Looking for a regenerative approach to sustainability.

Abstract

A valuable notion of sustainable development requires an understanding of social reproduction as the mutual interaction of gender ideologies and ecological processes to heighten human survival and livelihood. We should examine gender similarities and differences in rights over the environment, energy systems, reproductive control, and epistemologies. In diverse cultural settings, the relationships women and men have with natural resources (e.g., forests, bush, and water) are not the same. Further, rights to the use of these resources differ. We must address women's reduced access to common property resources for food and fuel, which in some areas constitute up to 20% of income. Minor forest products used at home and in handicraft-making contribute to household survival. Women's labor is an energy system. In some areas, ecological degradation has forced upon women the burden of distance and time. They are approaching the limits of physical endurance which may not be sustainable. Yet society often treats women's labor as inexhaustible. We do not know enough about the space and time changes that are occurring or the effects of these changes for longer term social reproduction. Women carry most of the burden of responsibility for sustaining their families, yet resources and means within their control are dwindling. To achieve sustainability, we must balance the diverging demands of resource provision, environmental protection, and reproductive rights. We must discover a way to stabilize ecosystems, encourage their renewability, and eliminate the gender-induced inequalities in access to food and medical care. It is important that we preserve epistemological diversity. Society devalues women's knowledge of habitats, species, medicinal plants, forms of healing, and productive techniques. In conclusion, achieving sustainability is impossible with existing gender inequities.