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Theoretical Approaches: Gendered Knowledge in Forest, Ecology and Environment

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Climate Change Impacts on Gender Relations in Bangladesh

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Abstract

This chapter deals with the theoretical approaches of gender knowledge in forest, ecology and environment. How women’s knowledge of the forest can contribute and the relation of gender in forest-related research and environmental security discourse are been discussed here. Moreover, the chapter tries to correlate the research with two widely studied theories, namely, standpoint theory and feminist political ecology theory. It was found that women possess very significant knowledge which can contribute greatly to forest management, but have less opportunity to engage in the decision-making process . This chapter shows that gender has been a noteworthy issue in forest-related studies for a long time. Gender is also a crucial topic in environmental security discourse. The literature reviewed in the chapter talks about the epistemic value of the women’s lives. Thereafter, women’s knowledge has been discussed with reference to feminist political ecology theory. The final section of the chapter shows how the findings of this empirical study can contribute to the current practice in academia.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    World Bank , FAO and IFAD 2009, Gender in agriculture sourcebook, Washington, DC.

  2. 2.

    Radel (2012) has employed the concept of identity to refer to the dual construction of the individual both in terms of the individual’s sense of self and in terms of the labelling of the individual by others or by society. Identities should be thought of as shifting, contingent and relational (Haraway 1991; Harding 1998, cited in Radel 2012), and are both constructed and performed through ordinary, daily practices (Butler 1990; McDowell 1995, cited in Radel 2012).

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Roy, S. (2019). Theoretical Approaches: Gendered Knowledge in Forest, Ecology and Environment. In: Climate Change Impacts on Gender Relations in Bangladesh. SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace, vol 29. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6776-2_2

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