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(Eco)Feminist Future: Mainstreaming Nonhuman Animals in Feminist Studies

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(Eco)Feminist Future: Mainstreaming Nonhuman Animals in Feminist Studies Toward a New (Eco)Feminist Future: Mainstreaming Nonhuman Animals in Feminist Studies By priya kumar, B.Soc.Sc. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario © 2017 priya kumar Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Speciesism is a feminist issue ............................................................................... 5 1.1 Women’s movements .................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 Women’s studies: From streets to classrooms ............................................................................. 8 1.3 Institutionalization of women’s studies ..................................................................................... 10 1.4 Developments in ‘Western’ feminist scholarship ...................................................................... 12 1.5 Ecofeminism .............................................................................................................................. 16 1.6 Looking back, looking forward: The ‘animal’ question ............................................................ 23 1.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 35 Chapter Two: Methodological considerations ......................................................................... 38 2.1 Researcher’s positionality.......................................................................................................... 38 2.2 Conceptual framework .............................................................................................................. 41 2.3 Research design ......................................................................................................................... 42 2.4 Introductory courses .................................................................................................................. 43 2.5 Data collection: Syllabi ............................................................................................................. 44 2.6 Data analysis: Syllabi ................................................................................................................ 45 2.7 Data collection: Survey ............................................................................................................. 46 Chapter Three: Findings ............................................................................................................ 48 3.1 Syllabi review: Course components .......................................................................................... 48 3.2 Course syllabi: Findings ............................................................................................................ 51 3.3 Survey findings .......................................................................................................................... 56 3.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 64 3.5 Toward a new (eco)feminist pedagogy ..................................................................................... 73 3.6 Implications of findings ............................................................................................................. 74 3.7 Limitations and further research ................................................................................................ 74 3.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 76 Appendix A: Observation table ................................................................................................. 85 Appendix B: Survey online consent form ................................................................................. 86 Appendix C: Survey questions ................................................................................................... 88 Appendix D: Authors and texts ................................................................................................. 90 Appendix E: Films ...................................................................................................................... 92 References .................................................................................................................................... 95 Abstract This thesis proposes a new direction for foundational feminist pedagogy, with the express purpose of mainstreaming a consideration of nonhuman animals in foundational feminist studies pedagogy. Ecofeminists have effectively situated speciesism – the systematic discrimination against nonhuman animals based on a belief in human superiority over all else – as a structural oppression, one that intersects with other forms of oppression such as racism and sexism. However, this is not reflected in the introductory course which is a crucial pedagogical site. Findings from a document review of forty-five introductory courses and a survey of instructors that have recently taught such courses suggest that feminist studies, in Canada, is human-centered, producing incomplete analyses of intersectionality and oppression which will lead to incomplete strategies for change. This thesis presents a vision for a new feminist future with the hope that it will expand the scope of feminist pedagogy, broadening our understanding of oppression, and lead to comprehensive strategies for change. i Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support of my family and their unwavering conviction in my aspirations. I am grateful to Dr. Irena Knezevic who has supervised this thesis for her invaluable support and advice, for always being available for a ‘chat’, and, above all, for believing in my vision. I am also grateful to Dr. Amrita Hari who has co- supervised this thesis for her invaluable support and encouragement. I am especially thankful to my supervisors for pushing me to think beyond what I had thought I was capable of. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Grace Adeniyi Ogunyankin for her valuable advice, raising important questions, and the opportunities to present my work in her undergraduate courses. These two years of being a full-time graduate student would not have been possible without the support of my partner and the loves of our lives, Chloé and Luna. ii Running head: TOWARD A NEW (ECO)FEMINIST FUTURE Introduction What’s feminism got to do with it? This is not a parody of the 1984 Tina Turner classic but a question I am often asked, by feminists and others, about the topic of this research project. Let me begin by sharing that the introduction to women’s studies course I took, ten years ago, led me to finding my feminism. Where my peers were identifying as radical and liberal feminists, I remember struggling to define myself. That struggle ended when I read an excerpt from A Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. (1963), an early reading in the course. As I read the words “[i]njustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” I understood what my feminism had to be (I still do not use a prefix to describe my feminism). These words have continued to deeply inform my thought and action and, eventually, led me to adopt ethical veganism. Veganism is a way of life, which includes practices and attitudes, informed by the concept of compassion and rejection of exploitation of nonhuman animals in all forms. However, in popular understanding it has become associated, primarily, with practising a plant-based diet or as a ‘dietary choice’ (it is also routinely considered as a ‘dietary restriction’). I prefer to use the term ‘ethical veganism’ to describe the rejection of nonhuman exploitation in all forms accompanied by actively working toward the elimination of all forms of oppression through various forms of activism and advocacy. This distinction is not meant to undermine those who are not involved in activism, (veganism for any reason ultimately benefits nonhuman animals) but to make clear that veganism is not a dietary choice, but a political one. It became clear to me that I could not be an advocate for justice when I was perpetrating injustice in consuming the flesh of nonhuman animals and other products of their suffering. Likewise, ethical veganism deeply informed my feminism in that it helped me understand that dualist (male/female, man/woman, nature/culture, reason/emotion, masculine/feminine, 1 TOWARD A NEW (ECO)FEMINIST FUTURE human/animal etc.) and centric thinking (androcentrism, anthropocentrism, heterocentrism, ethnocentrism etc.), the basis for all oppression, must be challenged in all forms. To challenge sexism without challenging racism, for instance, is insufficient. Similarly, challenges to sexism and racism are ineffective without challenging speciesism as they are all rooted in dualist and centric thinking
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