5 figures of ecofeminism, this movement that fights against expl

Linking ecology and feminism, defense of environmental rights and defense of women's rights, this is the credo of ecofeminism.

"The planet, my cat, let's protect the wetlands" : you may have already seen this provocative slogan on signs of feminist or environmental demonstrations. It can relate to what is called ecofeminism. This movement born in the 1980s links ecology and feminism. The observation is as follows: exploitation of nature and exploitation of women proceed from the same logic.

The movement took off in the United States and the United Kingdom during the mobilizations of women in the anti-nuclear fight, and spread to the so-called countries of the South. What does it cover? As its name shows, it reconciles the desire to defend the rights of women and of nature. The initial observation is that there are links between male domination over women and male domination over nature. The patriarchal system devalued nature as a space to be appropriated, just like the body of women.
According to UNESCO, women and girls are also the most affected by natural disasters, due to the discrimination they face in normal circumstances.

The ecofeminist movement is very diverse, but brings together three main characteristics: it starts from the grassroots, from the populations directly concerned; it concerns environmental concerns; it is mainly made up of women. It is based on the notion of “reclaim”, which means to reclaim oneself. Reclaiming the earth, reclaiming one's body and the link with the living. What ecofeminists also want to reclaim are the activities assigned to women, and devalued because they are feminine. This includes the so-called activities of "care" : caring for the most vulnerable, caring for others, welcoming emotions.

The philosopher Jeanne Burgart Goutal explains at Slate that from the origins of the movement, activists "said that these activities were important human activities, which had been assigned to women and denigrated, but should be allowed to all".
The movement is divided and the target of criticism from feminists themselves. He has sometimes been called essentialist, that is, biologizing so-called feminine characteristics. Its close counterpart to witchcraft could be seen as a form of charlatanism. Ecofeminism, however, carries with it a form of renewal in the ways of fighting for rights.
It is also a movement led by women from non-Western countries. Inventing forms of joyful mobilizations, he also calls forth new ways of telling their concerns, through song, poetry and weaving. The ecofeminist movement also has a spiritual side that re-invents a form of modern witchcraft, a non-oppressive spirituality, made up of rituals that link to nature.

Here is a selection of five great ecofeminist figures, to glimpse the richness of the movement, from Françoise d'Eaubonne to Greta Thunberg, including the essential Vandana Shiva. To go further, you can listen to Charlotte Bienaimé's podcast dedicated to this subject. The philosopher Émilie Hache has also released a collection of ecofeminist texts: Reclaim, published by Cambourakis.

Françoise d'Eaubonne, the pioneer of ecofeminism in France

A woman of letters, she is the instigator of the term "ecofeminism" in France. Born in 1920, Françoise was made aware of the inequalities experienced by women at a very young age. She studied letters and wrote poems as early as 1942, while joining the Resistance. Later, she militates against the Algerian war.
In 1960, she confused the Mouvement de Liberation des Femmes, where she led the Ecology and Feminism group. She wrote in 1974 Feminism or Death , from which this excerpt illustrates the vision of ecofeminists: "It is urgent to underline the death sentence, by this system in convulsive agony, of the whole planet and of its human species, if feminism, by liberating women, does not liberate all humanity , namely, tear the world away from the man of today to transmit it to the humanity of tomorrow. "

This revolutionary at heart also invented the sausage commando, which in 1971 interrupted a conference against abortion by hitting the participants … with salami.
Combining the fight against patriarchy and the fight against the destruction of nature and radical and inventive means of action, she is a source of ecofeminist inspiration, which aims at the egalitarian management of a world to be reborn. She died in 2005.

Starhawk, the American witch, a spiritual and political connection to nature

The American Miriam Simos known as Starhawk was born in 1951. Activist peace activist and environmentalist, she is also one of the figures of ecofeminism through its more spiritual stream. This claimed witch is influential in American Wicca religion. She works on a spirituality linked to the earth, which wants to unify spirituality and politics. It is the notion of "reclaiming", to reappropriate a new link to the earth and to nature.
She is one of the women who marched to the Pentagon in 1980 to protest the nuclear arms race in what is a model of ecofeminist protests and peaceful happening. More than 2,000 women surrounded the Pentagon, screaming and dancing in anger and blocking the building's entrances with woven thread. It is this type of nonviolent action that will be used in Britain in the Greenham Common camp, which has held for 19 years to protest and alert against the installation of nuclear missiles at a British military base.

Vandana Shiva, the Indian, proclaiming that "man owns neither woman nor Earth"

Born in India in 1952, Vandana Shiva studied physics and then a doctorate in philosophy of science.
She volunteered in the 1970s in the Chipko movement. This movement of Indian women in Uttar Pradesh defends their land by hugging and tying themselves to trees to prevent them from being razed.
Vandana Shiva opposes the patentability of living things, GMOs, and a future that dominates and turns away from Nature. She defends traditional peasant agriculture and criticizes capitalism which deepens inequalities. It claims to be the philosophy of "Vasudhaiva kutumbakam" : the Earth as one family.

Wangari Maathai, Kenyan, "the woman who planted trees"

Wangari Muta Maathai was a biologist and veterinarian. Born in Kenya in 1940, she is the daughter of farmers. During her graduate studies, she moved to the United States where she became the first woman in Africa to earn a doctorate.
In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement, literally the green belt movement. This association defends the forests of Kenya and aims to encourage the populations and in particular the women to fight against deforestation, which deprives them of a livable habitat.
She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She passed away in 2011.

Greta Thunberg, the Swede, the next generation?

Initiator of the climate strikes when she was only 15 years old, this young activist focuses media attention with her speech marked by the muffled anger of the younger generations. If she does not claim to be strictly speaking an ecofeminist, she says on Twitter: "The more I read about the climate crisis, the more I realize how crucial feminism is. We cannot live in a sustainable world without gender and people equality.". It inspires many young girls and young women to stand up in their country to demand the defense of the environment.