Reclaiming ecofeminism
We have witnessed groundbreaking environmental campaigns in recent years: Greta Thurnberg’s #fridaysforfuture fervour, the #imadeyourclothes anti-fast fashion campaign and the #breakfreefromplastic movement. Young womxn have mobilised in immense numbers for these environmental issues, but there is another call to action on the horizon. The European Parliamentary Election 2019 is your next chance to stand up for the protection of equality, climate and our health. We, at WECF, decided to cut through the jargon in party manifestos and policy statements to bring you a manifesto scorecard which ranks party commitments to a gender-just and sustainable Europe. We want the #ecofeministsscorecard to be the next campaign championed by womxn in Europe. As Greta Thurnberg’s small beginnings have shown us, an enormous amount of impact can be made through collective action.
Our definition of ecofeminism
For us ecofeminism means, using an intersectional feminist approach when fighting structural barriers that prevents us from enjoying a healthy environment. Meaning, we take a holistic approach, recognising that we all come with a different baggage of discrimination (or lack thereof) depending on our gender, age, race, sexual identity, education, religion, ability or social economic status. These barriers, among others, include capitalism, extractivism, militarism, gender-based violence and shrinking space for civil society to influence.
Intersectionality
The term was first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw and in simple terms means that a person does not only experience the world from the perspective of patriarchy, but through various discriminating power structures. In other words, the interplay of discrimination due to race, education, sexuality, ability, class, age, language, culture, gender and ethnicity determines a person’s opportunities and how they interact with society.
Ecofeminist library
Articles
Books
Poems
Podcasts
Videos
- The true cost – a documentary about the garment industry that shows the butterfly effect of a neoliberal capitalist system. It clearly shows the interplay of various structures of discrimination and how it impacts people around the world and our environment.
Submit your scorecard
Please send us your completed scorecards, including a short summary of of what you found when filling in the scorecard. We will publish it on our website below. Don’t forget to spread the word! Share it with your family and friends, colleagues and facebook groups etc. Remember to always use the hashtag #EcofeministScorecard.
Rejecting essentialism
Why do we talk about “reclaiming” ecofeminism? What is there to reclaim? Well in the early days, when ecofeminism came about as a theory, it was often looked at from a very narrow perspective. Grand assumptions were made that weren’t necessarily rooted in our intersectional realities. Some claimed that women were more nurturing and thus closer to nature. Their underlying assumption was that no matter where in the world, women experienced the same challenges. This line of thinking fails on several levels as it doesn’t recognise the diversity of women and their experiences. It also makes assumptions based on gender roles created by society, rather than tackles them. This is why we are rejecting the old definitions of ecofeminism and pushing for a more intersectional and modern definition that fits more in line with where the movement is today.
