Coined by the French feminist Françoise d’Eaubonne, “ecofeminism” evokes a radical rethinking of environmental activism aimed at resisting the patriarchal destruction of the natural world. Historically, the elaboration of ecofeminism went hand in hand with contemporaneous critiques by Third World women’s liberation movements against colonial ecocide, and later, queer ecologists against compulsory heterosexuality and forced reproduction. But how, as ecofeminist Greta Gaard argues, have “appeals to nature” been used to “justify social norms, to the detriment of women, nature, queers, and persons of color?” Where did ecofeminist and queer ecology movements find alliances, and where did they diverge? How and why did ecofeminist discourse grow to encompass both trans-exclusionary radical feminism and queer and trans ecology? How have queer ecologists challenged bio-essentialism, and what possibilities has this created for global movements against ecocide?
In this course, we will explore some of the core theoretical texts of queer ecology dating back to Rachel Carson’s 1962 classic Silent Spring. We will interrogate the ways that feminist, queer, and queer of color theory from the 1970s onward troubled the nature/culture divide by asking what is “natural” about sex and gender and what is “sexed” about nature. Along the way, we will analyze the theoretical stakes of 1970s ecofeminism, lesbian separatism, and the lesbian back-to-the-land movements; queer indigenous and of-color movements against environmental racism; transgender critiques and reappropriations of Western science and medicine; and queer reckonings with technology, toxicity, and heterosexist spatialities. Readings will include works by Rachel Carson, Simone de Beauvoir, Lee Edelman, Hortense Spillers, Susan Stryker, Val Plumwood, Giovanna di Chiro, Greta Gaard, Keridwen Luis, Françoise d’Eaubonne, and Chelsea Frazier.
