hi again another introduction and a reply to robert auger's question of
what is ecofeminism. my name is suzanne michel, i am a phd student in
geography at the university of colorado at boulder. i just finished my
masters thesis on applying feminist and communicative theory to issues of
wildlife rights in southern CA. i myself have a strong background in
computer science, literature and biogeography -- and do not adhere to the
'essentialist thought' that women are inherently nuturing -- and i am not
sure that was shiva's goal. what i do examine is the social and
historical association and subjugation of women and natural entities. i
also examine political and scientific structures that have been
historically constructed as masculinist -- see donna haraway. what i
believe is important to ecofeminism is the social construction of our
knowledge of nature (to include our bodies) and how this constructed
knowledge reifies a particular race, gender, culture, sexuality etc....
i think a great, and somewhat polemica introduction to ecofeminism for
you robert is a book written by a feminist geographer named joni seager
called "Earth Follies: Coming to feminist terms with the environmental
crises" published i believe 1992 by routledge. has anyone else read
this book? i would be interested to hear their comments on it. that book
has touched a very raw nerve in the geographic community especially those
who are physical scientists or involved in GIS or remote sensing.
by the way, i hope that you don't get the impression that i am
anti-technolgy -- i adhere to donna haraway's idea of cyborg politics --
blurring the boundaries and building affinities between the technical and
humanist thought, between humans and animals, between culture and nature
(and other dualisms) are ways we can address current environmental issues.
suzanne m. michel
geography dept
university of colorado, boulder
(any other people on the net from CU?)
