What is ecofeminism?

Or how to consider climate change, gender equality and social injustice as intrinsically related

Feminism, in all its waves, has experienced evolutions and resurgences since it formally began in the mid-1800s. As climate change awareness and subsequent activism rose in recent decades, feminists began to identify the ways in which the movement for gender equality and the movement for environmental protection are related.


The term "ecofeminism" was coined by French feminist Françoise d'Eaubonne in 1974. According to her, the disenfranchisement and oppression of women, people of color, and the poor are intrinsically linked to the degradation of the natural world, as both arose as a result of patriarchal dominance.

Françoise d'Eaubonne

Over the years, many more have explored the sentiment behind ecofeminism—and begun advocating for it. Women such as Vandana Shiva, founder of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology, and Carolyn Merchant, author of Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution, are just two prominent names within this movement since its inception. Some other names of note include Val Blumwood, Greta Gaard, and Susan Griffin, just to name a few.

It's been nearly 50 years since ecofeminism was formally introduced. Nowadays, even where the word itself is not used, the principles of ecofeminism are interwoven into the modern-day climate change movement among those who actively advocate for equitable change for people and the environment.

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