CONSERVATION L4- Ecofeminism, Indigenous Knowledge and Post Colonial Critique

Question 1

Guha (1999)

Answer 1

Environmentalism is just another extension of Eurocentric values that are inherently classist.

Question 2

Cronon (1995)

Answer 2

Wilderness is a product of Western culture:

a) to protect the frontier of American progress
b) to erase history of indigenous knowledge

Question 3

Baldy (2015)

Answer 3

Oral narratives of indigenous groups are an ancient tradition.

They function as science within these groups to learn about the environment around them. They also document claims to the land.

This fundamentally conflicts with settler colonialism in which these settlers believe they have a legal claim to the land.

Question 4

Nadasdy (1999)

Answer 4

TEK is now commonly used in environmental management- integrated with science to give a holistic view.

However, external categories imposed on the knowledge collected from indigenous groups results in the compartmentalisation and distillation of knowledge.

This is not a representational view of TEK.

Question 5

Gaard (2001)

Answer 5

Eco-feminism sees how we treat the environment and how we treat each other are the same thing.

Women and racial minorities have been associated with nature throughout history- this is mainly due to Plumwood’s ‘Master Model’.

Example- water myths in early Western culture. HOWEVER, this positive image of women and nature was ruined with the introduction of ‘original sin’ into the Catholic Church.

Today clear water and women’s work are treat the same- neither are represented in the economy.

The association of POC with nature has been used to:

a) use both as a resource
b) take power away and give it to masters

Question 6

Plumwood (1933)

Answer 6

Master Model of eco-feminism- Western Culture necessarily implies dualisms.

Thus, women are traditionally associated with emotions, the body and nature.