Deeper than deep ecology: The eco-feminist connection

Abstract

This chapter offers a feminist critique of deep ecology as presented in the seminal papers of Ame Naess and Bill Devall. It outlines the fundamental premises involved and analyzes their internal coherence. Not only are there problems on logical grounds, but the tacit methodological approaches of the two papers are inconsistent with the deep ecologists’ own substantive comments. It discusses these shortcomings in terms of a broader feminist critique of patriarchal culture and points out some practical and theoretical contributions which eco-feminism can make to genuinely deep ecology problematic.