Ariel Salleh
Encyclopedia
Ariel Salleh is an Australia
n sociologist who writes on social ecology
and ecofeminism
. In contrast to idealist
ecofeminisms coming from philosophy
and cultural studies
, Salleh's analysis is close to that of fellow sociologists Maria Mies
in Germany
and Mary Mellor in the United Kingdom
. Reproductive labour and use value are central themes here. Her own "embodied materialism" addresses resistance to globalisation through the movement of movements, introducing the term "meta-industrial labour" to integrate indigenous, peasant, women's, and worker politics under the banner of ecology.
Her book Ecofeminism as Politics: nature, Marx and the postmodern outlines the scope of a materialist ecofeminism, proposing a transdisciplinary analysis of the embodied roots of capitalist patriarchal globalisation. Salleh traces the effects of what she sees as the "originary contradiction": economic resourcing of labour (women's bodies in the first instance) "as nature" and the eurocentric ideology of "humanity v nature" used to justify that systemic exploitation.
Salleh exemplifies the marxist argument that hands-on praxis is essential to grounded political theory. She was a convener of the Movement Against Uranium Mining in Sydney, 1976, and helped found The Greens in 1985. She worked on the 1992 Earth Summit
with Women's Environment & Development Organization; on local catchment struggles in the mid 90s; and from 2001-04 acted as ecologist/critic on the Australian federal government's Gene Technology Ethics Committee.
As a co-editor of the international journal Capitalism Nature Socialism, Ariel Salleh works at en/gendering dialogue between advocates of ecofeminist and eco-socialist politics. Her writing has addressed this terrain since the early 1980s and she was an original signatory to the 2001 'Eco-socialist Manifesto'. Her critical studies of green thought, environmental ethics, and ecopolitics, run to some 100 articles and chapters. She lectures on ecofeminism internationally.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n sociologist who writes on social ecology
Social ecology
Social ecology is a philosophy developed by Murray Bookchin in the 1960s.It holds that present ecological problems are rooted in deep-seated social problems, particularly in dominatory hierarchical political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncritical acceptance of an overly...
and ecofeminism
Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which points to the existence of considerable common ground between environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism...
. In contrast to idealist
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
ecofeminisms coming from philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
, Salleh's analysis is close to that of fellow sociologists Maria Mies
Maria Mies
Maria Mies is a professor of sociology and author of several influential feminist books, including Indian Women and Patriarchy , Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale , and Women: The Last Colony .She is Professor of Sociology at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, which is a...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Mary Mellor in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Reproductive labour and use value are central themes here. Her own "embodied materialism" addresses resistance to globalisation through the movement of movements, introducing the term "meta-industrial labour" to integrate indigenous, peasant, women's, and worker politics under the banner of ecology.
Her book Ecofeminism as Politics: nature, Marx and the postmodern outlines the scope of a materialist ecofeminism, proposing a transdisciplinary analysis of the embodied roots of capitalist patriarchal globalisation. Salleh traces the effects of what she sees as the "originary contradiction": economic resourcing of labour (women's bodies in the first instance) "as nature" and the eurocentric ideology of "humanity v nature" used to justify that systemic exploitation.
Salleh exemplifies the marxist argument that hands-on praxis is essential to grounded political theory. She was a convener of the Movement Against Uranium Mining in Sydney, 1976, and helped found The Greens in 1985. She worked on the 1992 Earth Summit
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.-Overview:...
with Women's Environment & Development Organization; on local catchment struggles in the mid 90s; and from 2001-04 acted as ecologist/critic on the Australian federal government's Gene Technology Ethics Committee.
As a co-editor of the international journal Capitalism Nature Socialism, Ariel Salleh works at en/gendering dialogue between advocates of ecofeminist and eco-socialist politics. Her writing has addressed this terrain since the early 1980s and she was an original signatory to the 2001 'Eco-socialist Manifesto'. Her critical studies of green thought, environmental ethics, and ecopolitics, run to some 100 articles and chapters. She lectures on ecofeminism internationally.
Selected works
- (2006)' Edited Symposium: ‘Ecosocialist-Ecofeminist Dialogues’', Capitalism Nature Socialism, 17 (4): 32-124.
- (2006) ‘We in the North are the Biggest Problem for the South: A Conversation with Hilkka Pietila’, Capitalism Nature Socialism, 17 (1): 44-61.
- (2006) ‘Social Ecology and the Man Question’ in Piers Stephens, John Barry, and Andrew Dobson (eds.), Contemporary Environmental Politics. London: Routledge.
- (2005) ‘Deeper than Deep Ecology’ in Baird Callicott and Clare Palmer (eds.), Environmental Philosophy, Vols. 1-5. London: Routledge.
- (2005) 'Editorial: 'Towards an Embodied Materialism, Capitalism Nature Socialism, 16 (2): 9-14.
- (2005) ‘Class, Race, and Gender Discourse in the Ecofeminism/Deep Ecology Debate’ in Linda Kalof and Terre Satterfield (eds.), Environmental Values. London: Earthscan.
- (2004) ‘Global Alternatives and the Meta-Industrial Class’ in Robert Albritton et al. (eds.), New Socialisms: Futures Beyond Globalization. New York: Routledge.
- (2001) ‘Ecofeminism’ in Victor Taylor and Charles Winquist (eds.), The Postmodern Encyclopaedia. London: Routledge.
- (2001) 'Interview with Maria Mies: ‘Women, Nature, and the International Division of Labour’', in Veronika Bennoldt-Thomsen et al. (eds.), There Is An Alternative. London: Zed Books.
- (2001) ‘Sustaining Nature or Sustaining Marx? Reply to John Foster and Paul Burkett’, Organization & Environment, 1: 43-450.
- (1999) 'Dialogue with Meira Hanson: ‘On Production and Reproduction, Identity and Non-identity’', Organization & Environment, 12: 207-218.
- (1997) Ecofeminism as Politics: nature, Marx and the postmodern. London: Zed Books and New York: St Martins Press.
- (1996) ‘Politics in/of the Wilderness’, Arena, 23: 26-30.
- (1994) ‘Nature, Woman, Labor, Capital’ in Martin O'Connor (ed.), Is Capitalism Sustainable? New York: Guilford.
- (1993) ‘Earth Summit: reflections on our political times’, Ecofeminist Newsletter, 4: 6-8.
- (1991) ‘Eco-socialism/ecofeminism’, Capitalism Nature Socialism, 2: 129-134.
- (1991) ‘Essentialism - and ecofeminism’, Arena, 94: 167-173.
- (1990) ‘The Politics of Representation’, Arena, 91: 163-169.
Sources
- Associate Professor Ariel Salleh, Arts, Education & Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney
- Ariel Salleh Home page
- Salleh, Ariel, Ecofeminism as Politics (London: Zed Books and New York: Palgrave, 1997)
- Reviews by John Barry (1998) Environmental Politics; by Paul Burkett (2001) New Political Science
- Capitalism Nature Socialism
- Ecofeminism website, Lancaster University, UK
- Women and Life on Earth Project
- International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School, York University, Canada, 2005.
- newsletter of the International Society for Ecological Ethics