Western vs. Non-Western Feminism

Image by Pixabay.com

Environmental degradation has a profound impact on women in the Global South, affecting them in various ways. Some impacts include:

~ Loss of livelihoods – women in the Global South often rely on occupations like agriculture, fishing, and forestry for their income. Environmental degradation can negatively impact their livelihoods by reducing crop yields and access to resources.

~ Health concerns – toxins from the environment and contaminated water sources can result in poor health, particularly for pregnant women and mothers with young children.

~ Increased workload – women in these regions are usually tasked with collecting resources such as water, firewood, and food, and environmental degradation such as droughts, deforestation, and soil degradation can make these activities more challenging and time-consuming.

~ Forced Displacement – climate change and other environmental degradation can cause women to be forced from their homes and communities, resulting in a loss of cultural

~ Underrepresentation in political decisions – women in the Global South are frequently underrepresented in political decision-making processes, meaning that their experiences and perspectives on environmental degradation may not be taken into consideration.

 

Illustration by Kalyn Dawes

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”  ~ RBG

Women in the Global South are particularly vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation and bear a disproportionate share of the burden. It is crucial to address these issues and ensure that women’s voices are included in decision-making processes in order to promote environmental justice and sustainable development.

Ecofeminism from a Western perspective and a non-Western perspective share a commonality in recognizing the interconnectedness between the oppression of women and environmental degradation. However, there are some differences in the fundamental perspectives.

A Western perspective typically views ecofeminism as a movement that seeks to connect the oppression of women and the degradation of the environment, often through a lens of feminist theory and Western philosophy. On her essay, Ecofeminism: Historic and International Evolution, Hobgood-Oster reminds us that Western ecofeminism tends to focus on issues that “bring attention to the interconnection of justice issues related to women and the environment as a whole” (9). Issues such as reproductive rights and the gender pay gap are key components of their movement.

Image by Juda from Pixabay

However, a non-Western perspective emphasizes the unique experiences of women in non-Western cultures, such as the connection between colonialism and environmental degradation. Non-Western ecofeminists also focus on traditional knowledge and spiritual practices as a means of achieving environmental sustainability.

Bina Agarwal is a non-Western ecofeminist who highlights the importance of recognizing the intersections of gender, class, and caste/race in addressing environmental degradation. She emphasizes the need to understand the relationship between women and men with nature and to address the unequal distribution of resources and power, which perpetuates both gender inequality and environmental degradation.

On her essay, The Gender and Environment Debate: Lesson from India, Agarwal explains that women in rural and tribal areas face disproportionate impact from environmental degradation due to their traditional roles in fetching fuel and fodder, and in some cases being the primary cultivators. However, their daily interactions with nature also give them unique knowledge about species and natural processes, making them valuable sources of information about the environment. As such, women “could thus be seen as both victims of the destruction of nature and as repositories of knowledge about nature, in ways distinct from the men of their class” (128).

Image by Swastik Arora from Pixabay

I don’t think that I find one perspective more appealing or interesting over the other. At this point I feel both address the issues from a different location standpoint. Nonetheless, women in Less Developed Countries (LCDs) and in the Global South are more vulnerable to the impacts of environmental degradation due to factors such as poverty, lack of access to resources, and limited decision-making power. This highlights the importance of considering the intersection of gender, class, and environment when addressing environmental issues.

Image by Elvira Groot from Pixabay

Sometimes we read a book that changes how we view the world. I often find myself recalling passages from Amartya Sen’s book Development as Freedom, one of many books in which he discusses his “human capabilities” theory.  On women’s agency and social change, Sen writes:  “No longer the passive recipients of welfare-enhancing help, women are increasingly seen, by men as well as women, as ‘active agents of change’: the dynamic promoters of social transformations that can alter the lives of both women and men” (189).

These words will stay with me forever. 

* Amartya Sen was an Indian economist who was presented the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory and for his interest in the problems of society’s poorest members.

If interested, here is the link to the documentary film, Living on One Dollar, which follows a group of friends as they experience living on $1 a day for two months in rural Guatemala.

The women in this film are a great example of Sen’s “active agents of change.”

https://livingononedollar.org/