ECOFEMINISM

Ecofeminism, is a term coined by Françoise d'Eaubonne.

Ecofeminism is a philosophy born from the union of feminist and ecological thinking and the belief that the social mentality that leads to the oppression of women is directly connected to the social mentality that leads to the abuse of the natural environment.

Ecofeminism is a set of ideas within the environmental movement. A basic assumption of ecofeminism is that patriarchal societies tend to associate women with nature and debase, or rape, both.

Ecofeminism is political movement which finds common ground between environmentalism and feminism.

Therefore ecofeminism and the environmental movement must overthrow patriarchal structures and ideologies in order to protect or enhance the natural environment.

Ecofeminists are attempting to reconceptualize our relationship with nature.

Ecofeminism Meets Criminology - PAULINE LANE, University of East London, Theoretical Criminology, Vol. 2, No. 2, 235-248 (1998)
I suggest that law breaking has traditionally been and continues to be an important part of feminist political protest. Law breaking can also be understood as a symbolic act that seeks to challenge the dominant ideas and values in a society. Additionally, as well as challenging the norms of a society, increasingly, ecofeminists are attempting to reconceptualize our relationship with nature. If this challenge is successful and societies start to develop new ways of valuing the environment this will inevitably reflect on criminology. Currently environmental law is anthropocentric (i.e. human centred), however, if the meanings and values that we attach to nature start to change (i.e. become more ecocentric: nature centred) then essentially what currently counts as a criminal act will have to change.

Gender Equality and State Environmentalism - Kari Norgaard, University of California-Davis, Richard York, University of Oregon - Gender & Society, Vol. 19, No. 4, 506-522 (2005)
There are several compelling reasons to expect that gender equality may serve to foster state environmentalism. However, most previous research on environmental politics has neglected gender. To help further our understanding of the connection between gender and environmental politics, the authors empirically assess the association between the representation of women in national Parliament and environmental treaty ratification, using a large sample of nations. The findings indicate that nations with higher proportions of women in Parliament are more prone to ratify environmental treaties than are other nations. The results point to the importance of considering the role of gender in analyses of state behavior and environmental politics and are consistent with the argument of some feminist theorists that the exploitation of nature and the exploitation of women are interconnected. - gas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/19/4/506

Is the Body Essential for Ecofeminism? - Terri Field, The University of Queensland, Australia 
Organization & Environment, Vol. 13, No. 1, 39-60 (2000) © 2000 SAGE Publications
In this article, the author argues that the body is essential, that is, indispensable, to ecofeminism. Ecofeminists have revealed the many ways in which women and nature have been devalued and dominated. Although the author follows other ecofeminists in disagreeing with a mischaracterisation of ecofeminism as reinforcing an essentialist connection between women and nature, this article’s focus is to venture into a subject that has often been dismissed as inherently essentialist: the body. In fact, it is suggested that it is in the interests of environmental philosophers to begin theorising embodiment from a specifically ecofeminist perspective. A number of useful ways in which ecofeminists have attempted to deal with issues of embodiment are outlined, highlighting the deficiencies in these approaches. By introducing the work of feminist theorists that problematises a number of long-standing and entrenched assumptions regarding embodiment, this article shows how ecofeminists might benefit from these insights and addresses the inadequacies revealed in this work through an ecofeminist analysis. - oae.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/39

Women, Water, Energy - An Ecofeminist Approach 
Greta Gaard, Western Washington University, Fairhaven College 
Organization & Environment, Vol. 14, No. 2, 157-172 (2001) © 2001 SAGE Publications
How can an ecofeminist perspective help us understand and respond to the problems of water pollution and energy production that we face today? Using contemporary examples ranging from the Arrowhead-Weston Project to Manitoba Hydro, Sumas Energy 2, and the Columbia River dams, this article exposes the corporate appropriations of water power from the people and from the land. Ecofeminism illuminates the way in which gendered, cultural assumptions about water, power, and human relations have led to creating a water-power infrastructure that perpetuates environmental sexism, environmental racism, and environmental classism. As an alternative, an ecofeminist approach to water justice advocates strategies for bringing about an ecological democracy, an ecological economics, and a partnership culture in which water and energy flow freely. - oae.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/2/157

Ecofeminism and Process Philosophy - Carol P. Christ,
Feminist Theology, Vol. 14, No. 3, 289-310 (2006) © 2006 SAGE Publications
In this article Carol Christ illustrates the ways in which process philosophy offers dynamic alternatives to dualistic habits of thought. She highlights how the Goddess is the most relational in the process and therefore the most sympathetic to the unfolding of the universe and those who inhabit it, human and non-human alike. Change she asserts is good, indeed divine, a statement in bold contrast to the Western tradition which attempts to fix and control all things. The individual and her relationship to the environment becomes an active process, with neither reduced to mere things, and both ever changing in relationship. The article offers a resounding challenge to those still stuck in dualistic metaphysics and the world that springs from them. - fth.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/3/289

Technology, Scripture, and Ecofeminism: The Wind and the Sea Respond 
Margaret P. Gilleo, Maryville University - Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol. 19, No. 4, 310-313 (1999) © 1999 SAGE Publications
The Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River figure prominently in scripture. The ecosystem of this area has been damaged as a result of technology thoughtlessly applied in the context of anthropocentrism. A contrasting relational approach toward the natural world is offered by ecofeminism, which speaks for those whose voices, both human and nonhuman, have been ignored or negated. This article discusses the environmental history of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, and the adjacent wetlands and forests. It applies an ecofeminist hermeneutic to Mark 4:35-41, the story of Jesus's calming the Wind and the Sea, as a religious rationale for the ethical use of science and technology. - bst.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/19/4/310

Tracking the Elusive Green Women: Sex, Environmentalism, and Feminism in the United States and Europe - Mark Somma, Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY 
Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 1, 153-169 (1997) © 1997 University of Utah
Ecofeminism is a set of theories variously claiming that, because of bio logical determinism, reproductive and maternal roles, the oppression of patriarchy and women's more holistic spiritual connection to nature, or the alternative perspective that feminism can provide, women are more concerned about the environment than are men. Apart from ecofeminist theory, "green" and liberal political parties and candidates in Western na tions appear also to assume that women view pro-environmentalist poli cies more favorably But can "ecofeminism" be identified in Western mass publics? Analyses of EuroBarometer 37, the 1992 American National Elec tion Study, and the 1990-1993 World Values Study all reject biological contentions in ecofeminism, but do generate evidence for a connection between feminist orientations and support for pro-environmentalist posi tions on the part of both women and men. - prq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/50/1/153

Sessions, R. (1996). Deep ecology versus ecofeminism: Healthy differences or incompatible philosophies?