Intersectionality & Connectivity

As students of feminism and social justice, we may ask ourselves why the theory of intersectionality is an important aspect of the ecofeminist perspective. Environmental philosopher A.E. Kings provides an answer: “Intersectionality has become a powerful tool when applied to ecofeminist analysis of the relationship between women and the environment, particularly in its ability to assist in furthering our understanding of how a person’s relationship with the environment (in the Global South or North) is not completely dependent on any one aspect of their lives, whether gender, race, class, sexuality or age but rather a combination of all of the above and more besides.” (p. 71)

A.E. Kings writes of intersectionality as “a web of entanglement, [rather] than a traffic junction or road. Each spoke of the web representing a continuum of different types of social categorisation such as gender, sexuality, race, or class; while encircling spirals depict individual identities. The spirals collide with each spoke at a different level of the continuum, illustrating the context-specific privilege or discrimination experienced by the individual. A spider’s web preserves the necessary complexity of intersectionality and the potential ‘stickiness’ of cultural categories, which can often leave people stuck between two or more intersecting or conflicting social categories.” (p. 65-66)

This is due to Kings’ background in environmental philosophy, but we’ve heard of this “web” before. Ynestra King speaks of an interconnected web in The Ecology of Feminism and the Feminism of Ecology (1989). King writes “Life on earth is an interconnected web, not a hierarchy. There is no natural hierarchy; human hierarchy is projected onto nature and then used to justify social domination. Therefore, ecofeminist theory seeks to show the connections between all forms of domination, including the domination of nonhuman nature…”

Leah Thomas writes that Intersectional Environmentalism “advocates for the protection of people and the planet and addresses how the injustices happening to marginalized communities and the earth are interconnected.” Thomas’s view originates from racial justice movements such as Black Lives Matter and youth concern around climate change. Thomas’s re-framing of Ecofeminism as Intersectional Environmentalism is extremely important for the advancement of ecological protection because it offers a more inclusive perspective. Thomas tells us she felt alienated when learning about ecofeminism as taught from a Western, white perspective. Conservation, environmental protection, and sustainability benefit from the involvement of all people. If the term Intersectional Environmentalism brings BIPOC folks to the work by making them feel seen and welcome, then it is an important for the movement.

It seems that A.E. Kings, agrees with this point, writing “By being neither too complicated nor too simple, intersectionality has the capacity to draw a wide audience from the full feminist spectrum.” (p 68). The full feminist spectrum can accomplish more for the natural world than one group alone or many divided feminist collectives.

Thomas writes “the mainstream feminist spaces didn’t always feel inclusive, representative, or safe; they didn’t acknowledge all the intersections of my identity and how it applied to my experience as a woman. I realized that my Blackness shouldn’t be an extra “add on” to my feminism or environmentalism. When intersectional theory is applied to both, I feel seen and heard in those spaces.” The description of how feminist and environmentalist spaces opened up to her when an intersectional approach was taken validates the origins of intersectional theory: Black feminists in the ’70s pointing out how their experiences were different than their white peers. Kimberle Crenshaw brought us the term intersectionality for this exact reason; to help us recognize how the totality of our identity shapes how we share space. Thomas writes that both Ecofeminism and Intersectional Theory are crucial for Intersectional Environmentalism. “They work together to accomplish a similar goal and advocate for the protection of both people and the planet.”

Ultimately, the ecofeminist perspective of interconnectedness, a result of an intersectional approach to feminism and environmentalism, benefits the natural world by inviting all people regardless of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, or any other identifier into the work of conservation and environmental protection.

Works Cited:

Kings, A.E. “Intersectionality and the Changing Face of Ecofeminism.” Ethics & the Environment, vol. 22 no. 1, 2017, p. 63-87. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.2979/ethicsenviro.22.1.04.