Ecofeminism: The Gender and the Environment

Akashinga- Africa’s first armed, plant-based , all-women, anti –poaching unit was established by Damien Mander , an Australian ex-commando in the lower Zambezi valley in Africa. It aims to save wildlife and ecology of the region by empowering women as rangers. They are army-style nature conservationists. They believe that if a community understands the ecological benefit of preserving animals and the environment , then it will eliminate poaching without an armed struggle. It has grown to over 200 rangers at present. The project has improved the lives of several women who were the victims of domestic abuse , child marriage and school dropouts. Now these women can buy their own property , build a house, send their children to school and provide for their families. They are brave and skilled to protect wildlife.

The past decade has seen an increasing trend towards eco –feminism all over the world.  In India eco-destruction is checked by various environmental movements such as the Chipko Movement in the Himalayan foothills. Large scale displacement is caused by hydroelectric projects such as Narmada Valley Project in Central India, the Koel-Karo in Bihar or the Silent –Valley Project in Kerala. Women have always played an active role in environmental movements that seek to prevent such cases of eco-destruction. Ramachandra Guha terms this as a Crusading Gandhian approach. Due to rapid industrialization, environmental degradation is also a pressing issue. According to him, “Modern science is seen as responsible for industrial society’s worst excesses.” According to Mahatma Gandhi, “Although women have been severely affected by environmental degradation and misappropriation, they are today also critical agents of change. They have realized the relationship between man and nature and have evolved a new strategy of feminist environmentalism.” 

Ecofeminsim is an ethical and philosophical movement born out of the conjunction of feminist and ecological trends of thoughts. According to Vandana Shiva, a champion of this movement, there are similarities between domination and oppression of women and non-respect of nature which contribute to environmental destruction. The term ‘ Ecofeminism’ was first published in 1974 by a French feminist, Francoise d’ Eaubonne in her book named “Feminism or death”. Her principles are also stated by Rachel Carson in her book, “Silent Spring”. 

Contrary to the western view of nature, where duality exists between man and women and person and nature, Indians consider nature (Purusha-prakriti) as complementary to each other. The Cartesian concept considers ‘environment’ as a ‘resource’. In this concept, environment is seen as separate from man: it is his surrounding , not his substance. This dichotomy has allowed the latter to subjugate nature as inert and passive , fragmented and an inferior object distinguishable from human existence, which can thus be dominated and exploited by man. Here lies its justification.

However in India, women in rural areas still associate themselves with nature. Science and development are understood as patriarchal projects both historically and ideologically. The scientific revolution in Europe removed all ethical and cognitive constraints against the violation and exploitation of nature. Women have challenged legitimization of the western exploitation of nature and tried to protect it as her ‘Prakriti’ – the life force which protects the earth. They have challenged the Western concept of profit making and accumulation of capital to their own indigenous concept of economics as production by sustainable means. Their ecological struggle is simultaneously aimed at liberating nature from uninhibited exploitation and themselves from getting marginalized. This feminist ideology is percolating through Third world women, the tribal population and peasants with great zeal.

Since women protect and conserve natural life in the forests and sustains life by ensuring the provision of food and water, the destruction of forest ecosystems is vividly experienced by them. In the Himalayas whereas men are engaged in the felling of trees for their livelihood, for women , however, forests mean food , not by destruction but by conservation. The living forests provide them with all means of sustainable food produce. They know how to maintain the life of these living resources through their indigenous knowledge that had been passed on through generations. As  Jayanta Bandopadhyay and Marcus Moench has pointed out “Lopping under appropriate conditions can intensify the density of forests and enhance fodder production.” Groups of women , young and old participate in unison to loop trees for fodder. Unlopped trees have leaves which are hard for cattles to chew. Lopping makes them soft and palatable. This knowledge about how to maintain the life of natural resources is reserved within informal forestry colleges prevalent among women folks. It tells us how to transfer a living resource into a commodity and gain cash from it while conserving it at the same time. In the Himalayas, older women train the younger ones in the art of lopping (pollarding) and collecting forest products. It is used to maximize fodder production. Since fodder collection is primarily women’s work, their role is critical in managing and renewing the biodiversity in forests. Their work is complementary to men. Indigenous forest management was therefore a women’s domain much before the British arrived. 

Even before the onset of ‘Scientific Forestry’ of the colonial regime, Indians had an indigenous system of knowledge of their plants and had generated informal principles of forest management. Grigson found that due to extensive knowledge of plant species, famine had never been a problem in Bastar. The tribals draw half of their food from innumerable edible forest products. In the non-tribal areas, indigenous sylvicultural practices based on sustainable and renewable maximization of forests is carried out by women.

Women can no longer be considered as passive victims of environmental degradation. Their participation in ecological movements has voiced their emancipation and has also articulated the challenges that they are facing in this modern world. The recovery of feminine principles implies perceiving nature as a living organism. It thinks women not as passive beings but as active and productive, just as nature. Men should comprehend the recovery of feminine principles as a relocation of their actions to create life-sustaining not life-threatening societies.

References

https://ia800408.us.archive.org/4/items/StayingAlive-English-VandanaShiva/Vandana-shiva-stayingAlive.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4394078

https://films.nationalgeographic.com/akashinga

Parijat Banerjee

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I am a scholar in history with Masters from Presidency University, Kolkata. My hobbies include reading, writing articles, singing and recitation. At present, I am pursuing my B. Ed course in Education

• Parijat Banerjee

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  The Architect of the grid city of Jaipur: Maharana Sawai Jai Singh II