Just a note to say that I'm Michael Zimmerman, professor of philosophy
at Tulane. I've been interested in ecofeminism for ten years, and have
written articles about it (some of which have met with an unfriendly
reception from certain quarters). My new book, Contesting Earth's Future:
Radical Ecology and Postmodernity (U. of California Press), has two
chapters on ecofeminism.
Conceptual difficulties arise in trying to define this somewhat many
faceted term, "ecofeminism." These problems are not unlike general issues
that have arisen in connection with feminist theory. In the "philosophy
and gender" I taught last fall, we read (among other things) Linda Alcoff
and Elizabeth Potter's excellent collection of essays, Feminist
Epistemologies. At the end of the readings, however, my students and I
were wondering whether there was anything specifically "feminist" left in
some of these very sophisticated and insightful essays. That aspects of
the various "patriarchies" around the world lead to serious problems for
many women and for animals, plants, and ecosystems--of this I am convinced.
The difficult part comes in trying to develop a comprehensive
understanding of what is in fact an enormously complex issue.
I look forward to learning from all of you. Having already dropped out
of another list because of such an enormous flow of information, however, I
must wait and see whether I'll be able to digest all the good stuff that I
expect to show up on this list!
Cheers, Michael Z
