No rethinking of Bookchin

"Rethinking ecofeminist politics" is a book by Janet Biehl, an associate of the late Murray Bookchin. It contains an intellectual but harsh criticism of ecofeminism from a distinctively "Bookchinist" perspective. Since I'm neither ecofeminist nor Bookchinian, I frequently found myself in disagreement with both sides in the debate.

Biehl has little problem exposing the more simplistic sides of ecofeminism: the idea that gender equality necessarily implies absence of hierarchy (Minoan Crete and Pharaonic Egypt disproves that one), or that all Neolithic societies were peaceful (what about human sacrifice?), or that patriarchy was the result of Indo-European invasions (what about patriarchy in the rest of the world, where no such invasions took place?), or that an organismic/cyclical view of the cosmos is necessarily liberating (it's actually quite compatible with patriarchy). She also takes on the implicit postmodernism or radical feminism of ecofeminist writings. As a secular humanist or atheist, Biehl is opposed to what she calls "goddess theism", apparently a vibrant sector of the ecofeminist milieu.

Biehl's main shortcoming is (ironically) somewhat similar in character to that of ecofeminism. If I understand them correctly, ecofeminists argue that a woman-centred society would be Green and eco-friendly. But would it? Palaeolithic hunters exterminated the large land mammals of Eurasia, Australia and the Americas. Yet, according to ecofeminists, these were supposedly women-centred societies! But Biehl has the same problem. According to Social Ecology, a non-hierarchic society would be Green, but this too is disproven by the unfortunate antics of our Palaeolithic ancestors. Besides, there are examples of eco-friendly hierarchic societies as well, for instance Japan during the Tokugawa period. Biehl actually admits at one point that a military dictatorship in the United States could, in principle, force the general population to become more "biofriendly", but rejects such a perspective - but if such a thing is possible, then one of the main pillars of Bookchinite social ecology has been quietly shelved.

"Rethinking ecofeminist politics" might not be the most exciting books around, but for those interested in the various strands of ecological thinking, it might be of some use.