Ecofeminism: a Study of Environment Protection Movements of Women in India

Abstract

Ecofeminism emerged as a product of the peace, feminist and ecology movements of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The term 'ecofeminism', coined by French writer Francoise d' Eaubonne in 1974, and further with the organization, in the same year of the first eco-feminist conference 'Women and Life on Earth: Ecofeminism in the 80s', at Amberst, Massachussetts, USA (Spretnak: 1990). Ecofeminism can be defined as a value system, a social movement and practice also offers a political analysis that explores the links between androcentrism and environmental destruction. It is termed as an awareness that begins with the realization that the exploitation of nature is intimately linked to Man's attitude toward women. Eco-feminist literature portrays the historical exploitation and domination of women and nature as going hand in hand, and both are seen as victims of development. It is taken as self-evident that any harm to nature harms women equality, since women are seen as closer to nature than men. The Chipko movement is particularly known because of its actions to resist the destruction of their lands and livelihoods since 1974. In that year Under the leadership of Gaura Devi, a 50-year old illiterate woman, women rushed from their homes to hug the trees (‘chipko’ means hugging) and prevent them from being cut. In Japan, in the 1950s, the Nakabaru Women’s Society and Sanroku Women’s Society protested loudly against pollution from industries and power plants in the Tobata region. While industrial development had made the society richer, the environmental destruction began to threaten the 6 health of local citizens. Women started to raise their voices in opposition and organized an increasingly powerful movement.