Ecofeminist Perspectives on the Anthropocene
Workshop
12.08.2020
by Mara Appelhagen and Ramona Frank
Supervisor: Dr. Gesa Lüdecke
For our final project, we conceptualized a workshop on “Ecofeminist Perspectives on the Anthropocene.” We were supported by Gesa Lüdecke as our official advisor and by Irma Allen, with whom we had previously held a seminar on “Anthropology of the Anthropocene.” The workshop aimed to support interdisciplinary exchange and was open to students of all semesters throughout the ESCP as well as other social and natural science disciplines at the LMU. The structure of the workshop facilitated exchange and discussion between students from various disciplines and knowledge pools. Even though we announced the workshop via many networks, it was a relatively small group of people who took part in the end. This might be due to giving short notice and the particular timing: it took place during the University exam period. We discussed the Anthropocene as an academic concept as well as it´s diverse interpretations among the scientific community. We then moved to critically examine its theoretical implications through alternative concepts such as Jason Moore´s “Capitalocene” as well as ecofeminist and environmentalist voices. It has been our aim to shift perspectives and to freely speak about the interconnectedness of patriarchy, capitalism, the oppression of women and peoples, climate change, and the destruction of ecosystems. At the end of the workshop, we thought on possibilities of how to overcome the human-nature dualism, on multispecies approaches, and how to become active through various authors’ input on ethics and care.
Our Group was mainly made up of Anthropology and Biology Students. We had a vivid discussion, connecting different fields of inquiry and taking on new perspectives on the conceptualization of the Anthropocene. Quotes and references from elaborate scholars supported the workshop.