Introduction
The 21st century has been marked by a vast range of changes occurring at an increasingly high speed to all domains of people’s lives, the resurgence of the environmental movement being one of them. Because of the effects that the process of globalization has had on the environment, including the increase in the speed of global warming and the scope of its outcomes, environmental ethics has gained significance (Mies, 2014).
Affected heavily by the rise in diversity levels within the global community, the identified alterations have opened new discussions such as viewing ecology issues through the prism of equality movements, particularly, feminism, and the possible threat of environmental racism (Hopkins, 2009). The identified concerns need to be addressed on a global level since they hinder the promotion of multicultural dialogue and the principles of equality.
Ecofeminism and Ethics
Being a theory that provides a framework for the analysis of sociocultural phenomena, feminism can be applied to the contemporary interpretation of environmentalism and the changes that occur in it. Ecological feminism is one of the ways of discussing the impact of current environmental ethics and ideas on women across the globe. Although the specified relationships need to be further contextualized with regard to a particular culture, general tendencies involving feminism and environmentalism can be observed (Mies, 2014). For example, the emergence of ecofeminism can be seen as an endeavor in challenging the status quo and playing an active role in restoring the environment.
Conclusion
Since the viewpoint that contemporary liberal feminists tend to hold in regard to environmental issues coincides with liberal ideas, in general, one can say that the identified approach borrows heavily from them (Warren, 2013). On the surface, liberal feminism does not add a strikingly different way of looking at the subject matter to the range of already existing ones (Hopkins, 2009). A closer look at its effects, however, will indicate that it increases the role of women in the promotion of sustainability. Radical and social feminism, in turn, focus on the flaws of patriarchy as a result of biological and social issues, thus, also challenging the existing environmental ethics and adding a new gender-related perspective to it (Merchant, 1990). As a result, one can embrace a greater range of opportunities in managing environmental concerns.
References
Hopkins, D. N. (2009). Holistic health & healing: Environmental racism & ecological justice. Currents in Theology and Mission, 36(1), 15-19. Web.
Merchant, C. (2013). B. Eco-feminism and social justice. Ecofeminism and feminist theory. In M. Boylan (Ed.), Environmental ethics (2nd ed.) (pp. 59-71). New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.
Mies, M. (2014). Chapter 4: The myth of catching-up development. In M. Mies, & V. Shiva (Eds.), Ecofeminism (2nd ed.) (pp. 55-69). New York, NY: Zed Books. Web.
Warren, K. J. (2013). The power and the promise of ecological feminism. In M. Boylan (Ed.), Environmental ethics (2nd ed.) (pp. 59-71). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell (Original work published 1990). Web.