Female activism in environmental conflicts. Feminist thoughts and notes for the environmental management
Abstract
What are the arguments behind women who engage in citizens’ fights against local environmental conflicts? Is gender relevant to interpret their activism? The article shows results from a research focused on three citizens’ committees for environmental problems in Catalonia, and explores the relevance of gender in the reasons for campaigning of women. The study is based in ecofeminist theory. The main hypothesis is that the (individual) experience of femininity (understood as collective norms and symbols) shapes our perceptions, experiences and values about the environment. The conclusions point that citizens’ committees using experience-based reasons are appealing for women. Their interests are framed in the gender experience, and focus on health, quality of life, environmental heritage and landscape degradation. Women are less numerous, younger and with higher education degrees in the organisation with an ideological orientation. Their opinions are also different from the other two organisations. A reflexion on two related topics derived from those conclusions is found in the last part of the article. First, we discuss about the «caring» hypothesis to explain women’s environmental activism from the point of view of feminism. Second, we introduce the issue of the political legitimacy crisis proper of local environmental conflicts from the point of view of gender studies.
Keywords
gender, environmental conflict, ecofeminism, public participationReferences
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