Critical Ecofeminism

Reviews / Votes

Critical Ecofeminism extends the discussion of ecofeminism, a field of study that connects ecology with feminism, which in turn connects paternalism and capitalism with the domination of women and nature. Adding "critical" to the equation makes a big difference between tying sociopolitical hegemonies and the current climate change crisis. It emphasizes "reproduction" as opposed to "production," and adds the critical steps to sustainability. Gaard (English, Univ. of Wisconsin, River Falls)-editor of Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature (CH, Dec'93, 31-2177) and author of Ecological Politics: Ecofeminists and the Greens (CH, Nov'98, 36-1540)-advances her argument in favor of a radical environmentalism that confronts, on all levels of culture, the meaning of a viable future for the Earth. Gaard mixes scholarly practice with creative writing and activism to extend the subject matter into many disciplines, including "ecocomposition." She advocates a just ecofeminist sustainability for plants and animals and illustrates sociopolitical-economic factors present in the culture of milk, fireworks, and animals in space that need to change. She promotes climate justice, reevaluations of "cli-fi" (i.e., climate fiction) narratives, and queering the climate. The bibliography and references alone provide a map for future studies in technology, climatology, literary ecocriticism, and activism. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates; faculty and researchers. * Choice Reviews * Critical Ecofeminism is a comprehensive and rigorous piece of work . . . Gaard's voice is distinctly unique, and her project is enriched by confessions of how critical ecofeminism has informed her own movements through a range of shifting identities in the natural world. It is testament to her strength and self-assurance as a scholar that she melds the work of so many thinkers - and, most notably, the life-story of Val Plumwood - to restore the foundations of eco-justice for future studies. There is much to be learnt from Critical Ecofeminism; lay-readers will be interested in titbits from hard science and Gaard's problematisation of "harmless" narratives and rituals, while students and scholars may be more concerned with anti-feminist trends pervading mainstream environmentalism. But most important for the following generation of ecocritics is the unspoken graciousness of Gaard's approach: a political praxis of listening, not individualist leaning-in. * Glasgow Review of Books * This is a phenomenal book, beautifully written, powerfully argued, and supported by an extraordinary range and depth of theory and evidence. I have been profoundly moved by this work and have been reminded once again that Greta Gaard is one of the most important thinkers and activist-scholars of our time. -- David Naguib Pellow, University of California Santa Barbara, author of <i>Total Liberation: The Power and Promise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Movement</i> An engaging and highly readable monograph by one of ecofeminism's most insightful scholars, Critical Ecofeminism is a stunning achievement. Gaard gives a reflective account of ecofeminism's evolution as an intersectional framework for interrogating socio-environmental relations and a politics of solidarity that demands eco-justice for all species. Her book provides welcome vindication for those who have remained convinced of ecofeminism's critical power despite thirty years of mischaracterization in most corners of the academy. -- Sherilyn MacGregor, The University of Manchester