Female Parliamentarians and Climate Change: A Feminist Political Ecology Analysis
Open Access
Author:
Alexander, Rayna
Area of Honors:
Geography
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Lorraine Dowler, Thesis Supervisor Brian H. King, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Feminist Political Ecology Climate Change Gender Female Parliamentarians African Politics
Abstract:
“It’s time for women to mother earth,” United Nations officials declared at the Conference on Environment and Development. Gender-environment linkages characterize modern development and climate discourses; however, the relationship between women and the environment did not coalesce in international rhetoric until the early 1990s. Thus began “gender mainstreaming,” or the inclusion of gender in writing–but largely ignored in practice–in sustainable resource management efforts. Three decades later, numerous United Nations-sanctioned policies incorporate complementary environmental protection and women’s empowerment agendas, but little research explores how or why there might be a causal relationship (beyond patriarchally charged assumptions). This claim begs empirical support. The following analysis explores the hegemonic discourse–henceforth referred to as ecofeminism–and offers a competing framework for analyzing gender-environment dynamics, otherwise referred to as Feminist Political Ecology (FPE). This thesis seeks to expose the nuance of gender-environment relationships and integrate historical context, theoretical frameworks, and quantitative observations to critically and holistically examine discourses surrounding gender-environment relationship.
