Ecofeminist Approach Research Articles

In the Hollow of the Wave: Virginia Woolf and Modernist Uses of Nature (review)

Reviewed by: In the Hollow of the Wave: Virginia Woolf and Modernist Uses of Nature Alison Lacivita In the Hollow of the Wave: Virginia Woolf and Modernist Uses of Nature. Bonnie Kime Scott. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011. Pp. xv + 272. $39.50 (cloth). Bonnie Kime Scott’s In the Hollow of the Wave: Virginia Woolf and Modernist Uses of Nature is a very welcome addition to Woolf studies, a product of increasing interest in Woolf and the environment. Perhaps the first monograph to address the intersection of modernism and nature through an ecocritical perspective, Scott’s study provides intriguing insights into how the concept of nature impacted Woolf’s life and work, and it paves the way for future inquiry into the possibility of an ecocritical modernism. Predictably, Scott chooses to focus on an ecofeminist approach to Woolf while also drawing on postcolonial ecocritical theory. Her introduction explains that she has chosen the word “uses” for the title of her study because the word “calls attention to nature as a deliberate discourse, rather than essence or aesthetic decoration” (3). This small word, “use,” coheres the study in many respects. There is no one unifying way in which Woolf presents nature; rather, she offers a plethora of different representations dependent upon character, context, and time, and this subjectivity of nature is what guides the study. As Scott concludes at the end of the first chapter, “We now have the theoretical insight to consider the ways that nature itself is a cultural construction, variable with the ages, and highly political, as empowered intellectuals, or nations, seek to regulate or to collect nature for their own ends. Modernism provides a fine example, and Virginia Woolf a case worth pursuing in depth” (41). The first chapter, “Towards a Greening of Modernism,” situates Woolf within a larger context of literary modernism and nature, discussing a diverse range of writers including H. D., Katherine Mansfield, T. S. Eliot, and Wyndham Lewis. Scott writes of the “reinsertion” of nature into modernist studies (was it ever there in the first place?), supported by the somewhat weak assertion that modernists “regularly make reference to nature, or its control, in their writing” (13). The second chapter, “Diversions of Darwin and Natural History,” is perhaps the strongest; it covers some hallowed ground in Woolf studies (Gillian Beer) and provides absorbing glimpses into the Stephen family’s relationship to natural history. From Leslie Stephen’s admiration of Gilbert White (45) to Thoby’s extensive bird-watching records and sketches (56–57) to Virginia’s diary records of family trips to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington as early as 1897 (48), Scott builds a convincing base for many of her arguments concerning Woolf’s texts. The next two chapters, “Limits of the Garden as Cultured Space” and “The Art of Landscape, the Politics of Place,” also cover familiar ground in Woolf criticism, but they provide some curious readings, particularly in terms of the Bloomsbury circle’s engagement with nature (mostly in terms of the visual arts), the construction of “Englishness” through images of the rural landscape, and issues of gender and class as they relate to perceptions of nature. Particularly interesting is Scott’s discussion of gardens and flowers as forming part of the material text, an idea which stems from Vanessa’s woodcuts for Virginia’s pieces. For example: “In a 1927 illustrated version of Kew Gardens, flowers and leaves surround the words of the text,” for which there is also an accompanying image (90). Many of the thought provoking readings of Woolf’s “uses” of nature in Scott’s study, and in these two chapters in particular, are supported by the extensive archival research undertaken for the project; the photographs of Woolf with red-hot pokers, of Leslie Stephen with his “Alpine Guide,” and of Woolf and Vita Sackville-West with their spaniels are just a few examples of ephemera that support and complement the text. Another strong quality of this study is how Scott demonstrates nature seeping into Woolf’s life at all points, a tendency that the author illustrates through the careful accumulation and presentation of seemingly small details extending from archival research. According to...

The True wealth of nations: Catholic social thought and economic life

CONTENTS LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS PREFACE INTRODUCTION 1. What Does Catholic Social Thought Recommend for the Economy? The Economic Common Good as a Path to True Prosperity ALBINO BARRERA 2. What is Prosperity for All in the Catholic Social Tradition ANDREW YUENGERT 3. Catholic Social Thought, Civil Economy, and the Spirit of Capitalism STEFANO ZAMAGNI 4. The Political and Economic Impact of CST since 1891: Christian Democracy and Christian Labour Unions in Europe VERA ZAMAGNI 5. Just Contracts and Catholic Social Teaching: A Perspective from Anglo-American Law VINCENT D. ROUGEAU 6. . The Unjust Contract: A Moral Evaluation DANIEL K. FINN 7. From a Theological Frame to a Secular Frame: How Historical Context Shapes our Understanding of the Principles of Catholic Social Thought MARY HIRSCHFELD 8. Wealth Creation, Social Virtues: Social Capital's Role in Creating and Sustaining Wealth JOHN A. COLEMAN 9. What Do We Know about the Economic Situations of Women and What Does it Mean for a Just Economy? SIMONA BERETTA 10. Truly Africa, and Wealthy! What Africa Can Learn from Catholic Social Teaching about Sustainable Economic Prosperity PAULINUS I. ODOZOR, C.S.SP. 11. Capital, Spirit, and Common Wealth JON P. GUNNEMANN 12. An Ecofeminist Approach to the True Wealth Project MAYLIN BIGGADIKE 13. . Moving from Research to Action: Some Lessons and Directions (From a Catholic Social Ministry Bureaucrat) JOHN CARR

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

What is 'green' in the green new deal – criteria from ecofeminist and post-Keynesian economics

This article aims in general at further fulfilling the ambition of green economics to be a holistic paradigm synthesising and integrating a diverse set of heterodox economic approaches and philosophies. In particular, it addresses the current lack of macroeconomic and more specifically post-Keynesian short run theories in green economics. This new paradigm is in its essence a radical ecofeminist approach to economics. From this vantage point, the ecofeminist framework of (re)productivity developed by Biesecker and Hofmeister is indeed very congruent with green economics. Moreover, the goal of the article is to develop normative (ecofeminist) criteria for green stimulus packages. This could improve green economic policy formulation and real-world implementation [Turk, (2008), p.267].

Equality, Harmony, and the Environment: An Ecofeminist Approach to Understanding the Role of Cultural Values on the Treatment of Women and Nature

Abstract This research investigated the associations between hegemonic cultural values, gender equality, and environmental protection. Psychologists have largely studied domination of people over other people (e.g., men over women) rather than domination of people over the environment. Ecofeminism, however, theorizes that hegemonic systems of power and oppression materialize both as domination of men over women and as domination of people over the environment, leading to degradation of the ecosystems. Consequently, we theorize that gender inequality and impacts on the natural world should be related at a national level, and that cultural tendencies to prioritize hegemonic values of hierarchy of people (rather than egalitarianism) and mastery over the environment (rather than harmony) should be related to negative environmental impacts and gender inequality. Data from the United Nations (2009) on gender equality and women's empowerment, Schwartz's (2006) assessment of cultural value orientation, and Yale's...

Reproductive technologies and the quality of offspring in Asia: reproductive pioneering and moral pragmatism?

This paper highlights a number of theoretical issues relevant to this special issue of Culture, Health & Sexuality on the quality of offspring, including gender selection, ecofeminism, eugenics, reproductive agency, moral pioneering and reproductive pragmatism in China, India and Japan. First, it discusses various approaches to choice in sex selection, focusing on an instrumentalist and an ecofeminist approach. Second, it discusses issues of reproductive choice in the light of various concepts of eugenics and power, which have been used to characterise the relationship between the state, the individual and prenatal genetic testing. Third, it queries Foucault's notion of biopower in relation to reproductive agency. In reviewing the evidence, the chapter raises questions about how women and parents in Asian societies can be understood in terms of ‘reproductive pragmatism’, ‘empowerment’ and/or ‘moral pioneering’ when faced with the use of new reproductive technologies in modern societies.

(Un)Natural Selection: The Drainage Of The Hula Wetlands, An Ecofeminist Reading

Ecofeminist philosophy demonstrates and criticizes the interconnections between the domination of Woman, Native and Nature. These ‘Others’ have been represented in western thought as close to each other and as inferior. By the conceived virtue of being wild and unpredictable, unreasonable, passionate and lustful, they threaten Man, Civilization and Culture. A ‘natural’ and logical response to this threat has been the need to tame, possess and control, and even eradicate these inferior ‘Others’. I have used the ecofeminist approach to examine two geography books describing the Hula Valley, Israel, and the drainage of its wetlands in the 1950s. I have analyzed the two narratives by exploring the inter-connected attitudes toward Nature and ‘Native’ – the local Palestinians – in the specific historical context of place and time. The two texts exhibit divergent narratives, yet one emerged as the dominant (hi)story: the western discourse of modernity, of technical and scientific triumph over cultural backwardness and over wild and dangerous nature. Domination is thus constructed as natural, logical and inevitable, and its narrative traces a trajectory from evil to good, from chaos to order, while masking and hiding stories about power and privileges, land and territory.

An Ecofeminist Approach to Ecotourism Development

This paper raises the question of what an ecofeminist approach may contribute to ecotourism development. It addresses shared discourse in the international literatures of these distinct ecologically based fields of study. Concepts such as sustainability and environmental justice inform both bodies of work. We illustrate this through the words of ecofeminist Vandana Shiva and ecotourism researcher Tej Vir Singh. Uses of ecofeminist-based gender analysis in ecotourism development projects are examined, drawing from the observations of various researchers, and case studies from around the globe. In conclusion, it is argued that an ecofeminist approach asks critical questions for ecotourism development projects, highlighting issues of agency, gender awareness, and equity necessary for ecologically sustainable communities.

WOMEN LIVING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL ILLNESS

We used a case study approach to explore the experiences of 4 women who live with environmental illness (EI). From the unstructured interviews we found a variety of themes that pointed to the complexity of EI and its severe impact on the lives of these women, their families, and their significant others. The methodology was guided by an ecofeminist approach, which enabled a critical analysis of the data to move beyond the personal to the broader sociopolitical forces shaping society. We identified the following themes from the women's stories: indirect exposure to incitants through people with whom these women come in close physical contact; the phenomenon of burden of proof, meaning that these women are forced to explain and legitimize their illness on a continuous basis; taking refuge from a hostile environment in social isolation to a more controlled environment, not as a matter of choice, but because of the severity of the illness; and, finally, a change in value system was integral to the entire process of living with EI.

WOMEN LIVING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL ILLNESS

We used a case study approach to explore the experiences of 4 women who live with environmental illness (EI). From the unstructured interviews we found a variety of themes that pointed to the complexity of EI and its severe impact on the lives of these women, their families, and their significant others. The methodology was guided by an ecofeminist approach, which enabled a critical analysis of the data to move beyond the personal to the broader sociopolitical forces shaping society. We identified the following themes from the women's stories: indirect exposure to incitants through people with whom these women come in close physical contact; the phenomenon of burden of proof, meaning that these women are forced to explain and legitimize their illness on a continuous basis; taking refuge from a hostile environment in social isolation to a more controlled environment, not as a matter of choice, but because of the severity of the illness; and, finally, a change in value system was integral to the entire process of living with EI.

Gender, Environment and Development in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT Using data from research in a Zimbabwean resettlement area, this paper argues that considering the environment enriches gender analysis in Southern Africa. The paper also provides an overview of various feminist approaches to the study of women and the environment in Southern Africa over the past two decades. Ecofeminist approaches are found to be problematic, particularly the theoretical position that women are somehow closer to nature than men are. The paper argues that a feminist political ecology approach that calls for careful consideration of the cultural, ideological and institutional context under study works well to reveal important gendered social dynamics and relations regarding the environment. Finally, through challenging the “crisis narrative” that runs through environmental studies, including feminist political ecology, the paper argues for a new dimension in gender and environment research.

Women, Water, Energy

How can an ecofeminist perspective help us understand and respond to the problems of water pollution and energy production that we face today? Using contemporary examples ranging from the Arrowhead-Weston Project to Manitoba Hydro, Sumas Energy 2, and the Columbia River dams, this article exposes the corporate appropriations of water power from the people and from the land. Ecofeminism illuminates the way in which gendered, cultural assumptions about water, power, and human relations have led to creating a water-power infrastructure that perpetuates environmental sexism, environmental racism, and environmental classism. As an alternative, an ecofeminist approach to water justice advocates strategies for bringing about an ecological democracy, an ecological economics, and a partnership culture in which water and energy flow freely.

Reconsidering diversity in agriculture and food systems: An ecofeminist approach

The concept of diversity is at the center of environmental and social movements. This paper discusses four aspects of diversity related to agriculture: biological, social, cultural, and product and suggests that viewing diversity solely as difference skirts the issues of redistribution of power and shifting social relations. Ecofeminist conceptions of diversity are discussed with a focus on seeds, forests, and sustainable agriculture. Women's activities at the grassroots level provides new insights and pathways to diversity that combine social, agricultural, and biological issues.