Ecofeminism

Introduced by Françoise d'Eaubonne (1974), ecofeminism refers to a strand of feminist theory and activism that incorporates ecological concerns, emphasizing interrelationships and interdependence. Less rooted in academic circles than most expressions of feminism, ecofeminism builds up around the core assumption of interlocking hierarchies. The pivotal hierarchy involves human beings exercising dominion over all other life forms, with male human beings also dominating female human beings. Typically, ecofeminists assume that girls' and women's subordination is intricately linked not only with that of other human groups but also with the subordination of other animate forms.

Thus, ecofeminists largely share the premise that a worldview justifying domination and control of “nature” is part and parcel of the ideological apparatus taken to justify the subordination of girls and women to boys and men. As Noel Sturgeon (1997:23) emphasizes, ecofeminists theorize fundamental connections among the ideologies used to justify all the major social hierarchies, such as age, race, social class, gender, and sexual orientation. In addition, ecofeminist theory largely presupposes that humankind has been defined in sharp contrast not only to what is natural but also to what is feminine.

In North America, ecofeminism emerged out of women's communes and is rooted in the women's spirituality movement, the women's health movement, and women's environmentalism, as well as various peace and antimilitarist movements, including the nuclear freeze movement. The formal event often seen as launching North American ecofeminism was “Women and Life on Earth: Ecofeminism in the 1980s,” a conference held in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1980. Organized by Ynestra King, Anna Gyorgy, Grace Paley, and other women activists from various social movements, including the environmental and feminist movements, this event began galvanizing women wanting to make their ecological voices heard beyond as well as within male-dominated environmentalist organizations. Over time, such ecofeminists have forged an ambitious global movement with diffuse goals, reflecting both ecological and feminist values (Sturgeon 1997).

Unlike many expressions of feminism, ecofeminism is not foremostly a Northern phenomenon. Women in the Southern Hemisphere, motivated to resist the environmental degradation wrought in their countries by global capital and international policies favoring the North, are organized and active as ecofeminists. Its global nature ensures cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity among ecofeminists that exceeds the diversity typical among other types of feminists.

Stylistically and formally, ecofeminists also exhibit significant diversity. Sturgeon (1997:24) emphasizes that in some measure, the writings of extremely different scholars and activists express ecofeminist concerns. She mentions, for example, Rachel Carson, Mary Daly, Donna Haraway, Vandana Shiva, Starhawk, and Alice Walker. Adding names such as Susan Griffin, Mary Oliver, Adrienne Rich, and Joni Seager not only extends the ecofeminist list but also illustrates how poetry, as well as essays, case studies, and other modes of knowledge construction figure prominently in ecofeminism. Diverse modes of activism also find expression among ecofeminists, profoundly evident when one draws from the past to extend the list of ecofeminists still further. Chris J. Cuomo (1998) includes Jane Addams, Alice Hamilton, Florence Kelley, and their close associates on the list because their work was both significantly women centered as well as sensitive to how ecological conditions either promote or undermine both individual and collective health.

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