MA Eco-feminism

Overview

Straddling all of the social science disciplines, eco-feminism has become a significant arena for critical thinking and political engagement. As theoretically and politically diverse as feminism more generally, eco-feminist writers and activists do share the foundational premise that the oppression of women and the overexploitation of non-human nature derive from a common root in patriarchy. More specifically, many eco-feminists focus on the links between the patriarchal culture of domination and male ownership of land. Focusing on the work of writers such as Vandana Shiva, Marie Haisowá, Wangari Maathai, Carol Adams, Alice Walker, Carolyn Merchant, Karen Warren and Ariel Salleh, this course explores the main developments in eco-feminist thought.

Indicative modules

  • nature/culture dualism and essentialism in eco-feminist thought
  • deep ecology, social ecology and eco-feminism
  • postmodernism, 'artifactualism' and the cyborg theories of Donna Haraway
  • women and development
  • women and technology
  • eco-feminist literature

Indicative Reading

  • Helena Norberg-Hodge (2002) Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh Universit of California)
  • Riane Eisler (1988) The Chalice & The Blade: Our History, Our Future (Harperone)
  • Gaard, Greta and Patrick Murphy (1998) (Eds) Eco-feminist Literary Criticism: Theory, Interpretation, Pedagogy (Urbana and Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press)
  • Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva (1993) Eco-feminism
  • Val Plumwood (1993) Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (Routledge)
  • Rosemary Radford Ruether (1994) Gaia & God: An Eco-feminist Theology of Earth Healing
  • Dietrich, Gabriele (1992) Reflections on the Women's Movement in India: Religion, Ecology, Development (New Delhi: Horizon India Books)
  • Carol J. Adams (1997) Neither Man Nor Beast
  • Mary Grey (2003) Sacred Longings: Eco-feminist theology and Globalization
  • Carol J. Adams (2000 [1990]) The Sexual Politics of Meat
  • Starhawk (1999) The Spiral Dance
  • Vandana Shiva and Yorick Blumenfeld (2000) Tomorrow's Biodiversity
  • Susan Griffin (1980) Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her
  • Karen J. Warren (2000) Eco-feminist Philosophy
  • Val Plumwood (2001) Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason
  • Vandana Shiva (1989) Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development
  • Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan (1995) (eds) Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations
  • Greta Gaard (1995) (eds) Eco-feminism: Animals, Women, Nature,
  • Heather Eaton & Lois Ann Lorentzen (2003) (eds) Eco-feminism & Globalization: exploring culture, context and religion
  • Carolyn Merchant (1981) The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution (San Francisco: Harper & Row)
  • Carol Adams (1993) Eco-feminism and the Sacred (New York: The Continuum Publishing Company)
  • Judith Plant, (1989) ed., Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Eco-feminism (Philadelphia: New Society)
  • Hypatia, a Journal of Feminist Philosophy Special Spring 1991 issue on "Ecological Feminism."
  • Irene Diamond and Gloria Feman Orenstein, (1990) ed., Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Eco-feminism (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books)