Gender and the environment don’t sound like two things that would be well together. Surprisingly they do very well, starting with the article, “Gender and Place: Women and Environmentalism” written by Gottlieb we find out that it took women years for them to be recognized as main workers in the work place as well as major forces who fought for the environment. An example would be Cora Tucker, a huge activist who unfortunately found out, “…that environmental issues were white issues.” (Gottlieb 276). This is extremely wrong because every race has a voice about the environment. She goes on to saying that those in power who try to change small communities have no business doing it themselves because they have no idea what the people are going …show more content…
It’s impossible for poor rural women and their communities to cope with the effects of climate change when both are perpetually in crisis mode. Their capacity to adapt must be strengthened. Compared to men in poor countries, women face additional cultural, social and economic barriers that make them more vulnerable to climate change. They have limited access to productive assets such as land, credit, and extension services, and they continue to lack voice and decision-making power on agriculture policies and programs. As a result, they are in many cases the first casualties of volatile climate conditions, falling into food insecurity and malnutrition. This reality demands a gender analysis toward climate change mitigation” (Hunger report 22) This being said, our increase in involvement improving women’s rights for education, ability to voice their opinions and breaking cultural norms that restrict them will result in less stress as well as more food. This will break the cycle of poverty. Educating women agriculturally will benefit them and increase their involvement in growing and cultivating produce, which will lead to them selling what they make and gives in increase in their home’s
The two essays by Michael Pollan and Curtis white talk about climate change in regards to the relationship between the environment and human beings. Although the two essays share the same topic, they take the subject and engage the readers in totally different points of views. Pollan’s essay talks about global and ecological responsibility being a personal virtue while Curtis discusses the socio-economic or political issues underlying sustainability (Pollan; White). These two essays are very different in terms of voice; however these pieces of writing are both important for people all over the world to read. Climate change and environmental disasters are a real issue. Just this year, there have been more storms, cyclones, earthquakes and typhoons all over the world. One cannot look at the state of many developing counties where the majority of the population is exposed and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This issue on developing a viable solution for the problem of anthropogenic gases and global warming is long from being found. Not only this, many people do not want to hear about this issue since they do not think it is real. Unless people have tangible proof that their cars, thermostats and aerosol cans are contributing to climate change, they are not going to give up their lifestyles. By synthesizing the two essays, one can see that there is a need for change and that it is not an issue which should be dealt with in terms of ecological factors or even personal virtue. The social, economic and political factors affecting this problem and the move towards real sustainability should also be a topic that will raise awareness.
Gender, what is the exact meaning of this world in society. When people speak of gender in their conversation, it is most likely a way to distinguish if one’s a male or female. According to Merriam-Webster, gender is describe as a state of being male or female. The importance of the definition offered by Merriam-Webster is the part, “state of being.” Anyone in their own culture/society can define themselves as male or female, with no influence from biological parts. Gender issues have developed into a controversial topic but how did gender history come about? The topic of gender in historical terms could not have started without women, who were discontent about their representation in history, which were none. Green and Troup organized their chapter about Gender History into 4 different topic, explaining the significance of gender in history and analyzing problems in certain research methods.
The roots of ecofeminism are credited to a rising interest in both the environment and women’s rights. These topics became hotly debated after the Victorian era but many scholars say “ecofeminism is a new term for an ancient wisdom” (Diamond & Orenstein). Ecofeminism combines ecological and feminist rights to generate a very virtuous cause. It aims to change human’s relationships with each other and also with the environment, but it of course encompasses much more than that. Ecofeminism can best be defined as an attempt to show that all life is interconnected (Baker). That humans and nature share a common bond and that bond is what each depends upon to ensure the other survives.
Throughout the nineteenth century, Americans advanced westward at an unparalleled pace. Motivated by greed, these pioneers plundered through the previously plush territory, believing the nation’s resources to be inexhaustible and failing to contemplate possible consequences. In particular, anxious lumbermen and ranchers rapaciously ravaged the land in pursuit of instant profits. Fortunately, a few prudent people recognized the need for protective legislation. This nascent environmentalist movement was officially recognized when the federal government claimed responsibility over the preservation of the nation’s natural resources in 1877, with the passage of the Desert Land Act. Though this legislation was insignificant in itself, its creation
The United States has earned the reputation of a rebellious country since its birth in the revolution against Britain. Over the course of history, Americans have repeatedly confronted oppression, both foreign and national, through various wars and rights movements. Unfortunately, when it comes to environmental issues the average American has grown increasingly complacent. With a renewed urgency, government is working to combat global warming, but lacks the necessary social backing. This social support could be supplied through a new environmental movement that differs from past efforts. Throughout American history there have been three categories of environmental movements: preservation, conservation, and modern reform, all of which have failed to bring a ubiquitous social change and substantial impact on the overall environmental health.
In a world facing climate change and other environmental threats, intersectional approaches are critical to solving these challenges. In particular, environmentalism and feminism have ideological and historical roots that crucially inform the understanding of one another. While conventional environmental ethicists maintain that anthropocentrism is the root cause of environmental degradation, ecofeminists build upon their position. They argue that anthropocentrism has historically functioned as androcentrism and that this reality must be addressed within the study of environmental ethics.
Ecofeminism deals with ecological and feminist analyses and movements. It shows the relationship between women and nature in the view of historically, human-earth, patriarchal social structures and world views interconnected with oppression of women and nature. Feminist analysis mainly focused on Liberal, Marxist or Socialist, Cultural, Radical, Post-colonialist and Post-modernist approaches. Political ideology of feminism makes an effort to make women a self-conscious category, and it gives a power to generate a rational sensible attitude towards women, an approach to view the women in their own positions as well as own perspectives. Eco-feminist movements look for non-violent solutions to world problems. They always consider that feminine
Most Americans conjure imagery of a planet replete with pristine wilderness, crystal blue oceans, fresh air, and verdant forests when they think about the natural environment. In recent decades, this description is becoming increasingly applicable only to certain areas of the United States because poor and minority communities are overwhelmingly subjected to dangerous environmental hazards. As such, the concept of environmental racism has become a major issue affecting every aspect of their lives because of their placement and proximity to environmentally dangerous areas such as landfills, toxic waste sites, and other forms of pollution. The environmental justice movement seeks to remedy this problem by recognizing the direct link between economic, environmental, race, and health issues. The biggest aim of environmental justice is for all people to live, work, and play in clean, and environmentally safe communities. However, in mainstream American environmentalism, poor and minority communities are typically ignored in environmental communication because their white counterparts dominate the discourse. Recent scholarship suggests that people of color play a crucial role in fighting environmental discrimination because their cultural traditions, experiences, and histories allow them to uniquely communicate environmental risk and health concerns within their communities.
... use. It is not sufficient to discuss oppression and injustice in one section as separate from the other topics we explore. In every issue we will encounter marginalized groups who are victims of environmental injustice, and I fear we may be tempted to blame them for environmental devastation. In reality, they may know part of the solution we seek. I would also ask that we expand the frameworks we use to include non-dominant frameworks, so that members of our class are not systematically alienated parallel to the groups we may discuss. Let's keep in mind our context, as students living in the upper-middle class, Anglo, patriarchal society of an elite college, as people who are born into conferred dominance. I think we will be able to discuss environmental ethics in a way that is inclusive, pluralistic, contextual and holistic, as recommended by ecofeminist thinkers.
The two articles I am going to look at are Radical Environmentalists vs. the Beavers by Jack Alan Brown Jr. and Environmentalists are Mean Green Joes by F.R. Duplantier.
The economy creates systems of poverty for women in rural and developing nations. This is because the social construction of economic patriarchal systems fuels the deep connection between women and nature through three different aspects. First, economics is socially constructed as gendered and oppressive. Second, women have a special relationship with natural that can be examined in the evidence of women’s lack of autonomy in means of production that interlocks women and nature into continuous cycles of degradation and oppression. Third, these oppressive constructions create interlocking systems of poverty.
ABSTRACT: Karen Warren presents and defends the ecofeminist position that people are wrong in dominating nature as a whole or in part (individual animals, species, ecosystems, mountains), for the same reason that subordinating women to the will and purposes of men is wrong. She claims that all feminists must object to both types of domination because both are expressions of the same "logic of domination." Yet, problems arise with her claim of twin dominations. The enlightenment tradition gave rise to influential versions of feminism and provided a framework which explains the wrongness of the domination of women by men as a form of injustice. Yet on this account, the domination of nature cannot be assimilated to the domination of women. Worse, on the enlightenment framework, the claim that the domination of nature is wrong in the same way that the domination of women is wrong makes no sense, since (according to this framework) domination can only be considered to be unjust when the object dominated has a will. While ecofeminism rejects the enlightenment view, it cannot simply write off enlightenment feminism as non-feminist. It must show that enlightenment feminism is either inauthentic or conceptually unstable.
Ecofeminism was formed by Francoise d’Eaubonne in 1974 to demonstrate how women can make significant contributions to the bettering of the environment. Ecofeminism is a movement that combines ecological and feminism characteristics. It is based on the ecological problems along with the exploitation of women. Ecofeminism comes from the critsism of sexism within the green movement. Women and men play a role in environmental issues, specifically their differences, how they act with regards to the environment, and how adaptable they are to consequences caused by global warming. Ecofeminists fight for a wide variety of women’s rights, including better healthcare systems and cleaner shelters for women who live
The backbone of a stable nation, socially and politically, is agriculture. Agriculture is the largest sector that provides a nation with food and employment. Agriculture is currently being affected by climate change and at the same time it is also a contributor to climate change. The drastic elevations in climate change started from the mid to late 20th century and they have been increasing since then (Boisvenue & Running 2006). Climate change is affecting agriculture by interfering with the efficiency of crop production. Agriculture is facing droughts, flooding, sea level elevations, natural disasters, and health hazards for employees. All of these exponents lead to crop failure that creates famines and food prices to rise. On the other side, agriculture is also contributing to climate change through their output of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints. These are caused by the activities that agriculture engages with such as breeding of livestock, ploughing of fields, deforestation, and the use of pesticides and other agrochemicals. Climate change affects countries differently, mainly due to their ability to adapt and their geographical location. Canada and Russia benefit from the changes in climate while Sudan and Bangladesh are affected negatively, struggling to adapt. Agriculture and climate change are interrelated processes that exist mutually making it harder to reduce one without affecting the other.
...local agriculture and food security, this paper attempts to give an overview of observed and projected climate change in Sri Lanka, its impact on the agriculture sector and climate change adaptation strategies through reviewing recent literature on climate change. To develop appropriate strategies and institutional responses to climate change targeting smallholder farmers it is necessary to have a good understanding about the local farming environment in terms of farmer perception about climate change, key issues faced by farmers in overcoming climate adversities, local knowledge and strengths on climate change adaptation. There is a dearth of such research studies undertaken in Sri Lanka therefore; this paper presents a case study undertaken on a farming community in the intermediate zone to demonstrate how farmers perceive and respond to climate adversities.