A Gender perspective on Environmental Security- A case study of the Kyoto Protocol
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Wang, Shih-Chieh
Abstract
Over the recent years, there has been growing concern with the concept of environmental security due to an upsurge in the research on climate change. On the other hand, despite its wide engagement in various agendas in the field of international relations, however, gender perspective is still not accepted as an approach by academic community of international relations.
There are two important reasons for this. First, most traditional scholars have been mistaken in believing that gender approach cannot be a way of problem-solving and even cannot be a theory. Secondly, feminists also fear that using a single framework or viewpoint as an entry point for issues is exactly one among the phenomena of the dominance of patriarchal values in international relations. Thus, feminists always insist on openness, pluralism, deconstructivism and skepticism, and refuse to offer a single, unified view or solution.
In my point of view, personally, it is exactly such an orientation itself that leads to a misunderstanding of gender perspective, and that renders itself an outsider of the traditional community. Rather than strategic gender interests, which adopt a plural, deconstructive and skeptical approach, the dilemma of this can be approached from practical gender interests, which focus on women’s local life experience, short-term interests and needs that derive from the problems facing them and without challenging gender division of labor or women''s subordinate position in society. Therefore, such practical interests are compatible with current social structure to a certain extent and do not intend to build up a utopia. Owing to these concerns, I use this approach to analyze discourses on environmental security and to point out the phenomena of Gender Blind within the current Environmental Security discourses. And finally I will to construct a preliminary Gender Perspective on Environmental Security to anatomize the process of negotiation, development and effectiveness of the agenda of environmental regime – the Kyoto Protocol.
In sum, I find that categorizing the current discourses of Environmental Security which are the discourse of Environmental Conflict, general Environment Security and Ecological Security and bringing the gender perspective into each of them can help researchers and decision makers understand this concept more and also can tackle the problem of Gender Blind in the current discourses either. In addition, I also discovered that the experiences of woman and the Environmental NGOs which mostly are composed of women, playing a vital role in the negotiations and the achievement of the Kyoto Protocol. Thereupon, I think that this perspective on Environmental Security is a critical key to construct a holism environmental regime.
Subjects
Environmental Security
Gender
Feminism
Kyoto Protocol
Practical Gender Interests
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