Revolution, Reclamation, and Intersectional Ecofeminism

Deadline: December 1, 2022
Contact: Jeannette Schollaert, University of Maryland, College Park
Email: jes5@umd.edu

Panel proposed at the 2023 ASLE + AESS Conference: “Reclaiming the Commons”

July 9-12, 2023 in Portland, Oregon

How do we use ecofeminism now, in moments of revolution or reclamation? Stacy Alaimo and Susan Hekman’s introduction to Material Feminisms as well as Alaimo’s work in Undomesticated Ground: Recasting Nature as Feminist Space outline some of the tensions between ecofeminist thought and the divergent interests of environmental feminism, material feminism, and feminist science studies in their respective approaches to the natural world, the body, and materiality. As the interconnections between reproductive justice and environmental justice become increasingly pressing in our current moment, it is imperative to reconsider and perhaps revolutionize our ways of talking about the interconnections among feminist theories and the environmental humanities. If we are to “reclaim the commons,” especially with attention to a politics of care, then how might grassroots actions rooted in both feminist and environmentalist traditions reckon with the whitewashed, essentialist, and appropriative histories of some ecofeminist theories? What aspects of ecofeminist thought are worth reclaiming, and what needs to be revolutionized? To that end, we invite abstracts that propose new ways of engaging feminism and the environment that are informed by postcolonial, decolonial, and intersectional approaches.

  • Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Critiques/interrogations/reclamations of ecofeminist theories
  • Proposals for new directions in ecofeminist or environmental feminist scholarship and/or action
  • The interconnections between reproductive and environmental justice, particularly in regards to the context of a post-Dobbs reality in the United States and/or the victories of Latin American abortion rights movements, in which the green bandana is a crucial signifier
  • Herbal medicine, gardening, and agricultural work as gendered and often racialized sites of revolution, informed by an intersectional feminist environmentalist perspective
  • Feminist environmentalist resistance to oppressive regimes
  • Feminist environmentalist engagements with militarism (as a revolutionary tactic or in opposition to militarized states)
  • Feminist environmentalist engagements with the plant humanities, botany, and botanical collecting

Please submit proposals of 150-300 words (including name, email, and a short bio) in a single Word or PDF file to Fernando Duran (fduran@umd.edu) and Jeannette Schollaert (jes5@umd.edu) by December 1, 2022. This call is for a pre-formed panel, which will be submitted to the conference organizers at the end of December. We will notify all respondents by the end of December. Feel free to email the above addresses with questions regarding your proposal before submitting.

Posted on October 11, 2022