Mies and Shiva's Ecofeminism

A New Testament

Bibliographic Data

ID3947235
AuthorsMaxine Molyneux (0000-0002-3548-0943), Deborah Lynn Steinberg
Year1995
Volume49
Issue1
Pages86-107
Publication date1995-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-7789 • E-ISSN: 1466-4380
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/fr.1995.8
OpenAlexW1993977365
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited13

It is difEcult to identify the boundaries of what constitutes ecofeminism as both a field of critical theory and as a politics. Ecofeminism is constituted by, and draws upon a diverse range of political and theoretical projects including environmental studies, critiques of science and modernity, development studies and a rsnge of feminist critical writing and activism. Nevertheless, it can be argued that there are several common themes that run through most ecofeminist writing. These include: a critique of patriarchal science, a concern with the degradation of 'nature/the enuronment and the making of links between these two and the oppression of women. The publication of Mies's and Shiva'sEcofeminism (1993) marks a notable attempt to bring together these diverse strands, including those themes common to most ecofeminist texts, which the authors consider to constitute a definitive basis on which an ecofeminist politics can be constructed. Ecofeminism is a collection of twenty essays, some of which have been published elsewhere and most of which draw upon earlier work. The book has been widely reviewed, largely due to the international profile of its authors and their long history of engagement in feminist political debate. Maria Mies is perhaps best known for her book Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale (1986); Vandana Shiva has received much acclaim for her book Staying Alive (1989). These earlier works clearly inform the multi-stranded agenda of Ecofeminism. It is our view that Ecofeminism is an important collaboration at a number of levels. First, it represents an attempt to elaborate a dialogue between a Western feminist and 'Southern' feminist standpoint in which some differences and many commonalities emerge. Second, the themes of the book respond to the current and growing interest in how global or international processes are gendered. Third, the book embodies and

Ecofeminism · Environmental ethics · Feminism · Oppression · Patriarchy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy