Table Of ContentDeveloping Ecofeminist Theory
Also by Erika Cudworth
ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
Developing
Ecofeminist Theory
The Complexity of Difference
Erika Cudworth
University of East London, UK
© Erika Cudworth 2005
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-4115-2
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First published in 2005 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-52051-0 ISBN 978-0-230-50927-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230509276
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cudworth,Erika,1966–
Developing ecofeminist theory :the complexity of difference / Erika
Cudworth.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Ecofeminism.2.Feminism.I.Title.
HQ1194.C83 2005
305.42(cid:2)01—dc22 2005047469
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
To the memory of my mother, Jill Cudworth (1935–2003),
who taught me the importance of talking with canine
companions, earning my own money, speaking my own mind
and not worrying about “dust.” Whose loving heart, acerbic
wit and great hospitality are very much missed.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction 1
Complex reality 2
Difference and domination 5
Gender and nature 9
A map of the terrain 13
2 Social Difference and Ecologism 16
Deep ecology and the negation of difference 17
Social ecology: the problem of human domination 23
Eco-socialism: capitalism and the
commodification of nature 30
Different worlds, different problems:
environmental justice and liberation ecologies 34
3 Complex Systems: “Nature,” “Society” and
“Human” Domination 42
Theorizing “nature” 45
Nature, society and complex systems 53
Anthroparchy: the social domination of nature 63
4 Different Feminisms 71
Feminisms, systems theory and the problem of difference 72
Deconstructing domination 81
Patriarchy and the complexities of domination 86
5 Ecofeminism and the Question
of Difference 101
Women’s affinity, men’s distance? burning
the straw women 104
vii
viii Contents
Ecological embeddedness and the structuring
of social difference 114
Webs, spheres and systems: inter/relations
of domination 119
6 Embodiment, Materiality and Symbolic
Regimes 128
Embodied theory 130
Alienated re/production 137
Enfleshed discourse: the naturing of women
and the feminization of nature 145
Contesting hu(man)ity: toward an enfleshed
posthumanism 148
7 Domination in a Lifeworld of Complexity 156
Complex lifeworld 157
Real dominations in social systems 165
Multiplicities of power: systemic permeability 170
The problem of difference revisited – life beyond
the matrix? 176
Bibliography 179
Index 213
Acknowledgments
The School of Social Sciences at the University of East London gave me
a semester of sabbatical leave in 2004 to work on this book, and I would
like to thank the colleagues who covered my responsibilities and those
who approved my application. The artwork for the cover was produced
by talented friends – postgraduate researcher and fiber-artist Rosy Collar,
and photographer Tas Kyprianou. Their good-humored creativity and
skill are much appreciated. Thanks to Dave and Dad for their love and
support, and to Jake, for trying to be quiet, and not minding too much
when I shut myself away to write – sorry. The non-humans of my house-
hold always prove good company. How anyone writes for lengthy
periods without a cat or two on the desk (on the paper, on the desk…)
and a dog underneath is a mystery to me. The ‘girls’ at work, Maria, Merl
and Judith, engage with me in the important feminist praxis of laughing
loudly at absurdity, gossiping and drinking wine. It always helps – cheers.
ix
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Introduction
Is it possible, in the face of complexity, to construct theories,
practices and selves that are mindful of connections?
Chris J. Cuomo 1998:2
We live in an age where social and political theory is struggling to come
to terms with both diverse changes and a multiplicity of difference.
Ecofeminism is well placed to consider and confront a range of social
inequalities and to theorize shifting formations of power. Ecofeminism
can most simply be defined as a range of perspectives that consider the
links between the social organization of gender and the ways in which
societies are organized with respect to “nature.” The most significant
contribution of ecofeminism is the understanding of multiple kinds of
social domination, of exclusion and inclusion based on varieties of hier-
archies of difference (around class, “race” and place for example, in
addition to gender) which both cross cut each other and enmesh, and
which shape environment–society relations in important ways. The
point of ecofeminist theory is to map the connections, the means by
which formations and practices of difference and domination interlock.
Such a project requires that we investigate possible points of unravelling
of the tapestry of domination, and map the trajectories of strong and
fast threads. The challenges to this project are many and varied, and this
book, I hope, constitutes a strong defence of ecofeminism against its
critics.
Weaving/spinning was a key metaphoric device of early ecofeminist
literature (Daly 1979, Henderson 1983, Diamond and Orenstein 1990),
and ecofeminism’s many critics have focused on aspects of this
work and may find the imagery irksome. Yet, the analogy is highly
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