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Political Ecology:Feminism and Postcolonial

Struggles

Erika Bjureby

Centrum fr Milj-

och Utvecklingsstudier

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Lecture outline

1. Political Ecology- definition2. An emerging research field

3. A politicised environment

4. Scale and power

5. Postcolonial struggles

6. Access, livelihoods and enclosure

7. Feminist political ecology

8. Conclusion

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What is Political Ecology?Political ecology examines the political dynamics

surrounding the material and discursive strugglesover the environment in the third world (Bryant1998)

The phrase political ecology combines theconcerns of ecology and a broadly defined politicaleconomy. Together this encompasses theconstantly shifting dialect between society andland-based resources, and also within classes and

groups within society itself (Blaikie and Brookfield1987:17) (Classic description)

The role of unequal power relations in constituting

a politicised environment is a central theme

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An emerging research field The environment is focus of scholarly, policy-

making and public concern social and physicaldimensions of environmental change

The promotion of sustainable development inthe 1980s integrate the environmentalconservation with economic development(Redclift 1987)

Yet, these initiatives have failed to alter thepolicies and practices that are linked to variousenvironmental problems business-as-usual

approach

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Calls for a detailed understanding of the politicaland economic obstacles to meaningful change

political ecology

Pressing need for an analytical approachintegrating environmental and politicalunderstanding of environmental problems

Theoretical influences: Neo-Marxism 1970s,

early 1980s; Post-Marxist mixture of socialmovement theory, neo-Weberianism, feminist,poststructuralist, postcolonial studies in the late1980s and 1990s

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1. The radical perspective (grounded in neo-Marxistand post-Marxist theories)

2. The only way to solve the environmental crises isto change the relationship upon which the presentsystem is based- First/Third Worlds, rich/poor orrulers/ruled

3. Emphasis on the states role in environmental-destructive activities, often related to those ofcapitalist enterprise

4. Sources of environmental problems are complexand deep-rooted so as to belie any technical-

policy solution is problematic

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5. Political ecologists have yet to elaboratethe contours of an alternative political

economy

6. The importance of putting politics first!

Appreciate the ways in which the statusquo is an outcome of political interestsand struggles

It is a politicised environment inwhich power relations play a central role

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A politicised environment Environmental problems cannot be understood

in isolation from the economic and politicalcontexts within which they are created

To describe environmental problems is to

consider the political and economic processesthat generate those problems

Putting politics first: All ecological projects (and

arguments) are simultaneously political-economic projects (and arguments) and viceversa (Harvey 1993)

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Mainstream understanding of environmentalchange no reference to political and economicprocesses

Population growth and intensifying per capitahuman impact on the environment (Ehrlich andEhrlich 1990)

Emphasis on technical dimensions as a part ofmanagerial problem-solving approach

Yet, an emphasis on technical solutions leadsoften to policy-failure and unwillingness to makeexplicit changes to the political and economic

system

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In contrast, political ecologists start from thepremise that environmental change is not aneutral process amenable to technicalmanagement

It has political sources, conditions andramifications that impinge on existing socio-economic inequalities and political processes(Bryant 1992)

Different actors contribute to, are affected by, orseek to resolve environmental problems atdifferent scales

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Distribution of the costs and benefitsassociated with environmental problems

at different scales

The role of different actors in solving

environmental problems at a local,regional or global scale

The role of grassroots actors and NGOsin the evolution of environmentalproblems at various scales

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Postcolonial struggles

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Access, livelihoods and enclosure

The environment in the Third World is largely alivelihood issue central issue in understandingthe political implications of environmentalchange

Link environmental change and grassrootslivelihoods survival is the primary concern,dependency on environmental resources

It is in the interest of poor grassroots actors tomanage environment in a sustainable manner

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Does the Third Worlds environmental crisesreflect the Tragedy of the Commons (Hardin1967) or the Tragedy of enclosure (Ecologist

1983)

States, acting in conjunction with businesses,deny access to commons resources

Power over local environmental resourcesshifted from grassroots actors to states,businesses

Further marginalisation of poor grassroots actors access to common resources were denied,forced to work in ecologically marginal landselsewhere, displacement

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Feminist political ecology

1. Ecofeminist

2. Feminist

environmentalist3. Feminist socialist

4. Feministpoststructuralist,

and5. Environmentalist

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1. Ecofeminist

Close connection btw women and naturebased on a shared history of oppression bypatriarchal institutions and dominant Westernculture

Some attribute this connection to intrinsicbiological attributes (an essentialistconnection)

Others see the women/nature link as a socialconstruct to be embraced and fostererd (Shiva1989; Shiva and Mies 1994)

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2. Feminist environmentalists

Gendered interests in particular resources andecological processes on the basis of materiallydistinct daily work and responsibilities (Agarwal1991)

3. Social feminists

Incorporation of gender into the politicaleconomy, womens and mens role in theeconomic system (production/reproduction)

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4. Feminist poststructuralists

Gendered situated knowledges are shaped bymany dimensions of identity and difference,incl. race, class, ethnicity, age etc. (Harraway

1991). Critique of science and development.

5. Environmentalists

Women as partners and participants inenvironmental protection and conservation

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Feminist political ecology Concern of political ecology that emphasises

decision-making processes and the social,political and economic contexts that shapesenvironmental politics and policies

Political ecologys strong focus on access to andcontrol over resources on the basis of class andethnicity (Peet and Watts 1993)

Feminist political ecology gender is critical inshaping resource access and control , interactingwith class, race, culture and ethnicity to shapethe processes of ecological change

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Women have borne a disproportionateshare of the costs associated with the

marginalisation of poor grassroots actors

Most poor women in the Third World

have a closer relationship than poor menwith the environment (Shiva 1988;Agrawal 1992)

Essentialist argument

Materialist viewpoints

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Emphasise the plight ofwomen whose livelihood

strategies often rely on theexploitation of resources toprovide food, fodder and fuelfor their families

Hard hit by the combined

effects of enclosure of the

commons and associated

environmental degradation

Mukucham Community Map

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Mukucham Community Map

Shinkiatam Community Map

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Shinkiatam Community Map

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Conclusion The ability to control or resist other actors are

never permanent of fixed but is always in a flux

Thus, power influences the topography of apoliticised environment- the position of actorscan never be adduced exclusively from materialconsiderations

To appreciate the workings of a politicisedenvironment is to appreciate the complex waysin which actors interact at the material anddiscursive levels over environmental questions