumwood calls ecofeminism the 'hybrid area' „which aims at developing a feminism that is ecological and an ecology that is feminist“ (Plumwood. 2006: 51). Thus the question is how both concepts merge within ecofeminism and how they can contribute to each other and have a larger impact on political theory in general. As part of this essay I will examine the basic arguments of ecofeminism and its implications for both concepts as well as on political theory in general. I will begin with a definition of the major terms: environmentalism/ecologism, feminism and ecofeminism. [...]

A balanced and comprehensive survey of current green political ideas - their varying responses to fundamental problems in political theory and their relationships with other ideological traditions.

Examining the development of ecofeminism from the 1980s antimilitarist movement to an internationalist ecofeminism in the 1990s, Sturgeon explores the ecofeminist notions of gender, race, and nature. She moves from detailed historical investigations of important manifestations of US ecofeminism to a broad analysis of international environmental politics.

This collection offers a sympathetic but critical perspective on contemporary ecological political theory, and gives proposals for a reorientation of some of its key aspects.

Finding Our Way is a well-written, clear introduction to a range of ecofeminist thought. In four essays, Biehl explores ecofeminism's intellectual affinities with social ecology and other schools of thought; critiques the increasing role of Goddess mythology within today's movement; spiritedly defends reason and naturalism against what she sees as a "counter-Enlightenment" mentality within feminist and academic circles; and mines the Western democratic tradition for its relevant political insights for feminists today.

Why is ecofeminism still needed to address the environmental emergencies and challenges of our times? Ecofeminism has a chequered history in terms of its popularity and its perceived value in conceptualizing the relationship between gender and nature as well as feeding forms of activism that aim to confront the environmental challenges of the moment. This book provides a much-needed comprehensive overview of the relevance and value of using eco-feminist theories. It gives a broad coverage of traditional and emerging eco-feminist theories and explores, across a range of chapters, their various contributions and uniquely spans various strands of ecofeminist thinking. The origins of influential eco-feminist theories are discussed including key themes and some of its leading figures (contributors include Erika Cudworth, Greta Gaard, Trish Glazebrook and Niamh Moore), and outlines its influence on how scholars might come to a more generative understanding of the natural environment. The book examines eco-feminism’s potential contribution for advancing current discussions and research on the relationships between the humans and more than humans that share our world. This timely volume makes a distinctive scholarly contribution and is a valuable resources for students and academics in the fields of environmentalism, political ecology, sustainability and nature resource management.

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - Topic: International development, grade: 1,3, University of Frankfurt (Main), language: English, abstract: The following paper elaborates the unequal affectedness of men and women by anthropogenic climate change and shows how specific male and female consumer- and behavioral patterns change the outcome of assigning individual shares of the climate catastrophe. In a preliminary step, gender-neutral conventional climate change mitigation principles will be presented as developed by Darrel Moellendorf, professor of International Political Theory and Philosophy at Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main, in his essay “Treaty Norms and Climate Change Mitigation” (2009). Afterwards, the central characteristics of the ecofeminist movement will be introduced and furthermore discussed how attempts in climate change mitigation could look like out of a gender-egalitarian perspective. In a third step, a try will be made to reconcile Moellendorfs principles and ecofeminist outlooks and to draft a gender-inclusive approach to facing environmental degradation. Finally, I will show that any climate change mitigation strategy that ignores social inequalities or structural violence repercussions is incomprehensive and cannot count as a fair and anti-hegemonic proceeding. It recently has been acknowledged that women and men in both the global North and South contribute unequally to the negative impact of anthropogenic climate change. Not only does the Western populations’ share of global harmful CO2 emissions amount to 80% of the overall emissions, but there is also strong evidence that women and men’s energy consumption and consumer behavior differ considerably when it comes to determining individual per capita emissions. Furthermore, women are often attributed greater burdens and responsibilities in mitigating climate change although women and children are those who suffer the most from it.

Ecofeminism as Politics is now a classic, being the first work to offer a joined-up framework for green, socialist, feminist and postcolonial thinking, showing how these have been held back by conceptual confusions over gender. Originally published in 1997, it argues that ecofeminism reaches beyond contemporary social movement ideologies and practices, by prefiguring a political synthesis of four-revolutions-in-one: ecology is feminism is socialism is postcolonial struggle. Ariel Salleh addresses discourses on class, science, the body, culture and nature, and her innovative reading of Marx converges the philosophy of internal relations with the organic materiality of everyday life. This new edition features forewords by Indian ecofeminist Vandana Shiva and US philosopher John Clark, a new introduction, and a recent conversation between Salleh and younger scholar activists.