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3.12 Ecofeminism

Quick notes — start here

  • Environmental harm has unequal social effects.
  • Check work, land, water, time and decision-making.
  • Women are not naturally closer to nature.
  • Include affected people in environmental decisions.
  • Formal definition: Ecofeminism investigates connections between the domination of women and the exploitation of nature; feminist environmental analysis also examines gendered access to resources, labour and decision-making.

Simple example: In an illustrative village, a damaged water source lengthens the journey of those responsible for collecting water, often women and girls. This can reduce study time and paid-work opportunities. A new water point helps, but its location and management should reflect users' knowledge and fair decision-making.

Remember this sentence: Environmental justice requires attention to the social organisation of vulnerability and control, while avoiding essentialist assumptions about women and nature.

Check yourself: Trace three consequences of water scarcity and identify who decides the response.

Detailed bullet notes and references

Plain-English explanation: Explain exposure, responsibility and power. Environmental harm becomes gendered when people perform different tasks, own different assets or have different authority. Distinguish material explanations from claims that women are inherently closer to nature.

Critical point: Do not portray all women as naturally caring environmental protectors. Wealth, location, land ownership and occupation produce different interests and capacities. Women's participation matters because of rights and relevant experience, not a biological destiny.

Memory cue: WATER: Work, Assets, Time, Exposure, Representation. This is a study aid, not a scholarly framework.

💡

One-line formula: Domination of women and exploitation of nature are connected.

Thinkers → Vandana Shiva, Maria Mies, Carolyn Merchant. Limit → don't assume women are naturally closer to nature.

Core argument

  • Some patterns of domination over women and exploitation of nature are connected.

Thinkers

  • Vandana Shiva
  • Maria Mies
  • Carolyn Merchant

Example

  • Water scarcity can increase unpaid water-collection work in communities where women usually perform it.

Practice

  • Environmental justice.
  • Access to resources and women's participation in environmental decisions.

Criticism

  • Avoid assuming women are naturally closer to nature.
  • Ecological effects differ by context.

Compare

  • Ecofeminism vs development feminism: women–environment relationships vs gendered effects of development policy (see 3.13).

Exam question

  • "Ecofeminism links the domination of women with the domination of nature." Discuss.

📝 Extra notes

  • Origin of the term: Françoise d'Eaubonne, Le féminisme ou la mort (1974) coined "écoféminisme".
  • Key examples: Chipko movement (India, 1970s) — often linked to women's forest protection; Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement (Kenya, 1977); Vandana Shiva's work on seeds, water and food security; Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature (1980) — how modern science framed nature as a passive resource.
  • Two strands: spiritual / cultural (women's closeness to nature) and materialist / social (women's daily responsibility for water, fuel and food).

🧪 Worked example — water collection

  • Situation: in drought-affected areas such as parts of Thar in Sindh, women and girls often walk long distances to fetch water. 🔎 Use a dated source if you cite figures.
  • Ecofeminist reading: environmental degradation increases unpaid labour for women and reduces time for school and paid work.
  • Policy link: water infrastructure, women's participation in local water committees, climate-adaptation programmes.
  • Limitation: avoid assuming women are naturally closer to nature (essentialism); effects vary by region, class and livelihood.

CSS answer extension — ecofeminism and climate (2026 Q5)

  • Thesis: Ecofeminist thought asks how social hierarchies and environmental conditions interact. Feminist environmentalism examines access to land, water, housing and public services.
  • Theory: Contrast essentialist interpretations with material explanations of resource allocation and exposure to risk.
  • Mechanism: Explain unequal water-collection duties, household care, income insecurity and differences in access to evacuation and health services.
  • Pakistan cases: Discuss the 2022 floods and urban heat stress as distinct hazards that affect households according to location, employment and resources.
  • Critical paragraph: Neither all women nor all men face identical environmental conditions; identify class, disability and rural/urban variation.
  • Close: A thorough answer combines specific physical hazards with social arrangements and avoids portraying women as inherently closer to nature.
  • Past paper: 2026 Q5 — 3.PYQ — Feminist theories and 20/10-mark model answers (2016–2026).

✅ How to score

  • Explain the link between domination of nature and of women via a concrete example (water, fuel, land), then give the criticism.
  • Compare with development feminism (3.13): environment-focused vs policy-focused.

⚠️ Common mistakes

  • Presenting "women are closer to nature" as fact.
  • Ignoring the material (workload) argument.

❓ Active recall

  • Name three ecofeminist thinkers and one movement.
  • Give a Pakistan example and one criticism.

Exam-ready answer — Ecofeminism

Ecofeminism examines connections between the domination of women and exploitative relations with nature. Its diverse strands range from cultural interpretations to material analyses of labour, resources and development.

The material connection becomes visible when environmental damage interacts with unequal responsibilities. Those who collect water, grow food or provide household care may bear additional work when resources become scarce. Limited land ownership or political influence can reduce their ability to shape the response.

Scholars associated with ecofeminism, including Carolyn Merchant, Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, have developed different accounts of these relationships. Their work should not be treated as one uniform theory, especially where claims about women's connection to nature are contested.

A gender-sensitive environmental response examines time burdens, assets, exposure and decision-making. Participation matters because affected people have rights and relevant knowledge, not because all women possess an innate environmental virtue.

Class, geography and occupation also shape interests. A wealthy landowner and a landless worker may face the same hazard with very different resources.

Example and application

In an illustrative village, a damaged water source lengthens the journey of those responsible for collecting water, often women and girls. This can reduce study time and paid-work opportunities. A new water point helps, but its location and management should reflect users' knowledge and fair decision-making.

Conclusion

Environmental justice requires attention to the social organisation of vulnerability and control, while avoiding essentialist assumptions about women and nature.