Theories and Development of Ecofeminism

Ecofeminism

Ecofeminism is an environmental movement, born in the late 1970s and early 1980s, from the necessity to give the possibility to women to have an active participation in ecological issues. In the West, gender and environment are the main topics of a large literature, which relate these two elements in ideological terms. In India however, ecofeminism has become an important and fundamental movement able to protect, in an efficient way, even if towards a slow process, the environmental system and the education of women. Growing protests against environmental destruction and struggles for survival made clear that caste, class and gender issues are interlinked. In this chapter, I will look at the historical background of ecofeminism, and at its main theories. Then I will explore the ecofeminist movement, its importance and influence in India.

Background on Ecofeminism

Ecofeminism was a term first coined by a French writer, Francoise d’Eaubonne, in 1974 in the book, “Le féminisme ou la mort”, where the author lingers on the environmental costs of development, and identifies women as the key for change towards a more sustainable protection of the environment. The connection between woman and nature was still very new to the feminist movements, however an American woman was the first to make this connection years before. Ellen Swallow, the first woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a chemist and the first to use the term “ecology” in a modern way. Swallow considered the term as the study of everything that surrounds human beings, and the consequences of what effects and influences it has on their lives.

In 1962, the work of another woman, Rachel Carson, originated the modern ecologist movemen...

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...n are, because they are the first to suffer. Ecofeminism could represent an answer to the women’s problem in India concerning the legal framework such as legislation, lack of implementation and enforcement of laws, ecofeminism could represent a challenge to the Government. This grassroots movement was a sign of the strength of women, and showed how starting from the base a protest could get millions of supporters, and move entire villages. The analysis of the women and of the different groups of ecofeminist theorists and activists in India, such as the Chipko movements and the Adivasi-Dali movement, deduce that women have always represented the ecology’s active actors in India. In the next chapter I am going to discuss the challenges that ecofeminism could represent in the legal framework and how could lead to the request of more protection towards women’s rights.