Factive has published a new article exploring the possibility of a relationship between ecofeminism and the Women in Mining movement.
Abstract: While there is existing work on the relationship between gender and mining in strands of environmental and resource studies, this paper moves away from generic feminist analyses of the environment and gender. Turning to ecofeminism, I speak to a gap in the literature by examining a specific group of gendered actors— women involved in the Women in Mining (WIM) movement—under the lens of ecofeminism. WIM represents a liberal feminist demand for equal opportunities for women in the male-dominated mining industry. In its current iteration WIM has not located its work within ecofeminism nor have its key stakeholders identified as ecofeminists. Complex intersectionalities of race, poverty, gender, age, class, and ideo-geographies are often neglected. This paper queries, can ecofeminism and WIM enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship? The paper begins with a summary of how the epistemological lens of ecofeminism can offer new understandings of mining more generally. The next two sections present conceptual dialogues regarding how ecofeminism can challenge and reshape hegemonic practices and perspectives of WIM in its current iteration; and how WIM can inform and enrich our understandings and applications of ecofeminism. In closing, the paper reflects on the two schools as incompatible partners.
Reference: D. Laplonge, Exploring the distance between ecofeminism and Women in Mining (WIM), Extractive Industries and Society, 2016.
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