Ecofeminism, women and care: production of subjects and subjectivities

Abstract

The article establishes a parallel and comparative relationship between two strands of ecofeminism, the essentialist and the critical, identifying the political struggles undertaken by these theories. It seeks to answer how ecofeminist theories constitute women as caregivers, subjects, and subjectivity. It also aims to understand who the subjects of ecofeminist struggles are and the subjectivities they produce. For this purpose, a qualitative research with exploratory intent was conducted through a bibliographic study using books, scientific articles, and interviews, selected from classic authors related to the theme of ecofeminism. However, it should be noted that the analysis conducted in this article is based on the representations generated by the different strands, as it is not possible to analyze the construction of subjects, considering that within the movements there are women who do not subjectify themselves. Unlike the critical approach, it is observed that gender issues are not considered in the essentialist perspective, as it removes male responsibility towards nature, further reinforcing the separation of care, which ends up being attributed solely to women.