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5
mentioned factors, that are relevant to the access to and control of natural
resources (Rocheleau et al. 1996).
Rocheleau has also contributed with a chapter to a more recent book on feminist political ecology (Harcourt and Nelson 2015), where she recounts her experiences with fieldwork over several decades and in different parts of the world
(Rocheleau 2015). She presents feminist political ecology as a broad field where
different types of feminist perspectives are used. As with political ecology in general, feminist political ecology is characterized by a diversity of approaches and
openness to consider inclusions of new ideas from other research fields.
Feminist political ecologies focus traditionally on gendered power and oppression related to land and environmental issues. However, the last years gender tends
to be seen in the context of intersectionality in feminist political ecologies (e.g.
Sundberg 2017; Sultana 2020) as well as in feminist studies in general.
Intersectionality may be used as a concept about discrimination against individuals
based on mutually constitutive forms of social oppression such as gender, ethnicity, age, class and nationality. Crenshaw (1989) introduced intersectionality into
academia through her research on black women and employment in the US
(Hopkins 2019).
5.4 From Ecofeminism to Feminist Political Ecologies
In recent decades, scholars, activists and media in many countries have increasingly
focused on gender, environment and development, with reference to rural areas in
the Global South. The ecofeminist approach of the Indian activist and author,
Vandana Shiva, provides a starting point here for a discussion of the substance of
feminist political ecologies.
Shiva contends that women and nature tend to be victims of development processes, that women care more for nature than men do, and that women are natural
lifesavers of nature (Shiva 1989). Her argument is connected to ‘the feminine principle’, the source of all life in Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. Shiva depicts the
Indian village woman as an embodiment of the feminism principle.
However, colonialism and Western development processes have intruded upon
and changed rural villages. Mechanized, market-orientated agriculture has replaced
subsistence farming. The change has marginalized small farmers, particularly poor
women. Shiva criticizes the Western development model, which she sees as patriarchal and reductionist, and that turns both nature and the work of women into
commodities. She believes that this has led to increased wealth in the Global North
and greater poverty in the South.
In contrast, she describes traditional Indian agriculture as being in harmony
with nature, and with an appreciation of diversity and sustainability. In searching
for an alternative global development model, Shiva concludes that the solution is
a resumption of subsistence agriculture. It is the poor women of the South who,
in their daily struggle to exist, bear the burden of the environmental and development crisis. It is they who know how to survive, so it is they who also have the
5.4 · From Ecofeminism to Feminist Political Ecologies
5
mentioned factors, that are relevant to the access to and control of natural
resources (Rocheleau et al. 1996).
Rocheleau has also contributed with a chapter to a more recent book on feminist political ecology (Harcourt and Nelson 2015), where she recounts her experiences with fieldwork over several decades and in different parts of the world
(Rocheleau 2015). She presents feminist political ecology as a broad field where
different types of feminist perspectives are used. As with political ecology in general, feminist political ecology is characterized by a diversity of approaches and
openness to consider inclusions of new ideas from other research fields.
Feminist political ecologies focus traditionally on gendered power and oppression related to land and environmental issues. However, the last years gender tends
to be seen in the context of intersectionality in feminist political ecologies (e.g.
Sundberg 2017; Sultana 2020) as well as in feminist studies in general.
Intersectionality may be used as a concept about discrimination against individuals
based on mutually constitutive forms of social oppression such as gender, ethnicity, age, class and nationality. Crenshaw (1989) introduced intersectionality into
academia through her research on black women and employment in the US
(Hopkins 2019).
5.4 From Ecofeminism to Feminist Political Ecologies
In recent decades, scholars, activists and media in many countries have increasingly
focused on gender, environment and development, with reference to rural areas in
the Global South. The ecofeminist approach of the Indian activist and author,
Vandana Shiva, provides a starting point here for a discussion of the substance of
feminist political ecologies.
Shiva contends that women and nature tend to be victims of development processes, that women care more for nature than men do, and that women are natural
lifesavers of nature (Shiva 1989). Her argument is connected to ‘the feminine principle’, the source of all life in Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. Shiva depicts the
Indian village woman as an embodiment of the feminism principle.
However, colonialism and Western development processes have intruded upon
and changed rural villages. Mechanized, market-orientated agriculture has replaced
subsistence farming. The change has marginalized small farmers, particularly poor
women. Shiva criticizes the Western development model, which she sees as patriarchal and reductionist, and that turns both nature and the work of women into
commodities. She believes that this has led to increased wealth in the Global North
and greater poverty in the South.
In contrast, she describes traditional Indian agriculture as being in harmony
with nature, and with an appreciation of diversity and sustainability. In searching
for an alternative global development model, Shiva concludes that the solution is
a resumption of subsistence agriculture. It is the poor women of the South who,
in their daily struggle to exist, bear the burden of the environmental and development crisis. It is they who know how to survive, so it is they who also have the
5.4 · From Ecofeminism to Feminist Political Ecologies