Women And Forests In Solidarity: A Multispecies Companionship Case From the Aegean Forests of Turkey

Abstract

Building on a feminist multispecies perspective, this article examines the interwoven relationships between forest ecosystems and the lives of rural women living along the Aegean coast of Turkey. Ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Aegean region’s forest settlements between 2018 and 2022 forms the basis of this study. I focus on three ways women highlight their entanglements with forests into weaving conjoined webs of life: First, rural women’s recollections of the forest and their understanding of the forest’s ecosystem are firmly rooted in the ways they have grown up, providing a cultural context for women’s subsequent forest advocacy. Second, rural women have a profound understanding of the edible plants that grow in the forests. Third, because they regularly forage with other women, rural women form deep relationships with other women and with the forests themselves. I show how these three factors—childhood memories, expertise in foraging and forest management, and deep ties of sociality—provide the impetus for rural women to protest deforestation. Such protests are driven by a collective concern for their own well-being, the good of their communities, and for forests.