HHIS-426B: Life on Earth

Ecofeminism is a theoretical, academic, and activist movement that locates critical connections between gender oppression and the exploitation of natural resources. It developed from the environmental, anti-nuclear, and feminist movements in the late 1970s and 1980s; in addition to their primary concerns around the subordination of nature and women, ecofeminists sought to resist racism, homophobia, and the capitalist patriarchy. As quickly as the movement was developed, artists began adopting an ecofeminist position, producing ambitious, often site-specific work that addressed the systemic subjection of women and the environment. This course will use ecofeminism as a both a lens and departure point for considering new methodologies for thinking-with our natural environment in the twenty-first century. We will examine anthropocentric notions around both gender and ecology in order to call for new positions that embrace communality, intersectionality, mythmaking, joy, and reparative action.