What is the relationship between environmental degradation and gender inequality? This class will explore the importance of intersectional feminist thought and practice in combatting climate change and other global environmental crises. We will examine connections between the exploitation of the natural world and the subjugation of human populations, focusing on the links between colonialism, racial capitalism, and the climate. Particular attention will be paid to the emergence and development of ecofeminism, a branch of feminist thought which tracks the relations between gender and nature; the evolving focus on racial and social justice within environmental activism; and how BIPOC and queer writers, artists, and activists address climate change and other environmental concerns. Throughout, we will highlight the necessity of feminism in creating and sustaining what Vandana Shiva calls “a democracy of all life.”
School of Arts and Sciences
