Reflections from SciencesPo Le Havre students on Feminist Chapter and SciencesPo Environnement’s Ecofeminist Week from November 25 – 28, 2024
By Syontoni Hattori-Chatterjee
I admit that even as an environmentalist and a feminist, I was unaware of ecofeminism, the movement linking the exploitation of women under patriarchy to the exploitation of the environment under capitalism and using this framework to dismantle both. It was through co-organizing Ecofeminist Week with fellow SPE members and our friends from FC that I learned about this political philosophy, whose foundations in Indigenous and local knowledge and nuanced criticism of technology-driven modernity spoke to me immensely. If you were able to participate in any of SPE and FC’s events from November 25th to 28th, I hope that some of the insights or key figures of ecofeminism that we presented interested you or made you see the world in a different light as well. What follows is a collection of photos, videos, and quotations from SciencesPistes that chronicle our all-too brief journey into discovering ecofeminism.
Monday: Documentary Screening of “The Seeds of Vandana Shiva”
We at SPE and FC could think of no better way to introduce our campus to ecofeminism than with this documentary on the life of Vandana Shiva. Shiva, raised around the forests of Uttarakhand in the newly independent country of India, was initially avidly passionate about physics. By her 20s, she had earned her PhD in quantum physics from The University of Western Ontario in Canada. But the Chipko movement back home, during which local female agricultural workers put their bodies on the line against deforestation by hugging trees in order to prevent them from being chopped down, entirely changed her purpose in life and worldview. She then spent over fifty years and counting engaged in environmental justice activism. Vandana Shiva is most well-known for her fight against Monsanto’s genetically-modified cotton seeds and the impact of patented and privatized commercial agriculture on small-scale farmers and on the genetic biodiversity of seeds.
A small but dedicated audience joined SPE and FC on Monday evening to watch “The Seeds of Vandana Shiva.” Participants came out of the screening reflective and inspired:
Thomas: “The Vandana Shiva documentary was very informative for me as I never made the connection between feminism and ecology. It was very interesting and I caught myself being fully immersed in the documentary, learning about this woman’s journey and environmental mission.”
Juliet: “The documentary “The Seeds of Vandana Shiva” was truly eye-opening. I had little knowledge of how environmentalism and feminism intertwined, previously not seeing the connection, but the documentary opened the doors to understanding my role in environmentalism, not just as a person living in an ecologically declining world, but as a woman. Furthermore, it showed me that there are solutions to preserving the rights, lives, and environment of small farmers. Often, I find myself resorting to nihilism and a ‘there’s nothing I can do about it’ mentality but this documentary proved there’s hope. A great film about a great woman.”
Amelie: “I walked in the Grand Amphi expecting some vegan cookies and a way to escape PI revisions, and I was left speechless by the bravery and the wisdom of an Indian woman who was fighting a war I realised I knew so little about. The documentary was truly inspiring and very helpful to understand the stakes of our globalised food systems on the environment and local agrarian societies. This event not only provided (delicious) food for my stomach but also crucial food for my never ending Sciences Po activism thoughts. Thank you so much FC and SPE for this film session!!”
Tuesday: Hallway Jacket-Decorating Arts Workshop
On Tuesday, we brought a blank lab coat and extensive collection of felt markers to the main hall and let all of you decorate our jacket with drawings related to ecofeminism. The resulting multicolored manteau definitely upholds our campus’ reputation as the most artistic of the SciencesPos, and perhaps also the most inventive (not sure what a woman surfing and EVs ~exactly~ have to do with ecofeminism, but I appreciate the spirit).
Wednesday: Lunch Conference with Professor Manisha Anantharaman
In the middle of the week, we hosted a lunchtime talk with our very own Professor Manisha Anantharaman on some of the key figures and theoretical and praxis contributions of ecofeminism. Even though I had heard abundant praise from my SPE friends taking Dr. Anantharam’s Sociology Minor class, I was still awed by her engaging and clear presentation and regretted not choosing that minor, too (but it’s not too late for you, 1As!). I have high hopes that this feeling was shared by fellow SciencesPistes who continued to pour into and fill up the Grand Amphi. If you happened to miss this talk, however, read below for some of its key points as summarized by reflections from Sylvain, Ben, and myself.
Firstly, Dr. Anantharaman explained how ecofeminism views the material exploitation of nature, or non-human life, and the social domination over women, thus the exploitation of human life, as thoroughly intertwined. This expands upon the blind spots of traditional Marxist materialism to include further social and non-material aspects of domination. For Anglophone audiences, Carolyn Merchant’s “The Death of Nature” is a key work elaborating ecofeminist thought. Merchant critically analyzes the scientific revolution as not just technological progress but a shift from the Greek pre-modern view of nature as uncontrollable, agentic, associated with womanhood, and requiring a reciprocal relationship to a mechanical view of nature, which could now be divided, quantified, and controlled in the same way as women’s bodies. Through this analysis, Merchant ‘denaturalizes’ the nature/culture divide: she exposes how the separation of nature as ‘out there’ and away from culture and society is not inherent and comes from intentional historical processes. Hearing about Merchant’s work through Dr. Anantharaman felt like uncovering a missing puzzle piece. It not only complemented what I had learned in previous 19th Century History and Ecological Literacies courses, but pushed my critical understanding of the scientific revolution further by seamlessly linking the enclosure movement efforts to capture and extract value from nature to those efforts that rigidly constrain women to the home and exploit their unpaid domestic labor. Coming out of Dr. Anantharaman’s talk, I found the strongest salience of ecofeminist thought to be in its capacity to help us depart from commodified thinking about women’s labor and bodies and the environment all at once.
Thursday: Ecofeminist Roundtable with Local Associations at Le Hangar Zéro
Finally, SPE and FC participated in a discussion and debate at Le Hangar Zéro about ecofeminism alongside local Le Havre associations such as NousToutes. I was so proud to hear Elsa present ecofeminist sociologist Ariel Salleh’s work and to hear Anouk share Wangari Maathai’s life of advocacy with attendees sitting around Hangar Zéro’s cozy bar. While I did further learn about and discover new ecofeminist figures from the other presenters, figures including Françoise d’Eaubonne and Fatima Ouassak, I found the ensuing general audience debate to be the most interesting part of the evening.
We ended up talking about the involvement of local women in Le Havre against proposed industrial projects that would have harmful environmental impacts on the wider community. As the conversation moved forward, it was clear that the room was split between the perspectives advanced by two women there: one who declared that we should take advantage of higher gender equality between women and men and insert ourselves in male-dominated spaces such as public inquiries about these projects, and one who stated that we had the right to reject participation in spaces built on environmental and patriarchal domination that did not care about our voices to begin with. I perceived this divide as very representative of the perspectives of the different waves of feminism, applied to environmentalism, and appreciated the nuanced compromise offered by another attendee. She suggested that one of the major successes of feminist movements was creating a collective voice for women on intersectional gender-related issues, and therefore we no longer have to individually push our way into patriarchal, exploitative discussions, but can occupy space as a consolidated power, together. I appreciated the fact that this conversation at Hangar Zéro allowed participants to ardently disagree while still working together, something that I believe maintains an essential pluralism of ideas within and solidarity amongst social movements that reinforces our strength in numbers. I spent the whole walk home talking about ideas arising from this roundtable with a friend, and was reminded of why I came to SciencesPo in the first place.
I hope that you’ll take the time over the remainder of this holiday break to further explore ecofeminism, and see how it might complement or challenge existing ideologies and social movement frameworks that you care about. On behalf of SPE and FC, we’ll see you at future individual and collaborative events!
Le Dragon Déchaîné 