Ecofeminism
A Summary of Ecofeminism According to:
Engendering a Peaceful Planet:
Ecology, Economy, and Ecofeminism in Contemporary Context by Ynestra King
Penelope Howes usmvaw.com According to King, ecofeminism links peace and ecology that strives for “societies free of violence, with nature-friendly technologies and sustainable economies that are respectful of place and culture” (p.15). The author directly links militarism and its effects on the environment surrounding it, including: “its production of weapons and waste in the ecological devastation of war” (p.16). There is a movement in the ecofeminst realm to bring visibility to these issues along with assessing the long-term effects that war has on people and nature.
King refers to this movement as the “ecofeminst theoretical project”, which is divided into four different focuses that all interrelate to one another to gain a comprehensive view of what ecofeminism seeks to uncover and make sense of. The first is, a “critique of modernity as well as capitalism and of the relationship between the two” (p.17). In this element, there is a strong resistance to “sameness”, being the poisoning factor to the evolution of humanity and the environment. The second focus is, to “critique and redefine ‘reason’ and ‘science’ to include ways of knowing other than those of modern Western science” (p.18). This calls attention to the ways in which a “decentralized science” would benefit our understanding of the world around us and shine the light on the important and ever present impacts that militarism has on our “peaceful planet”.
The third is, the “argument for why women worldwide are (often) the source of the knowledge on which the future depends and are therefore subjects of this revolution because of the socially assigned work…” (p.18). This “source of knowledge” is referred to by the author as the “science of the people”, because it is in fact the individual beliefs, experiences, and customs of women that create this
Engendering a Peaceful Planet:
Ecology, Economy, and Ecofeminism in Contemporary Context by Ynestra King
Penelope Howes usmvaw.com According to King, ecofeminism links peace and ecology that strives for “societies free of violence, with nature-friendly technologies and sustainable economies that are respectful of place and culture” (p.15). The author directly links militarism and its effects on the environment surrounding it, including: “its production of weapons and waste in the ecological devastation of war” (p.16). There is a movement in the ecofeminst realm to bring visibility to these issues along with assessing the long-term effects that war has on people and nature.
King refers to this movement as the “ecofeminst theoretical project”, which is divided into four different focuses that all interrelate to one another to gain a comprehensive view of what ecofeminism seeks to uncover and make sense of. The first is, a “critique of modernity as well as capitalism and of the relationship between the two” (p.17). In this element, there is a strong resistance to “sameness”, being the poisoning factor to the evolution of humanity and the environment. The second focus is, to “critique and redefine ‘reason’ and ‘science’ to include ways of knowing other than those of modern Western science” (p.18). This calls attention to the ways in which a “decentralized science” would benefit our understanding of the world around us and shine the light on the important and ever present impacts that militarism has on our “peaceful planet”.
The third is, the “argument for why women worldwide are (often) the source of the knowledge on which the future depends and are therefore subjects of this revolution because of the socially assigned work…” (p.18). This “source of knowledge” is referred to by the author as the “science of the people”, because it is in fact the individual beliefs, experiences, and customs of women that create this
Bibliography: Dangerous Intersections : Feminist Perspectives on Population, Environment, and Development : A Project of the Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment What is Ecofeminism? Rocking the Ship of State : Toward a Feminist Peace Politics