Women’s Subjugation, Earth’s Exploitation: Carolyn Merchant and the Development of Eco-Feminism, By Verity Highe – Manchester Historian
Carolyn Merchant’s book The Death of Nature, published in 1980, chronicles her groundbreaking theories surrounding the historiographies of the Scientific Revolution and how the changing rhetoric of science contributed to both the destruction of nature and the oppression of women. This related to a new strand of feminism called ecofeminism coined by French feminist Françoise d’Eaubonne in the 1970s, emphasising the link between environmental destruction and the oppression of women.
Merchant’s work highlighted the relationship between the Scientific Revolution and the Witch Trials that were taking place across Europe, especially in England where many scientists such as Francis Bacon were based. Bacon, while working under King James I (a keen instigator of the trials), promoted the study of the occult and sorcery, as well as an interrogation of nature to understand how it worked. Merchant argued that the interrogative nature promoted by the new discourses of science contributed to the willingness to torture and brutally investigate the supposed sorcery that was suspected to exist among women at the time. Furthermore, the deep-rooted misogyny perpetuated by the new perceptions of the femininity of the planet magnified patriarchal trends of prejudice against women that justified the brutality of the Witch Trials despite tenuous evidence of the victim’s culpability. Her discovery of clear historical links between the rhetoric of the planet and femininity contributing to the oppression of women was highly influential on the growing movement of ecofeminists.
In a 20th century context, eco-feminists maintained reference to the rhetoric that surrounded nature compared to that of women, both as weak, irrational, unstable, and therefore in need of a dominating masculine force. Nature is argued to be inherently feminine due to the maternal, nurturing qualities of the earth, and women could be perceived as having a closer connection to the environment due to societal roles such as collecting water in areas in the global south. Some eco-feminists view the monthly period cycles of women as linking them to nature as they mimic the cycles of the moon and the tides. Due to this, eco-feminists argue that the issues of environmental destruction and female oppression are entwined and, for either to be overcome, they must be liberated in tandem. Ecofeminism peaked in popularity in popular feminist discourses in the 1990s, providing an influential force, for example in 1995 when lobbying of the Beijing UN World Conference on Women led to ‘Action K’ entrenching the integration of gender concerns into environmental decision-making.
Ecofeminist critique of the rapid acceleration of industrialization and capitalism after the Scientific Revolution, leading to a loss of respect for the planet and contributing to female oppression, links it to similar Socialist feminist discourses. Prominent Socialist feminist thinker Sheila Rowbotham similarly critiques capitalism and industrialization’s contributions to patriarchal structures within society, such as the nuclear family that keeps women entrenched as second-class citizens forced to bear a dual workload of domestic labour and employment.
However, ecofeminism has been critiqued for taking a gender-essentialist approach to womanhood and its gendered view of the femininity of the planet and women as distinctly maternal and nurturing. Furthermore, the notion that the Scientific Revolution was patriarchal implies that the concepts of science and reason are distinctly masculine, creating a lack of legitimacy for ecofeminism as 3rd and 4th wave feminist movements developed.
In a contemporary context, the lens of ecofeminism can be used in tandem with intersectional thinking, to take a holistic approach to the study of women’s oppression. Intersectional feminism entails studying the varying experiences of different groups within the umbrella of womanhood. In a time where the impacts of climate change vary drastically between the global north and south, an intersectional approach is vital for studying the links between environmentalism and feminism.
The relevance of intersectionality in eco-feminist studies is reflected in the example of a group of African American mothers who lived in polluted areas of New York. Concerned that poor air quality was leading to an increase in asthma cases in their children, they had their cases dismissed by the city board in part due to the intersection of their race, class gender. A study of the supply of sanitary products in India can also be used as an example of the relevance of an intersectional and environmentally forward approach to women’s issues. An attempt in some areas of India to provide western-styled period products showed to lead to the production of non-environmentally friendly waste, without the infrastructure in place for it to be properly disposed of. In comparison, in Uttar Pradesh, the local economy was boosted when workers were instead given jobs to make eco-friendly sanitary pads that could be broken down easily, not leading to the production of waste and providing sustainable methods of producing the products. The success of the latter, due to its consideration of the different requirements of the culture and the impacts made to the environment in its approach to women’s issues, reflects the significance of a holistic, intersectional approach to both feminism and ecofeminism in providing positive outcomes for all women’s issues.
Carolyn Merchant’s ideas had an undeniable influence on the development of ecofeminism, a strand of thinking that still has indisputable relevance as the severity of the climate crisis increases alongside the current trends of right-wing backlash against women.