ECOFEMINISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY

Abstract

In the context of climate change and rising risk of environmental crisis caused by pollution and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, the concept of environmental security, primarily defined as the resilience of countries and individuals to the challenges of environmental degradation, is rapidly obtaining the interest of general public and experts from various scientific disciplines. However, it seems that the gender aspect of security in general, and particularly of environmental security has not been given the amount of attention it deserves until recently. Thanks to the ecofeminist movement, based upon the idea that women are more closely related to nature than men and more vulnerable and susceptible to the negative impacts of environmental degradation (especially those emerging as the consequences of pollution and climate change), the role of women in the improvement of environmental security through participation in decision-making processes in legislation and public policy making is finally being recognised. The aim of this paper is to analyse the modern concept of environmental security as well as the evolution and contemporary discourses within ecofeminist movements and to explain the link between them, i.e., the contribution of ecofeminism to the shift in the approach to environmental security in the sense of taking into consideration the rights and interests of women as more common victims of negative environmental impacts as well as their potentials as relevant stake holders in this field.