Gender and the Environment

Climate change, natural disasters, and loss of biodiversity are all considered major environmental concerns for the international community both now and into the future. Each are damaging to the earth, but they also negatively impact human lives, especially those of women. Despite these important links, to date very little consideration has been given to the role of gender in global environmental politics and policy-making.

This timely and insightful book explains why gender matters to the environment. In it, Nicole Detraz examines contemporary debates around population, consumption, and security to show how gender can help us to better understand environmental issues and to develop policies to tackle them effectively and justly. Our society often has different expectations of men and women, and these expectations influence the realm of environmental politics. Drawing on examples of various environmental concerns from countries around the world, Gender and the Environment makes the case that it is only by adopting a more inclusive focus that embraces the complex ways men and women interact with ecosystems that we can move towards enhanced sustainability and greater environmental justice on a global scale.

This much-needed book is an invaluable guide for those interested in environmental politics and gender studies, and sets the agenda for future scholarship and advocacy.

Acknowledgments vii

Abbreviations ix

1 Introduction: How are Gender and the Environment Connected? 1

2 Sustainability and Sustainable Development as Gendered Concepts 20

3 Revealing Gender in Environmental Justice 45

4 Too Many People? Gender and Population Debates 69

5 Too Much Stuff? Gender and Debates about Consumption 94

6 Too Little Security? Gender and the Securitization of the Environment 120

7 Conclusion: Gendered Sustainability and Justice in Climate Change Debates 146

Notes 166

References 174

Index 203

"Inequality and discrimination are central to why the global environmental crisis is escalating. Nicole Detraz’s trailblazing book reveals how gender analysis offers essential insights into why the problems of consumption, environmental insecurity, and unsustainable development persist, as well as why government and corporate policies so often cause even greater injustice."
Peter Dauvergne, University of British Columbia

"Detraz's book shows how our understanding of environmental issues is enhanced by considering the particular experiences of women and men in the face of environmental degradation. The analysis is both straightforward - accessible to a beginner - and sophisticated, tracing how different feminisms build on the core concepts of sustainability and justice to transform familiar debates in global environmental politics."
Kathryn Hochstetler, University of Waterloo

"A thorough, accessible and succinct overview of the debates to date. This book is extremely helpful in laying out the field of GEP…as well as in achieving its specific aim to develop analytical connections between gender and environment. The clarity and comprehensiveness of the overviews are very useful for educators and learners alike."
Environmental Education Research
Nicole Detraz is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Memphis