220 Communities and Social Capital
cultural ecofeminism and the importance of valuing women and women’s work.
Merchant sees all the many strands of ecofeminism as being concerned with ‘repro-
duction construed in its broadest sense to include the continued biological and
social reproduction of human life and the continuance of life on earth’ (p209).
Although ecofeminists often make generalized statements that seem to refer to
all men and all women, their specific focus is the pattern of dominance that arose
in European society associated with the historical development of science, technol-
ogy, industrialism and capitalism. This is not to ignore the fact that earlier societies
have been ecologically destructive (Ponting, 1991) or that ecologically benign soci-
eties can be patriarchal. It could be argued that male domination and women’s
oppression have been more ubiquitous in history than ecological destruction. The
interesting question for ecofeminists is the way in which the two have come
together in the present era. Ecofeminists see the origins of the present ecological
crisis as lying in the specific material and cultural developments of the North/West
as reflected in its socioeconomic structures, science and technology, philosophy
and religion. For many ecofeminists, particularly those with a theological or a
philosophical background, this destructiveness results from the forms of knowl-
edge and belief that justify and sustain Western patriarchy. In particular, the Chris-
tian and rationalist rejection of the body and the prioritization of mind or soul
(Ruether, 1975; Plumwood, 1993). Women are essentialized, naturalized and con-
demned by their association with the body. This association I would argue is the
basis of the materialist analysis that can be derived from ecofeminism.
Materialist Ecofeminism
Materialist ecofeminism is based on the assertion that sex/gender inequality is not
a by-product of other inequalities, but represents a material relation of inequality
between dominant men and subordinate women. In terms of the double dialectic,
the human–human relation is gendered in such a way that it interacts with the
human–nature dialectic. Women are materially placed between ‘Man’ and ‘Nature’.
In a very real sense gender mediates human–nature relations, and mediation is a
concept central to materialist ecofeminism. An environmental ethic between
hu(man)ity and nature cannot be developed if this gendered relationship is not
acknowledged. The second important element is the position of women as embod-
ying nature both materially and symbolically in gendered societies. Unlike domi-
nant men who claim to be above nature (transcendent), women are seen as steeped
in the natural world of the body (immanent). The concept of immanence is there-
fore another central concept for materialist ecofeminism.
Affinity and social constructionist ecofeminism both see masculine/patriarchal
values as inherently damaging and destructive, but even affinity ecofeminists do
not see men and women as in fundamental conflict. Despite the initial impression
given by their rhetorical language and condemnation of man/male and praise for