Ecofeminist Critique and Ecofeminist Ecosocialism

Ecofeminism tends to be poorly understood and often caricatured. Hence, an overview of the emergence and development of Ecofeminism is provided, starting with D’Eaubonne’s classic theses, which differ substantially from the sort of Ecofeminism that came to prominence by the late 1980s. The various forms of Ecofeminism are described, and the Materialist current will be studied in greater detail, featuring thinkers like Mies and Shiva. The Marxist version, which is the basis of Ecofeminist Ecosocialism, was developed most fully by Salleh and then further developed by Turner, Brownhill, Isla, King, and other Ecofeminists insisting on a class-based understanding of society relative to multiple forms of oppression. Divergences within Marxist Ecofeminism and debates between Eco-Marxism and Ecofeminist Ecosocialism are noted, especially relative to Salleh’s notion of surplus labour extraction and its repercussions on the study of people-environment relations in capitalist systems.