Dr Wendy Harcourt, ISS-Erasmus University
Dr Rebecca Elmhirst, University of Brighton
Rebecca Elmhirst and Wendy Harcourt in their joint presentation, will first explain the framing of the new feminist political ecology in relation to its aim to challenge dominant development discourses and practice around gender and the environment. They will then present two case studies in relation to gender in the energy transition: community resistance in Central Italy to the large energy company Enel ‘Green Power’ project and the impacts of large-scale land investments for oil palm cultivation in Indonesia. They will use these examples to explain the ‘revelatory power’ of the new feminist political ecology, and to explore how an engagement with ‘sciences from below’ in each context offers possibilities for producing new knowledges and for fostering potentially transformative practices in the gender-energy nexus. In conclusion they will present future plans for a feminist network that links scholars and activists in collaborative, self-reflective problem-solving research that aims to support local community partners, as well as feed into timely policy debates around sustainable development.