Ecofeminism and Postmodernism
Agency, Transformation, and Future Possibilities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8080103 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick D Murphy (0000-0002-5888-3403, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 41-59 |
| Publication date | 1997-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | NWSA Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1040-0656 • E-ISSN: 1527-1889 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2979/nws.1997.9.3.41 |
| OpenAlex | W2007982294 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 4 |
I begin this essay by presuming that most of my audience is more familiar with concepts related to postmodernism than with those of ecological feminism, more commonly termed ecofeminism. One reason for such a presumption is that I and my presumed audience are already living in the condition of postmodernity as educated professionals in a postindustrial nation-state and have, as a result, been introduced to the various ideas that arise from the ideological formation of postmodernism intended to explain and critique that condition. Another is that postmodernist theories, critiques, and theorists have received more high-profile attention within the academy and from critics of the academy than has the ideological formation of ecofeminism, its theorists, its practitioners, or the actions upon which it is based. A third reason is that none of us, as of yet, is living in any condition remotely similar to that envisioned by ecofeminism. And, indeed, that may be the most significant difference between any version of postmodernism and any version of ecofeminism. Proponents of postmodernism-even those who resist that term but who, including feminists, rely nevertheless on a relatively narrow range of foundational white male theorists associated with that term, such as Derrida, Foucault, and Lacan (e.g., see Comell)-emphasize the ways in which postmodernist theory provides the mechanisms for a critique of the present, an evaluative description and critical interrogation of the current condition of many human beings in much of the world. Postmodernist theorizing focuses on what already exists in order to generate a comprehensive analysis in the form of a negative critique. Such analysis is intended to explain how we have arrived at this present state of indeterminacy, relativity, interpellation, and economic constriction. Ecofeminism as an ideological formation is also concerned with explaining such phenomena. And ecofeminists generally welcome theoretical work that elucidates the contradictory conditions of being that generate tremendous, short-term wealth for the few and intensifying oppression and misery for the many worldwide, at the same time that such conditions threaten the long-term viability of ecosystems for the continuation of many species, including the human. But in contrast to postmodernism, which many see
Agency (philosophy · Biology · Ecofeminism · Engineering ethics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Political science · Postmodernism · Social science · Sociology · Transformation (genetics · Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature · Engineering · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,23 |
| Citation span | 2000 - 2024 (25) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |