What is ecofeminism? (continued)

Women in the global south are more disproportionately affected by environmental degradation than their western counterparts. Women’s access to natural resources such as water is threatened in the global south by western ideals and specifically, a phenomenon called “biopiracy” (coined by Indian physicist and social activist Vandana Shiva) which refers to stolen indigenous science and common knowledge for capital gain, and which affects people in developing countries who do not have the same privilege to resources such as clean, running water and even naturally growing plants, which we take for granted in the West. In an interview with Scott London, Shiva offers an example of this. “Pesticides made from the neem tree in India are patented. There is now a patent restricting the use of an herb called philantis neruri for curing jaundice. An even more blatant example is the use of turmeric for healing wounds, which is something every mother and grandmother does in every home in India. Now the Mississippi Medical Center claims to have “invented” the capacity of turmeric to heal wounds.” This is reminiscent of the ideals which Gandhi fought for when the British tried to create salt monopolies in India. Gandhi famously said of salt, “Nature has given us this for free, it was meant to sustain us, we will not allow it to become a monopoly to finance the Imperial Army.” Shiva’s current battle against the monopolies who threaten ecology and the freedom of the use of nature for all is a resurgence of Gandhi’s satyagraha– which translates to “struggle for truth” as a direct defiance of cooperation in a growing capitalism dominated ecological system. Navdanya, an organization promoting biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty founded by Shiva stresses that, “all humans have a fundamental right to ecological, economic and political security, to the protection and defense of their resources, their livelihoods and production and consumption patterns shaped by people through their participation. Biodiversity provides the basis of livelihoods of the marginalized majority – of women, peasants, tribals, fisher folk. Biodiversity offers the potential to overcome poverty and powerlessness.” The perspective of ecofeminism from a Western perspective, although aligned in some ways, has many differences to the non- Western perspective. From the Western perspective, Hopgood- Oster emphasizes the symbolic connections between the oppression of women and nature and defines women as “closer to nature” than men which can be counteracted through writing and policy change. On the other hand, Agarwal focuses on the material conditions, economic structures, and political inequalities which stem from ecofeminism and the oppression of women and nature and the role of capitalism (the West) through the fight for land rights, water access, and sustainable agriculture as threatened by globalization and which can be counteracted by environmental justice movements. The two agree, however, that the environmental oppression of women stem from patriarchy which exploits women and nature alike. Both women advocate for sustainability, equality and justice, and that women especially in marginalized communities, bear the brunt of environmental degradation. I believe that the non- Western perspective of ecofeminism as described by Agarwal is more compelling and offers a more clear visual of just how detrimental western practices can be to the environment and how the male dominated control of women and nature must be dismantled if we are going to heal nature and support women who in turn populate our planet and are responsible for nurturing not only our children, but our planet as a whole. A thought I would like to conclude with is a point made by Vandana Shiva’s interview with Scott London in which India has surpassed the West by having a female head of state, a fact that I think is important to think about going forward as we talk about women and nature being dominated by men and how this might be reversed if more women see parity with men on a global scale.