10: Women and Environmental Politics
- Page ID
- 153108
Understanding Terminology
by Charissa V. Jones
Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny, also known as “Little Miss Flint,” entered the public eye in 2016 when she helped bring national exposure to the water crisis in her community of Flint, Michigan. In 2014 the City of Flint changed its water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (which provided treated water) to the Flint River. Since City officials did not apply proper treatment procedures to the Flint River water, from April 2014 through 2019, citizens dealt with murky water contaminated with lead and Legionnaires’ disease.
Fed up with the lack of response from city officials, 8-year-old Mari wrote a letter to then-president Barack Obama outlining the crisis and asking for help. President Obama replied to her letter and brought national and federal awareness to the issue. Unfortunately, local officials and the media maintained that the water was safe and that residents were being paranoid. These narratives, coupled with the city’s inaction, led the Michigan Civil Rights Commission to declare the poor governmental response a result of “systemic racism.” Today, Little Miss Flint (a nickname Mari earned after she won a beauty pageant in 2015 but has become synonymous with her social justice work) continues to speak out about the Flint water crisis and other social justice issues, such as former President Trump’s immigration policies.
by Janet Lockhart
An example of the misuse of lands for profit at the expense of Indigenous people is the island of Nauru, in the Pacific, which was mined by British and Australian companies for phosphate, a mineral with industrial uses.
The mining has rendered most of the small island uninhabitable, disrupted local culture, and left the Nauruan people highly dependent on foreign aid. (Since only the coastline is still inhabitable, as climate change causes sea levels to rise, the inhabitants are increasingly vulnerable.)
Anti-Indigeneity in Environmental Politics
Settler Influences on Environmental Politics
Capitalism, Globalization, and Exploitation
by Shannon Garvin
The United Nations (UN) notes that with the right support and financing, Africa is well positioned to largely skip the polluting stage of electrical production and move straight to renewable solar and wind energy. Large portions of most African countries still do not have power, but solar kits are now enabling women to access cheap power for themselves and their families—and they refer their friends. The Energy2Equal program aims to increase jobs and leadership opportunities for African women in the renewable energy sector.
Recent efforts in Southeast Asia are involving women in efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic waste. Some women in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam are committing to a “zero-waste lifestyle,” and a small Indonesian company combines cement with mulched plastic waste to make “Rebricks.” Mercy Barends, a member of the House of Representatives of Indonesia, calls for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to involve women in decision-making, as they are involved at every stage of producing, managing, and recycling plastics. In 2019 the Ocean Conservancy recognized the importance of women’s roles in their report The Role of Gender in Waste Management.
Settler Colonialism as Present Tense
by Charissa V. Jones
“Man camps” are temporary lodgings, generally mobile homes or other modular housing, that pop up near remote areas where valuable resources are being extracted from the earth (such as the Keystone XL Pipeline project) for economic gain. While this setup is beneficial to the extractive organization (such as a corporation) because it requires fewer resources to support their mostly male workforce, it wreaks havoc on the local communities, particularly Indigenous communities.
Man camps drastically increase the population of an area and cause a strain on community infrastructure, such as law enforcement and other resources. The increased male population also brings with it an increase in crime and violence—particularly sexual violence, taking the forms of sexual assault, rape, and sex trafficking—which have negatively affected Indigenous women and girls. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) campaign is one example of an attempt to bring awareness to this issue.
See the links below for more information.
The United States as a Settler Colonial Nation
by Ramona Flores
With trends evolving rapidly, many fast fashion companies routinely cut corners to meet financial and production margins, often at the expense of the environment and the workers. Organizations like the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, located in London, conduct research around sustainability and fashion while providing education about sweatshop exploitation and excessive industrial waste.
Organizations like WRAP focus on single-use packaging and waste reduction by working with large companies like Coca-Cola, Google, and Nestlé to work toward systemic change. The push for sustainability in clothing and other lifestyle products has garnered a larger public audience, with celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres promoting different causes and products via social media.
Many companies that sell fast fashion, including Fashion Nova, exploit migrant workers from their United States-based workshops and label their clothes “Made in America.” As Forbes explains, this label prompts the buyer to make untrue assumptions about the ethical practices that went into the creation of the garment. Contrary to these assumptions, these fast fashion companies pay an average of $2.77 per hour.
The rise of the menstrual equity movement has led to the creation and manufacturing of a variety of sustainable menstrual products. Such products include the time-tested menstrual cup, underwear made specifically to absorb menstrual blood, and biodegradable pads and tampons. In the larger conversation about environmentalism, incorporating necessary menstrual products is a key part of the shift toward sustainability, especially when nonbiodegradable tampons and pads can exist for hundreds of years after their brief use.
Sustainability not only has to include what is worn externally but also all aspects of life, from menstrual products to food packaging.
Further Impacts
by Sarah Baum
Sometimes, life takes us to places we could never expect yet places us right where we need to be. This happened to conservationist photographer Cristina Mittermeier. Trained as a scientist with a degree in biochemical engineering, she expected her life’s work to be preserving ocean biodiversity. Instead, her life took a turn down an unexpected path. After working with Conservation International for several years, she took a trip to the Amazon to research an Indigenous region. While there, she took a few photos. When the trip ended, the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences requested materials for an Amazonian art exhibit. When Mittermeier attended the exhibit, she found one of her photographs displayed but credited to her husband. “You know, I felt that little sting of what it feels like to lose your copyright,” she says. “And I decided to take it seriously, so I went back to school for photography.”
And take it seriously she did, learning her craft and art to become one of the world’s most skilled conservation photographers. From behind her lens, she tells the story of the wilderness of the world around us and the places that are disappearing quickly due to climate change and exploitation. And while her photographs capture stunning moments and tell beautiful stories, Mittermeier didn’t stop there. She went on to become a translator, copy editor, photo editor, and eventually an editor of more than twenty-four books on conservation issues. Next, she helped found the International League of Conservation Photographers, which raises money for conservation issues. Her roots in marine biology also called her to cofound SeaLegacy. Even with all her efforts, she continues to produce breathtaking photographs of our disappearing wild planet. But it all started with a leap of faith into a new direction. “Whenever I feel a little fear, then I know I’m in the right place,” she says. “You often have to step out of your comfort zone, and feel a little uncomfortable to know that you’re creating an image that’s a different perspective or a new way of seeing things—something that maybe other people haven’t looked at yet.”
The Politics of Race, Gender, and Frontline Resistance
The “Othering” of Indigenous Communities
by Charissa V. Jones
Leah Thomas, a Black female from the United States, coined the term “intersectional environmentalism” to acknowledge how justice, equity, and inclusion are crucial to saving both the planet and its peoples. She created the concept in May 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Her post on Instagram—which had the sentence “Environmentalists for Black Lives Matter” repeating across it—went viral and helped to connect social justice issues to environmental conversations during a time when people were asking where social justice conversations could be conducted.
The intersectional environmentalist collective tackles environmental issues through an intersectional lens, identifying the ways in which “injustices affecting marginalized communities + Mother Earth are interconnected,” and working to overcome all types of oppression.
“Saving” the “Global South” as Settler Colonialism
Frontline Women and Girls of Resistance
by Rebecca Lambert
When you think of environmental activists, who comes to mind? You might think of Greta Thunberg, the teenager from Sweden who challenges politicians to seriously consider and craft solutions for the climate crisis. How many other women can you name that are working on environmental issues?
Women have long been a part of the fight for environmental justice, and there are many more to know. Vandana Shiva is an Indian-born scholar, activist, and environmental advocate who is widely known for her activism against GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Shiva also wrote the foundational text Ecofeminism, which examines the connection between patriarchal oppression and environmental destruction. West African Isatou Ceesay, from the Gambia, is known as the “Queen of Plastic Recycling.” She worked with a group of women from her village, and they began to make purses from the plethora of plastic bags plaguing the village. Her environmental efforts also support the economic empowerment of women, as she is a cofounder of the Women’s Initiative Gambia, which works with women in poverty to help them build skills and tools to increase their income.
But these are just a few of the women engaging in innovative environmental work. As part of your continued learning, find out more about other activists such as Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores, Winona LaDuke, Wangari Maathai, and Vanessa Nakate. Learn more about the issues they raise and how you can support their efforts.
Romanticizing Indigenous Women in Eco-Feminism
Conclusion
Politics of Frontline Resistance
Where Do We Go from Here?
by Shannon Garvin
In 1948, Costa Rica disbanded its military in favor of investing in its people. As it invested in education, health care, human rights, and other culturally stabilizing efforts, it created growth. After World War II, the World Bank and big businesses teamed up to mine resources and grow cattle (cheap beef) for export to US fast food chains. Unfortunately, this also meant massive loans and deforestation to small and developing nations.
After two decades of pillaging its tropical rain forests (85 percent was forested until the 1940s), the educated Costa Ricans revolted against international exploitation and in the late 1960s passed aggressive measures to proactively protect and reclaim the natural beauty of their land. Costa Rica offered grants and cash incentives to grow native crops and reforest.
Costa Rica is now the only country to regrow most of its rain forests (from 21 percent in 1990 to 52 percent in 2005), and it is home to 5 percent of all global biodiversity. Costa Rican scientists have preserved much of the nation (over 25 percent is nature preserves), and it is a gathering place for eco-tourists and scientists alike.
Because Costa Rica implemented life-sustaining policies and invested in education decades before any other nations, it is out of sync with most of the current economic and environmental goals of the global community. Eco-taxes pay farmers on the value of their land for the future. From 2000 to 2005, Indigenous farm ownership increased by 100 percent, and female ownership grew from 200 to 1,600 farms.
Costa Rica boasts the lowest poverty rates of Central and South America, but economic growth has also slowed in the past decade. It begs the questions: When has a country arrived at appropriate and life-sustaining intersectional policies? Is it reasonable that gross domestic product must always grow? In a “First World / Third World” mentality, what about Costa Rica?
Today, as conservatives and progressives posture inside the country and under international categories and pressure, arguing whether its policies were “worth it,” we hope Costa Rica can continue its bold pilgrimage toward sustainable and symbiotic living between humans and nature, and figure out the “next steps” as an example for other nations to follow.
Learning Activities
References
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Image Attributions
10.1 “Salem, Oregon” by Jasperdo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
10.2 “Children Scavenge for Valuables in Garbage Dump in Haiti” by United Nations Photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
10.3 Photo by Yogendra Singh from Pexels
10.4 “Managed Destruction” by Harlz_ is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
10.5 Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
10.6 “BC Gathering for families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls” by BC Gov Photos is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
10.7 “bertha caceres memoria” by jakarundi graphics is available under CC PDM 1.0
10.s5.1 “Nauru Island” by ARM Climate Research Facility is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
10.s.9.1 “Little Miss Flint (Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny) Leads the March from the Science Rally Stage to the Capitol, April 14th, 2018 #flintmichigan #flint #sciencemarchdc #KeepMarching #ScienceNotSilence #StandUp4Science #marchforscience #marchforsciencedc #dc #pro” by hillels is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0