Plumwood Theory Of Ecofeminism

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A variety of literature is accessible on the topic projected for research. Various writers and theorists have presented their own views about ecofeminism. Francoise d’ Eaubonne, Vandana Shiva, Alice Walker, Karen J. Warren, Greta Gard, Star Hawk, Andy Smith and Val Plumwood are among the prominent ecofeminists voices. Ecofeminism also called ecological feminism that relates feminism with ecology and argues the women-nature relation. Ecofeminists consider that this relation is demonstrated through the traditionally feminine values of reciprocity, nurturing and cooperation, which exist in both women and Nature. They suggest that there are similarities among the subordination of women and the environmental degradation. Ecofeminist theory affirms …show more content…

According to Plumwood, “Ecological feminism is essentially a response to a set of key problems thrown up by the two great social currents of the later part of this century feminism and the environment movement and addresses a number of shared problems” (P-10).The researcher will focus on Val Plumwood’s book, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature in which she explains the association between humanity and environment concerning to an eco-feminist ideology. The book shows how the feminist critical analysis of dominant forms of rationality can be comprehensive to incorporate theories of gender, race and class oppression with that of the domination of nature. Val Plumwood sheds light on the affiliation between women and Nature, and the link between ecological feminism and other feminist ideologies. She equates ecofeminism with the third wave of feminism: “It is not a tsunami, a freak tidal wave which has appeared out of nowhere sweeping all before it. Rather, it is prefigured in and builds on work not only in ecofeminism but in radical feminism, cultural feminism and socialist feminism over the last decade and a half.” (39) Plumwood points out that ecofeminism is different from other feminisms in its insistence on “by making an account of the connection to nature central” (39) In her model, domination is not restricted to white western males but expands to include the concept of a “multiple, complex cultural identity of the master formed in the context of class, race species and gender domination” (5). Plumwood presents a knowledgeable explanation of the relation of ecology and women and demonstrates that how male domination link to the domination of Nature is significant. She highlights the dualism involved in the specific opposition between Man/Woman, Culture/Nature, Reason/Nature, Subject/Object, Human/Nature

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