Cyborgs, Transcorporeality and Volatile Bodies: Ecofeminist Theories of Embodiment

The term 'ecofeminism' first emerged in the 1970s, developed from second-wave feminist scholarship and its burgeoning recognition of the alignment of the patriarchally-motivated oppression of nature and its mirrored oppression of women, and becoming a branch of study that allows the exploration of human domination of the Earth with regards to societal domination of oppressed peoples. As the field progresses, it becomes clear that the objective of ecofeminist theorising does not linger solely on why patriarchal power structures place women and nature in a unanimously oppressed space, but also how women can reshape their position as a catalysing force to radically re-evaluate humanity’s relationship to nature overall when faced with the need for critical action in the midst of the Anthropocene.

This lecture will focus on the way in which ecofeminist theories understand this inherent relationality of women to nature and explore it closer through the method that all humans interact with the world around them, on the material/physical plane, i.e. through their embodied experience of the world. We will familiarise ourselves with and examine the works of ecofeminist and posthumanist theorists such as Donna Haraway, Stacey Alaimo, Elizabeth Grosz, Greta Gaard and more, exploring alongside them the philosophical structure of embodiment and how it fosters a connectivity between the human and nature through acknowledging that our bodies are as much part of the world as they belong to us. We will look at how this idea inspires ecofeminist reimaginings of women's place in the world, how this idea is rejected in favour of a radical separation of the concept of 'natural' as it is applied to humanity as an oppressive tool, and how ecofeminism over the years has developed to include those oppressed on the basis of class, race or sexuality as a wider investigation into the ways in which nature and our bodies are dominated under patriarchy.

This lecture will include a visual component exploring the ways in which embodiment features in artists’ practices that investigate women and nature in an ecofeminist lens, such as Francesca Woodman, Claude Cahun, Tacita Dean, Georgia O'Keeffe and Ithell Colquhoun.

We are committed to making our sessions as accessible as possible. If you are unable to pay the full amount for this class, please reach out to us via email at [email protected] and we will provide you with a discount code.