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Gendering Climate Knowledge for Justice: Catalyzing a New Research Agenda

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Research, Action and Policy: Addressing the Gendered Impacts of Climate Change

Abstract

A key theme of feminist science studies theorists is the question of whose interests are served by the knowledge that mainstream science deems worthy of development, and whose interests are served by the knowledge projects that are overlooked or ignored. A central concern animating this analysis is thus whether we have the knowledge we need to ensure climate justice. The aim of this essay is to catalyze a new climate change research agenda designed to locate epistemic gaps and injustices, to reveal the circulations of power regarding what is known and what remains unknown, to render transparent the ways in which knowledge is framed, and to examine whose interests are served by our current knowledges and ignorances about anthropogenic climate change. My analysis includes not only scientific approaches to climate change, but also the gendering of knowledges and ignorances in the work of theorists studying the topic of gender and climate change.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I use this term to refer to all theorists working to identify and eradicate oppression, including race theorists, postcolonial theorists, etc.

  2. 2.

    As Harding reminds us, Western science, far from providing a “view from nowhere” is itself an indigenous knowledge practice embedded in and reinforced by traditional values and institutions.

  3. 3.

    I fully realize that every term used to divide the world (First World/Third World---with or without the addition of the Second World; developed/developing; modern/traditional; high-income economies/low-income economies; etc.) are all fraught with problems. While I will use the designation of Global North/Global South (reflecting rankings on the Human Development Index), I do so throughout with quotes in recognition that distinctions like this embed values in ways not always fully transparent.

  4. 4.

    Specifically women from the “Global South” and aggregated to remove any differences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Nancy Tuana

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  1. Nancy Tuana
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Correspondence to Nancy Tuana .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Social Work, Monash University, Dandenong Road 900, Caulfield East, 3145, Victoria, Australia

    Margaret Alston

  2. , Department of Social Work, Monash University, Dandenong Road 900, Caulfield East, 3145, Victoria, Australia

    Kerri Whittenbury

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Tuana, N. (2013). Gendering Climate Knowledge for Justice: Catalyzing a New Research Agenda. In: Alston, M., Whittenbury, K. (eds) Research, Action and Policy: Addressing the Gendered Impacts of Climate Change. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5518-5_2

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