ECOFEMINISM

Book Details

• Author: Maria Mies & Vandana Shiva

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• Edition: 2010

• ISBN: 8131603229

• Pages: 336

• Cover: Hardcover

• Sale Territory: South Asia

About the Book

In this powerful and thought-provoking work, Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, two internationally respected feminist activists and writers, come together to present a controversial and engaging environmental agenda. By incorporating interviews and personal narratives, they bring the voices of women from both the North and South into the discussion on environmental degradation, offering fresh insights into ecological issues from a gendered perspective.

The authors explore critical questions such as: Do women involved in environmental movements recognize a link between patriarchy and ecological destruction? How do global militarism and the destruction of nature intersect? Through these discussions, they critique mainstream environmental theories, offering a rigorous and intellectual ecofeminist perspective that is both practical and philosophical.

This book calls for the acceptance of ecological limits, a rejection of the commodification of needs, and a commitment to a new ethics—one that recognizes the importance of community, sustainability, and justice. With an emphasis on the role of women in shaping the future of the environment, it is a must-read for those interested in understanding the complex relationships between gender, ecology, and power.

Contents

1. Introduction: Why We Wrote this Book Together / Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva

PART 1: CRITIQUE AND PERSPECTIVE
2. Reductionism and Regeneration: A Crisis in Science / Vandana Shiva
3. Feminist Research: Science, Violence and Responsibility / Maria Mies

PART 2: SUBSISTENCE V. DEVELOPMENT
4. The Myth of Catching-up Development / Maria Mies
5. The Impoverishment of the Environment: Women and Children Last / Vandana Shiva
6. Who Made Nature Our Enemy? / Maria Mies

PART 3: THE SEARCH FOR ROOTS
7. Homeless in the ‘Global Village’ / Vandana Shiva
8. Masculinization of the Motherland / Vandana Shiva
9. Women have no Fatherland / Maria Mies
10. White Man’s Dilemma: His Search for What He Has Destroyed / Maria Mies

PART 4: ECOFEMINISM V. NEW AREAS OF INVESTMENT THROUGH BIOTECHNOLOGY
11. Women’s Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation / Vandana Shiva
12. New Reproductive Technologies: Sexist and Racist Implications / Maria Mies
13. From the Individual to the Dividual: The Supermarket of ‘Reproductive Alternatives’ / Maria Mies

PART 5: FREEDOM FOR TRADE OR FREEDOM FOR SURVIVAL
14. Self-Determination: The End of a Utopia? / Maria Mies
15. GATT, Agriculture and Third World Women / Vandana Shiva
16. The Chipko Women’s Concept of Freedom / Vandana Shiva

PART 6: SUBSISTENCE: FREEDOM V. LIBERALIZATION
17. Liberating the Consumer / Maria Mies
18. Decolonizing the North / Vandana Shiva
19. People or Population: Towards a New Ecology of Reproduction / Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva

PART 7: CONCLUSION
20. The Need for a New Vision: The Subsistence Perspective / Maria Mies

About the Author
Maria Mies is a sociologist, feminist, and author of several influential books such as Indian Women and Patriarchy and Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale. She has taught at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and is active in women’s and environmental movements in Germany.

Vandana Shiva is a physicist, philosopher, and feminist activist. Director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy, Dehradun, India, she has been at the forefront of environmental activism, including the Chipko Movement. She is the author of numerous best-selling books including Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development and The Violence of the Green Revolution.