Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


osu1282104799.pdf (853.1 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Chicana Environmentalisms: Deterritorialization as a Practice of Decolonization

Holmes, Christina M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1282104799

Abstract Details

2010, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Womens Studies.
This dissertation considers the state of environmentalism in feminist studies in the American academy. I propose that ecofeminism, the branch of feminist philosophy that concerns itself with environmentalism, is limited by disciplinary divides and geographical exclusions that appear in its historiography—these limit what counts as ecofeminism as well as what it could be. “Ecofeminism” describes many things, including how the domination of women may be linked to the domination of nature and an examination of women’s environmental activism. While ecofeminist theories criticize the historically negative image of women and nature that exists in patriarchal cultures that measure nature by its market value, ecofeminism also posits a positive identification of women with nature. Some point to women’s greater contact with the environment through farming and conservation, reproduction and care work, or a spiritual connection with “mother nature” to describe woman-nature identifications and argue that women are well-positioned to protect nature. Though ecofeminist theory is useful for understanding the nature of oppression and strategies for resistance, it has also been marginalized in feminist studies due to criticisms of gender essentialism. It has also been marginalized because of its exclusions, including what appears to be a white, middle-class bias. My dissertation revisits these criticisms by reframing ecofeminism through the lens of Chicana studies. In bringing these two fields together, I aim to revise and revitalize environmentalist feminist theory to make it more inclusive and relevant to academics and activists. Revision is a multi-part process. First, I map ecofeminism in Western feminist studies through a genealogy that follows the master narratives that govern the field as well as their exclusions, such as the absence of Chicana environmentalisms. Second, I identify ecological narratives in the work of Chicana and Mexican-American women to revise and expand feminist environmental philosophy with the perspectives of a population that is underrepresented in the literature. I chose Chicana studies not just for the lack of attention it receives, but because the most problematic areas in ecofeminist theory can be re-evaluated in light of how such relationships are articulated in complex, non-essentialist ways by Chicana and Mexican-American writers, artists and activists. My conclusions find that Chicana environmentalisms rewrite the essentialist themes in ecofeminism that have drawn criticism, including the link between women and nature, the role of embodiment and of spirituality in environmental literature and movements. At the heart of Chicana environmental practices is an effort to construct open and performative intersubjective identities that create new kinds of politicized human/nature /spirit relations. Ultimately, what can be seen in these efforts is the deterritorialization, or de-sedimenting and pushing into new directions, of identities and movements in ways that invigorate activism for social and ecological justice. Moreover, in bringing together ecofeminist and Chicana studies, I aim to disrupt each of those fields, deterritorializing them in productive ways. Together, then, this project reflects work to decolonize subjectivity, movement politics, and disciplinarity in the academy.
Cathy Rakowski, PhD (Advisor)
Guisela Latorre, PhD (Committee Member)
Christine Keating, PhD (Committee Member)
316 p.
Womens Studies
Chicana studies; ecofeminism; environmentalism; feminism; cultural production; ethnography; social movements

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Holmes, C. M. (2010). Chicana Environmentalisms: Deterritorialization as a Practice of Decolonization [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1282104799

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Holmes, Christina. Chicana Environmentalisms: Deterritorialization as a Practice of Decolonization. 2010. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1282104799.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Holmes, Christina. "Chicana Environmentalisms: Deterritorialization as a Practice of Decolonization." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1282104799

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1282104799
3,205
© 2010, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.