Women in the Axis of the Enclosure of Commons: Environmental Movements in Turkey from the Ecofeminist Perspective

Abstract

Recent studies by ecofeminist perspective refer to the interrelations between gender, environment/nature, natural assets, commons and environmental movements while also discuss the global role of women within the biodiversity protection. The significant relation between the plant diversity and seed protection and the rural women whose livelihood depend on the natural assets is stated in the foreign literature; however, this issue is not adequately discussed in Turkey yet. Rural women are responsible for the seed diversity and sustainability, food cycle and safety, forage crops, husbandry, forestry and many other production and common reproduction tools. This invisible labor of women is in the midst of the conflict between the barren monocultures dictated by major agricultural companies and the immemorially lasting and long-range asset of biodiversity. In addition, from the ecofeminist perspective, it is noteworthy that women are highly visible and even at the forefront in the environmental movements that emerge as a reaction to the enclosure of the natural assets and/or ecological commons. The study discusses the relationship between the natural resources and women within the axis of the enclosure of the commons through the literature review on the concepts of ecofeminism, commons and environmental movements; and spatializes the environmental movements in Turkey by using GIS analyst tools through the media analysis.