Environmental Management: Principles and practice

PARTICIPANTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
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empowerment of women’ (Diamond and Drenstein, 1990; Spretnak, 1990; Rodda,
1991; Mies and Shiva, 1993; Wells-Howe and Warren, 1994). Eco-feminism has
made attacks upon radical environmentalism, including the deep greens and social
ecologists, arguing that these are still androcentric, and gender-neutral attitudes are
not enough to control male domination of women and nature (Mies, 1986; Merchant,
1992; 1996; Warren, 1997). The role of women in attempts to achieve sustainable
development has been explored by Braidotti et al. (1994) and Harcourt (1994).
There is also a more romantic debate on the contribution of women to
environmental care, based on the perception that women (through reproduction and
the nurture of children) are more closely attuned to nature, and are in a position to
influence future behaviour by virtue of educating the young. In developed countries
women seem to have been at the forefront of raising environmental awareness, e.g.
various pioneering conservation NGOs were founded by women; permaculture/
organic farming was initiated by a woman; Rachel Carson and Barbara Ward were
among the first to raise public awareness of environmental issues in the 1960s and
1970s, and women played a central role in the formation of green politics in Germany
and elsewhere in Europe from the 1970s (notably the late Petra Kelly) (Seager, 1993).
A move towards establishing new environmentally friendly and more socially
appropriate producer-to-market networks was taken by Anita Roddick’s Body Shop
chain of stores in the 1980s. In many countries women play an important part in the
consumption of manufactured goods, are targeted by advertising, and can set trends
and alter buying patterns, which can have significant environmental implications.
Groups seeking change
It is probably the exception to the rule for special-interest groups not to control
policy making and development, although a few do so with the aim of improving
environmental care (e.g. the Club of Rome). The environmental manager should be
vigilant for such control, and seek to reduce it if it acts against environmental quality.
When environmental management involves more than one country, which is often
the case, negotiation skills are at least as important as access to technology, knowledge
and management strategies (Vogler and Imber, 1995).