rce that supports life. Third World women and Ecofeminists challenge the western concept of development as economic growth and material accumulation. Their concept of economy is production for sustenance and satisfaction of basic needs. Ecofeminism recognizes the cultural and political links between ecology and feminism; the movement comprehends the domination and exploitation of women and nature as interrelated. It struggles for liberation of women and nature form patriarchal oppression. It struggles for justice, and equity for all classes, races, and genders, and for conservation and appreciation of nature. Ecofeminists challenge the fundamental ideas of the western patriarchy about women, nature, science, and “development”. They challenge the concept of “progress”, recognizing its ecologically destructive forces that threaten the base of human survival. They criticize the scientific revolution and industrialization, which have turned nature into a machine, a resource, or commodity, devalued it, and deprived it of its sacredness. Ecological breakdown and social inequity are intrinsically related to the dominant paradigm which puts man against and above nature and women. The underlying assumptions of dialectical unity and cyclical recovery shared by the common concern for the liberation of nature and of women contrast deeply with the dominant western patriarchal assumptions of duality in existence and linearity in process. Exploitation and murder of nature is a form of violence to people, it is a threat to the bases of human survival. Ecofeminism envisions a non-violent world of equity where nature is preserved. The liberation can be accomplished through a transformation of culture, politics, and economy. To transform the culture, the ideology of dualism has to be transformed, and the concepts of nature and human identity have to be reconstructed. It requires re-conceptualization of the relationship between men ...
