Ecofeminism & Environmental Ethics
An Analysis of Ecofeminist Ethical Theory

By David Kronlid
April 2003
Uppsala University
ISBN: 91-554-5516-6
227 pages, Illustrated, 6" x 8 3/4"
$51.00 Paper Original

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This is a doctoral dissertation. Ecofeminism is sometimes stereotyped by its critics as a radical woman-is-closer-to-nature-movement, or as a feel-good care alternative to utility focused and abstract environmentalism and ethics. This study challenges these views of ecofeminism and discusses a vast variety of ecofeminist standpoints concerning important issues within environmental ethics at large, such as views and values of nature, social constructivism and nature, and ethical contextualism and pluralism. Ecofeminist ethics holds that a main cause of the environmental crisis is the existence of the so-called twin domination. According to the twin domination thesis, exploitation of nature and oppression of women share the same conceptual and evaluative structure. Consequently, in order to solve the environmental crisis we need to end oppression of women, and vice versa. Acknowledge that one obvious advantage of ecofeminism is that it puts gender issues on the environmental and development agenda, this study asks whether the fact that ecofeminism takes the twin domination these as a starting point, results in particular and from nonfeminist environmental ethics different environmental ethical theoretical standpoints. What are the characteristics of ecofeminist ethical theory? What are its advantages and disadvantages? These and other questions are discussed for the purpose of evaluating some of the powers and promises of ecofeminist ethics.

Philosophy; Women's Studies
Uppsala Studies in Social Ethics No. 28

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