Varieties of Ecofeminism

In: Capitalism, nature, socialism: CNS ; a journal of socialist ecology, Band 5, S. 117-125

Abstract

A review essay on books by: Rosi Braidotti, Ewa Charkiewicz, Sabine Hausler, & Saskia Wieringa, Women, the Environment and Sustainable Development (London: Zed Press, 1994); Maria Mies & Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism (London: Zed Books, 1993); Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (London: Routledge, 1993); Joni Seager, Earth Follies: Feminism, Politics and the Environment (London: Earthscan, 1993); & Vandana Shiva (Ed), Close to Home: Women Reconnect Ecology, Health and Development Worldwide (Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1994 [see listings in IRPS No. 79]). Reflections on ecofeminism are offered in the course of reviewing these books, which share as a starting point the critique of Western culture. Seager examines the institutions of Western domination -- business, government, the military -- while critically exploring the role of the ecological establishment in the West's environmental problems. Seager's book offers excellent analyses of green consumerism & the intrusion of Western capitalist patriarchy into the green movements & green issues. Plumwood offers a critique of Western traditions of thought, arguing that platonic & Cartesian forms of dualism have been the key mechanism of Western patriarchal domination. Mies & Shiva offer a critique of maldevelopment & colonization, examine the politics of consumption, & address criticisms of Western science & technology; other issues covered include the importance of women's grass-roots struggles & women as guardians of biodiversity. Shiva examines the interconnections among women, health, & the environment over a range of topics, including the ecological & political consequences of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka & ecological economics. Braidotti et al offer a useful & well-theorized overview of the gender & development debate. W. Howard