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The Growing Importance of Ecofeminism (voicesforbiodiversity.org)

“Ecofeminism is short for “Ecological Feminism”. Ecology means the study of how living creatures relate to each other and their environments. Feminism is a theory that upholds that people should seek to establish equal rights for all people, no matter what gender, class, race, or sexuality. Together “[e]cofeminism refers to the diverse range of women’s efforts to save the Earth, as well as to the transformations in feminist thought that have resulted in new conceptualizations of the relationship between women and nature…Environmentalism emerged as a prominent new social concern in the United States in the late-nineteenth century as a reaction to how urban, industrial areas were becoming overcrowded, smog-choked, and disease-ridden. The “closing of the frontier” in the late-1800s also generated fear that the vast lands of the public domain were being looted, polluted, and destroyed by commercial interests, such as the railroad, timber, and mining companies” (Mann, 6). The term “Ecofeminism” originated in France in 1974.” A Brief History of Ecofeminism – Ecofeminism: Women & Environmental Conservation (google.com)

For more click here Women and Life on Earth: what is ecofeminism? (wloe.org)

Ecofeminism began in the middle of the second wave of feminism, starting in the early to mid 1970s and flourishing in the 1980s, the decade between the second and third wave.

Read this week’s readings and then answer the questions below.

Summarizing each article, describe the heart of Ecofeminism’s concerns, pertinent issues and goals explaining how Ecofeminism’s analysis combines ecology, the environment, patriarchy, capitalisim, globalization and notions of sex/gender. Be sure to connect Ecofeminism’s perspective with the readings from last week on globalization, global feminism and ways to decolonize feminism as well as our personal points of view.