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Two of the most important political movements of the late twentieth century are those of environmentalism and feminism. In this book, Val Plumwood argues that feminist theory has an important opportunity to make a major contribution to the debates in political ecology and environmental philosophy. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature explains the relation between ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, and other feminist theories including radical green theories such as deep ecology. Val Plumwood provides a philosophically informed account of the relation of women and nature, and shows how relating male domination to the domination of nature is important and yet remains a dilemma for women.
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Feminism and the Mastery of Nature
Feminism and the Mastery of Nature draws on the feminist critique of reason to argue that the master form of rationality of western culture has been systematically unable to acknowledge dependency on nature, the sphere of those it has defined as ‘inferior’ others. Because its knowledge of the world is sytematically distorted by the elite domination which has shaped it, the master rationality has developed ‘blind spots’ which may threaten our survival. The future depends increasingly on our ability to create a truly democratic and ecological culture beyond dualism. The book shows how the feminist critique of dominant forms of rationality can be extended to integrate theories of gender, race and class oppression with that of the domination of nature. Val Plumwood illuminates the relationship between women and nature, and between ecological feminism and other feminist theories. Exploring the contribution feminist theory can make to radical green thought and to the development of a better environmental philosophy, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature challenges much existing work in green theory and environmental philosophy, and engages with the heavily masculine presence which has inhabited many accounts of the area. It will be essential reading for those working in these areas, and for all those seeking to understand the historical, philosophical and cultural roots of the environmental crisis and the culture of denial which blocks response to it. Val Plumwood teaches in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Tasmania, Australia.
Feminism for Today General Editor: Teresa Brennan. The Regime of the Brother After the Patriarchy Juliet Flower MacCannell History After Lacan Teresa Brennan
Feminism and the Mastery of Nature
Val Plumwood
London and New York
First published 1993 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1993 Val Plumwood All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permis sion in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the mastery of nature/Val Plumwood. p. cm.—(Opening out) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Feminist theory. 2. Philosophy of nature. I. Title. II. Series. HQ1233.P58 1993 305.42'01–dc20 93–15995 ISBN 0-203-00675-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-20615-0 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-06809-6 (hbk) 0-415-06810-X (pbk)
Contents
Series preface Acknowledgements Introduction
vii ix 1
1
Feminism and ecofeminism
19
2
Dualism: the logic of colonis