Vandana Shiva: Ecofeminist and Pioneer of Ethical Posthumanism

Authors

  • Carolina Núñez-Puente UNIVERSITY OF A CORUÑA

Abstract

Vandana Shiva is among the most well-known ecofeminists in and out of academia. This article will examine the proposals of some of her works—Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development (1988), Ecofeminism (with Maria Mies, 1993), Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability and Peace (2005), and Terra Viva: My Life in a Biodiversity of Movements (2022)—together with the principles of ethical posthumanism. As for the latter, I will rely on the writings of Stacy Alaimo, Karen Barad, Jane Bennet, Rosi Braidotti, and Donna Haraway. I will show how Shiva’s ideas both anticipate and dialogue with those of the mentioned authors. Thus, I will assess several issues such as: the criticism of the human/nonhuman hierarchy, especially between privileged and non-privileged women; the ecological wisdom of tribal women; the so-called natural world as an example of ethical relations; the importance of co-operation, care, and love in sustaining life; the agency and subjectivity of the nonhuman; and the interconnectedness between the human and the nonhuman. In all, the paper expects to demonstrate that Shiva’s oeuvre foresees ethical posthumanism.

Keywords

Vandana Shiva, ecofeminism, ethical posthumanism

References

ALAIMO, STACY (2010) Bodily Natures: Science, Environment, and the Material Self. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

BARAD, KAREN (2007) Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Living. Durham: Duke University Press.

BENNETT, JANE (2010) Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham: Duke University Press.

BRAIDOTTI, ROSI (2019) Posthuman Knowledge. Cambridge: Polity.

BRAIDOTTI, ROSI (2013) The Posthuman. Cambridge: Polity.

ROSZ, ELIZABETH (2008) Chaos, Territory, Art. Deleuze and the Framing of the Earth. New York: Columbia University Press.

HARAWAY, DONNA (2016) Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Durham: Duke University Press.

HARAWAY, DONNA (2003) The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

MIES, MARIA & SHIVA, VANDANA (1993) Ecofeminism. London: Zed.

SHIVA, VANDANA (2005) Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace. Boston: South End.

SHIVA, VANDANA (2022) Terra Viva: My Life in a Biodiversity of Movements. London: Chelsea Green.

SHIVA, VANDANA (1988) Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. London: Zed.

Published

2024-04-15

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