Ecofeminism

Abstract

Ecofeminism refers to theories and political practices that make connections between feminisms and environmentalisms. Basically, ecofeminists claim that the oppression, inequality, and exploitation of certain groups (people of color, women, poor people, LGBT people, third world people, animals) are theoretically and structurally related to the degradation and overexploitation of the environment. Ecofeminism involves a double intervention: the claim that feminist issues need to be part of environmentalist agendas and analyses; and the claim that environmental issues need to be part of feminist agendas and analyses. Outside of this basic insight, there is little agreement over the specific character or mechanism of the connection between social inequalities and environmental problems.