Women, Water, Energy

Abstract

How can an ecofeminist perspective help us understand and respond to the problems of water pollution and energy production that we face today? Using contemporary examples ranging from the Arrowhead-Weston Project to Manitoba Hydro, Sumas Energy 2, and the Columbia River dams, this article exposes the corporate appropriations of water power from the people and from the land. Ecofeminism illuminates the way in which gendered, cultural assumptions about water, power, and human relations have led to creating a water-power infrastructure that perpetuates environmental sexism, environmental racism, and environmental classism. As an alternative, an ecofeminist approach to water justice advocates strategies for bringing about an ecological democracy, an ecological economics, and a partnership culture in which water and energy flow freely.