WHAT IS ECOFEMINISM?

It is believed that the term Ecofeminism was coined in France in 1974 by Francoise D’Eubonne in identifying the underlying causes of the twin crises of overproduction and overpopulation. In 1974 Sherry Ortner in her article “is female to male as nature is to culture” posed the problem central to the work of many ecofeminists. Gabriele Kuby from Germany in 1975, in “The End of Patriarchal Domination” argued for the closeness of women to nature, grounded in women’s bodies. In 1978 Susan Griffin and Mary Daly criticised male-lad economic development as damaging to women and nature. The concept of ecofeminism became “a movement in 1980 with a major conference ‘Women and Life on Earth: Ecofeminism in the 80’s’”(Carolyn Merchant).

Ecofeminism is a philosophy, which explores the relationship between the oppression and exploitation of women and the oppression and exploitation of nature, and how they mutually reinforce each other. It investigates the causes of the environmental degradation through feminist theory. More than any other philosophy ecofeminism rigorously analyses not only the domination of nature and women by a patriarchal culture, but also the gender, class, race and species injustices suffered under such a destructive and dysfunctional patriarchal world-view. Ecofeminism is believed to be a radical philosophy, which Kate Rigby aptly describes as both a “theoretically sophisticated form of critique and a global movement of resistance and renovation” (Kate Rigby). Ecofeminists assert that the root cause of the environmental crisis is caused by androcentrism (male-centredness), unlike deep ecologists who belief that anthropocentrism (human-centredness) is the root cause.

Ecofeminism as a philosophy and movement is deeply rooted in a diverse range of feminist and ecological backgrounds, creating a wide spectrum of alternative visions. Karen Warren offers us a wonderful metaphor, that of a quilt to describe such diversity in its richness and depth, with quilting, as with ecofeminism. There is a long worldwide tradition yet constantly evolving craft of quilt making amongst women, with each generation of quilts adding its own variations to an old art form. Women traditionally would gather for a quilting bee, each woman bringing pieces of material to add to the collective effort. Ecofeminist conferences and plublications serve the same function. During the past twenty or so years, many ecofeminists from different strands of ecofeminism have been bringing their pieces of theory and practice to the “ecofeminist quilting”, one that is constantly evolving.

One of the pieces of the quilt is what is criticised as “essentialism” or perhaps is better called psychological ecofeminism. Essentialist or psychological ecofeminism would argue, as does Marti Keel that ecological problems have psycho sexual roots. She claims that women have felt a sense of connection to the natural world, superior to men who by comparison have “an aggressive drive to ‘fuse’ with an alienated self”.

Sometimes linked with essentialist ecofeminism is spiritual ecofeminism, which traces the origins of patriarchy to the invasions of settled Neolithic matrifocal cultures by tribes of warrior Indo European nomadic pasturalists. Drawing on the work of Maritja Gambutas, ecofeminists such as Charlene Spretnak and Riane Eisler seek a recovery of the goddess-centred “matrifocal, matrilineal, peaceful and agrarian era”(Karen Warren). Caroline Merchant sees the “Death of Nature” stemming from the mechanistic reductionist paradigm for science and technology based industry coming from the European Enlightenment.

Social Ecofeminism by contrast, has arisen from a critique of liberal feminism, viewing oppression of women and nature as a “direct result of the institution of class, society, and under capitalism of private property”(Karen Warren). Ynestra King draws on social ecology of Murray Bookchin.

Theoretical/Conceptual Ecofeminism argues that it is value dualism’s, in which pairs (male, female; nature, culture) are seen as exclusive (rather than inclusive) and oppositional (rather than complimentary). Top-down value hierarchies then give preference to one of the pair over the other. Finally, identification of those seen as superior (male, culture, technological, developed) as linked and in opposition to those seen as inferior (female, nature, primative, underdeveloped). Val Plumwood and Karen Warren are strong advocates of this approach.

Political Ecofeminism focuses upon a praxis, linking theory to the practice of issues such as women’s and environmental health, to science, development and technology, treatment of animals and peace, antinuclear, antimilitarism and activism. Typical of political ecofeminism is the work of Helen Caldicott.

Ethical Ecofeminism is part of environmental ethics. Jim Cheney speaks of a “ecofeminist ethic of care and appropriate reciprocity” Adams and Slicer address ecofeminist animal rights positions. Plumwood criticises the Animal Liberation approaches of theorists like Peter Singer as inappropriate extensions of “individual human rights “based upon anthropic utilitarianism” (Karen Warren).

Third World Ecofeminism emerged from the work of such writers as Vandana Shiva, who shows that western development is really ‘maldevelopment’, a development bereft of the feminine – a “paradigm that sees all work that does not produce profits and capital as non- or unproductive work. Third World Movements such as the Chipko Movement in India, or the Green Belt Movement in Kenya are seen as practical extensions of ecofeminism in third word settings.

Feminist Utopias by such writers as Ursula Le Guin, Marge Piercy, Monique Wittig, Rochelle Singer, Starhawk and others “started out with the intend of showing a society where women were not dominated”(Barbara Holland-Cunz). They finished showing that it was probably only in a post- patriarchal society- “one that decentralised and ecological- could there be an end to the domination of women”

Warren considers ten boundary conditions, which the ecofeminist quilt must satisfy, which establishes the border, without dictating the interior design. These are:

1 Opposition to all isms of domination

2 Making visible how ism of domination are maintained and reinforced by patriarchy

3 Theory building as theory in process within a set context

4 Structural pluralism rather then structurally reductionist or unitarymonist

5 Anti patriarchal inclusiveness

6 Challenging the use of any power, which perpetuate and justify oppressive relationships

7 Conception of humans as essentially socially constructed beings in relationship

8 Central place for care, appropriate reciprocity, trust and love

9 A place for psychologies and theologies of liberation

10 A guide for action in the present. (Karen Warren).

Ecofeminism brings together philosophers from two very strong movements, namely ecology and feminism, thus birthing a strong, radical and passionate ecofeminist philosophy, which encourages and celebrates immense diversity and unity within the movement.