Ecofeminist appropriations and transnational environmentalisms

Abstract

Though U.S. ecofeminist thinkers comprise a diverse group of viewpoints, and there is much debate over a number of core concepts within ecofeminism, there is basic agreement within this political position that sexism has had environmental consequences and that environmental degradation has produced special burdens for women. Western ecofeminists have been criticized, however, for appropriating the environmental activism of Third World1 and Native American women as “ecofeminist,” and for using essentialist conceptions of these women as being closer to nature. Allowing that these criticisms have merit, I reflect here on the implications of leveling such a devastating critique in a context of rapidly developing environmentalisms. Despite its problematic aspects, all ecofeminist discourse should not be simply dismissed as a form of racist and sexist essentialism; indeed, it can be argued that, in some cases, ecofeminism has made several useful interventions within “Women in Development” discourse. Further, credit should be given to Third World activists who have made use of Western ecofeminist interventions in order to build coalitions both horizontally and vertically within the international political arena of post‐Cold War “globalizing environmentalisms.”

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