Eco-Feminism

It is commonly believed that women are closer to nature as their bodies function in a biologically cyclic manner. Ecofeminism is a movement that emerged in the mid-1970s, alongside the Second-Wave Feminism and the Green Movement, that sees a connection between the exploitation and degradation of the natural world and the subordination and oppression of women. Ecofeminism is an amalgamation of the elements of both the feminist and the green movement. Ecofeminists argue that the issue of climate change must not be viewed in isolation from the oppression of women. 

 

Climate change has manifested itself in the form of severe disasters such as droughts and floods and therefore has been recognized as a global concern. Women across the globe are highly dependent on natural resources for their livelihood. The extreme repercussions of climate change have made it immensely difficult for women to procure the natural resources that are needed for them to perform domestic chores. Women have historically been excluded from the decision-making process and have always had limited access to economic assets. These factors intensify the challenge of climate change.  

 

Within the ecofeminist school of thought, there is a difference of opinion between ecofeminists who view the link between woman and nature as empowering, and the ones who believe that it is a form of patriarchal oppression. The former have argued that women are closer to nature by virtue of their nurturing roles as mothers or homemakers, whereas the latter believe that men have historically exploited women and nature, and shall continue to do so.

 

Recurring ecological disasters in the 1980s and 1990s sparked off numerous protests against environmental destruction, which finally culminated in the first ecofeminist conference - Women and Life on Earth: A Conference on Ecofeminism in the Eighties. This conference, held at Amherst in March 1980, inspired the growth of several ecofeminist organizations. 

 

Ecofeminists argue that economic development relies on science and technology, as the pillars of a patriarchal society, and is thus intrinsically exploitative and disregards natural laws. Women, like nature, have been systematically disregarded and stereotyped as chaotic, irrational, and in constant need of control, while men have been frequently characterized as rational, logical, and thus, mentally and emotionally capable of controlling women and nature. Thus, ecofeminists such as Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva have worked extensively to counter this capitalist patriarchy.

 

Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India is Vandana Shiva's analysis of the links between the degradation of women and the exploitation of nature in modern social setups across the globe and their impact in the Indian context. Shiva argues that in agrarian societies such as India, women are closly connected to the land that they cultivate. Hence, the model of agriculture adopted by women is based on the natural system of renewability. Replacing their role with modern scientific techniques of cultivation has hampered the ecological balance and economically destroyed the rural poor in India.

 

According to Shiva, the claim made by the biotechnology industry, that genetic engineering has boosted food production across the globe and is thus, the only way to feed the world, is a myth. She argues that under the garb of globalization, agriculture has become industrialized and women have been displaced from their productive work on the land. This leads to further skewing of the male-female ratio. She cites the increasing rate of atrocities against women in the traditional farming belts such as Punjab, as a direct fallout of this capitalist patriarchy.

 

In the past, in traditional agrarian societies and tribal cultures, women's involvement and sacred relationship with nature has successfully maintained and sustained the ecological balance. The imperial powers exploited India's forests and natural resources for military purposes which subsequently led to an acute crisis. Since then, forests have continued to be routinely butchered and it is only the intervention of women that has led to an awareness about the crucial role played by forests in fragile ecosystems.

 

An early example of this is the Chipko Movement which was initiated by rural women in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand (erstwhile Uttar Pradesh) in the 1970s. In a bid to protect the trees, these women would hug or cling to the trees. In the 1980s, Medha Patkar initiated and spearheaded the Narmada Bachao Andolan as a movement against the ecological damage caused by the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Similar movements have also been initiated by women in the North-Eastern parts of the country, such as the movement against a massive coal mining project in the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve in Assam. Shiva cites the involvement of women in these contemporary ecological movements as powerful interventions in the process of recovering the Earth.

 

The central ideas of Ecofeminism are as follows:

1. The economy must be re-embedded again into society - Mies argues that the economy must be recognized simply as one of the many human activities that help to bring about a good life for all - for humans and nature everywhere.

 

2. The concept of a good life must be redefined - The new concept of a good life cannot be based on the existing system of production and consumption. It cannot be defined by the continual abundance of cheap commodities from all over the world in our supermarkets. Instead, we must focus on needs instead of wants and direct our efforts towards ensuring sustainable development. 

 

3. All dominant social relations will have to change - New, non - hierarchical relations must be created between the skilled and the unskilled labor force and between the producers and the consumers. All exploitative, dominating social relations must be transformed into mutually reciprocal ones.

 

4. A new society must eliminate all patriarchal, violent and militaristic relations - According to Mies, this goal can be achieved only through a total revolution of capitalist society which shall liberate women and men from the shackles of patriarchal structures and violent ideologies. She argues that the concept of ‘work’ must be redefined so that all work, including the work of housewives, subsistence peasants, and artisans, is considered equally valuable. The concepts of ‘productive work’ and ‘productivity’ must be revamped to ensure collective good.

 

5. Only a life - centric, subsistence economy and society can permit technology that serves life - A life-oriented, subsistence society and the economy would produce a different philosophy of science as well as a different form of non - exploitative, anti-growth oriented, non - dominating, and non - destructive technology. Technology also shapes human relations and human communication. Modern computer technology atomizes the workforce on a global level to lower the cost of production, thus creating worldwide competition among workers. In a subsistence society, workers would be encouraged to consolidate their efforts through community ownership of the means of production. Subsistence production fosters cooperation instead of competition, to achieve rich, fulfilled lives for all.

 

Ecofeminism, thus, links the violation of nature and the marginalization of women. Women not only produce and reproduce both biologically as well as through sustenance, yet they are deliberately ignored. Women and nature work in partnership to ensure organic growth while men use the work done by women and nature, as raw material, with neither being included in the larger world - view, thereby intensifying the duality. While devaluation and derecognition of nature’s contribution and productivity have resulted in an ecological crisis, the same concerning women has created an unequal gender balance. 

 Written By- Shreya Chaudhry and Saumya Singh (Content Creation Team)