Ecofeminism(s) in Postcolonial Studies

Seminar paper in the subject Gender Studies, , language: English, abstract: In this essay, we will delve into ecofeminism within the framework of one of the themes addressed in the seminar, Climate and the South. We will do so in and from the context of the ecology of knowledges proposed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos in 'Beyond Abyssal Thinking: From Global Lines to Ecologies of Knowledges'. We consider that at least the mention of the existence of these feminisms is of great importance in a first approach to Climate in the South. Even more, if we take into account that in these feminisms we find not only critical theory but also practical proposals. In addition, these feminisms include ancestral knowledge of native peoples and many of their notable voices are indigenous women. In this paper we will focus on the origin of ecofeminisms and some of the contemporary critiques that have been made of them. Thus, we leave ecofeminist fiction and theology out of the present essay. We proceed in this way because, within the framework of postcolonial studies, most authors acknowledge the influence of feminist criticism coming from the Global North. However, the contributions of feminisms emerging from the South are rarely included in specific topics such as the one that occupied us in the seminar.