Chapter 7

Feminism, Environmentalism and Postmodernism

Feminism

• An ideology centered on eliminating oppression of all human beings while stressing the importance of women.

PatriarchyThe Rule of Men over WomenControl by Men of a disproportionately large

share of power

• Women have been denied• Equality of Resources• Equality of Political Power• Equality of Educational Opportunities• Equality of Respect• Equal Protection from Violence• Equal Protect by the State

Development of Feminism

• Debates over social roles of men and women go back to classical and biblical times

“I recognize no rights but human rights – I know nothing of man’s rights and

women’s rights.”-- Angelina Grimke

“You have trampled underfoot every vital

principle of our government. My natural

rights, my civil rights, my political rights, are

all alike ignored. Robbed of the

fundamental privilege of citizenship, I am

degraded from the status of a citizen to that

of a subject.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton1815-1902

1848 Convention in Seneca Falls

“All laws which prevent women from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or whichplace her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force or authority.”

Main Issues

• WWI• The Vote• Birth Control

• WWII• Desire to have same

opportunities as men“Rosie the Riveter”

Personal is the Political

• Politics is about power• There is politics between men and

women both individually and as groups• Power relations between friends and lovers

and within families• Who spends how much• Who allocates household tasks• Division of labor

Sexism

• Socialization• Religion• Language

Response? • Women want equality for all humans• Rights and opportunities should not be

based on gender

Environmentalism

Green Political Thought

• Silent Spring (1962)• The Population Bomb

(1968)• The Whole Earth

Catalog (1968-1981)• Whole Earth Catalog

(1994)

Theorists of Environmentalism

• Andre Gorz (b. 1924)

• Ivan Illich (b. 1926)

• Murray Bookchin (b. 1921)

Ivan Illich wrote ofthe destructive power of modern institutions that

"create needs faster than they can create satisfaction, and in the process of trying to meet the

needs they generate, they consume the earth."

Ecotopia

• Published in 1977• A country formed of

Washington, Oregon, and Northern California• Closeness to nature• Plants inside trains• Knowledge of the natural world• recycling

Principles of Environmentalism• A high evaluation of nature• Compassion toward other peoples,

generations, and species• Avoid technology that not

environmentally sensitive• Limiting growth• A new social paradigm• New politics

New Politics

• Greater participation• Simpler living• Cooperation• Public versus private solutions to many

issues• Greater emphasis on worker

satisfaction

Ecosocialism• Andre Gorz

• Marxist who argued for a way of life that is no longer dominated by work

• Simpler lifestyle• Productions limited to socially necessary goods

• Everyone works, but they work less and at more satisfying jobs

• Accepted possibility of using technological means to solve world’s pollution problems

• Most environmentalists reject “authoritarian technological solutions.”

Ecosocialism• Murray Bookchin

• An Anarchist• “An ecological society would fully recognize

that the human animal is biologically structured to live with its kind, and to care for and love its own kind within a broadly and freely defined social group.”

• Radically decentralized• Participatory• Replaces hierarchy with society that respects

each individual and the planet

Ecofeminism

• Combines feminism, the peace movement, and environmentalism

• Women more in tune with nature than men

• Ecological problems stem from the male notion of dominance as applied to nature and other human beings

Ursula K. Le Guin

Deep Ecology

• Most controversial movement within environmentalism

• Places the rest of nature above humans• It is all right to damage human interests and even

human beings to protect nature• Earth First!

• “Deeper” values the emphasize the entire biosphere, as opposed to just human beings

Animals Rights

• Two basic views• Animals have rights at same

level as human beings• Have right to humane treatment

• Animals have more rights, including right to not be exploited by human beings

• Vegetarianism• Rejection of using animals for scientific experimentation

• Most environmentalists recognize need to protect animals

Neo-Luddites

• Ned Ludd• Workman who broke stocking

frames in 1779• Machines taking away jobs

• Take direct action against the forces they see destroying the environment

• Oppose technology• Unabomber called for return to a

more natural, less technological way of life

Monkeywrenching• Civil disobedience or direct

action• Individuals

• Butterfly (Julia Hill)• 738 days in tree to protest

logging• Saved Luna and other old-

growth forest

• Small groups• Ecowarriors

• Practice what they preach by living in voluntary poverty

Eco-Village Movement

• Small settlements the integrate human life into the natural environment

Green Political Parties

• Political problem of how to balance competing interests

• U.S. Green party• Green Key Values

Sustainability

• Energy policy• Elimination of nuclear power• Development of renewable energy sources

• Solar• Wind power

• Reduce-Reuse-Recycle• Alternative transportation

• Natural gas vehicles• Solar and electric vehicles• Bicycles and bikeways• Mass Transit

Bioregionalism and Biodiversity• Bioregionalism

• The recognition that no single policy is appropriate to any political area

• Each ecological region has its own, unique relationship among land, flora, fauna, and the human inhabitants

• This relationship needs to be respected

• Biodiversity• Each bioregion is biologically diverse• Diversity must be maintained and fostered

Genetically Modified Foods

• Controversial issue• Advocates

• Food identical to natural foods• Same concept as selective breeding• Can radically increase food production and

solve world hunger• Opponents

• Claims not proven scientifically• Need to closely monitor experiments

That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be

good for the bees. -- Marcus Aurelius

Postmodernism

• Any ideology putting forward absolute statements as timeless truths should be viewed with profound skepticism.

• Metanarratives• Any system of thought that

identifies its own explanation of reality as an undeniable truth having independent validation.

• Use language to create names for what they view as reality.

Jean-Francois Lyotard