Ecofeminism and Globalization

Abstract

For some time I have wanted to bring the global economic agenda into the centre of ecological and feminist religious reflections. I sense the urgency of this task, and the need for our ecofeminist reflections to be pertinent to the global economic ghoul that is shaping many levels of current reality. In a desire to evaluate the power and liberatory potential of ecofeminist discourses in light of globalization, and in particular global corporate rule, I began this inquiry. A further desire was to expand the capabilities of ecofeminist liberation theologies to confront globalization. This article is a reflection on the process of attempting these goals. In brief, the results have been a disturbing realization of the power of corporate rule and the fallibility of ecofeminism.In an initial approach to the relationship between ecofeminism and globalization, I drafted what seemed to be useful categories of reflection : (1) to challenge the theoretical framework of religious ecofeminism to move beyond the cultural, ideological and conceptual connections between women and nature into acknowledging the centrality of the concrete incidents of deforestation, drought, pollution, militarization and socio-economic impoverishment; (2) to support the need for religious critiques of the dominant global systems of economic profit that function through oppression of those who benefit least, and leave ecological and social ruin in its wake; (3) to suggest paths of liberation from the vantage points of ecofeminist liberation theologies, North/South experiences and radical religious movements.As I began to examine ecofeminist religious discourses in light of globalization and these categories, I became overwhelmed by the governing reality of global corporate rule. 1

The Interrelations of Nature and Woman in Takahata's The Tale of The Princess Kaguya: An Ecofeminist Perspective

“…Men and women react to environmental challenges differently, with women being more in tune with the natural world (Eaton and Lorentzen, 2003). The special bond between women and nature is represented by Princess Kaguya as the woman, and the living and non-living things (animals and plants) represent nature.…”

“…The special bond between women and nature is represented by Princess Kaguya as the woman, and the living and non-living things (animals and plants) represent nature. As mentioned by Eaton and Lorentzen (2003), "Some see women as "closer" to nature/earth than men and possessing innate traits of caring, community building, nonviolence, and Earth sensitivity" (p. 3).…”

“…The idea that nature is feminine is seemingly cross-cultural and nearly universal due to the relationship between women's reproductive functions and nature (Soper, 1995). And as mentioned by Eaton and Lorentzen (2003), endangering nature is equivalent to endangering women. Women are perceived as more in tune with nature.…”

“…Women seemed more at the mercy of their biological fate than men; they were trapped in domestic and corporeal immanence and could only achieve freedom by rejecting and transcending their woman-hood (Simone de Beauvoir as cited in Eaton and Lorentzen, 2003). Things related to women, such as emotion, animals, the natural world, and the body, are valued less, while things related to men, reason, humans, culture, and the mind are valued more (Gaard, 1993).…”

“…In Euro-western worldviews, women and nature are philosophically and symbolically linked. Ecofeminists assert the belief that a world separated in a hierarchical and dualistic manner was created in Euro-western cultures, and in dualistic conceptual systems, men are associated with masculinity, the mind, heaven, the supernatural, and disembodied spirit, whereas women are associated with femininity, the body, sexuality, earth or nature, and materialism (Eaton & Lorentzen, 2003).…”