Stewart, M. (2016). Re-examining Women, Water, and Environmental Change. Solutions 7(6): 93-94. https://thesolutionsjournal.com/article/re-examining-women-water-and-environmental-change/
Reviews Book Review
Re-examining Women, Water, and Environmental Change by Melanie Stewart REVIEWING A Political Ecology of Women, Water and Global Environmental Change edited by Stephanie Buechler and Anne-Marie Hanson, Routledge, 2015
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tephanie Buechler and Anne-Marie Hanson’s A Political Ecology of Women, Water and Global Environmental Change conveys the need to alter the traditional discourse surrounding global environmental change, particularly the management of water resources. The book proposes that employing a feminist political ecology (FPE) framework when studying communities dependent on vulnerable water resources can provide a more inclusive and intersectional understanding of the issues and its complexities. The editors broaden the discussion by pushing authors from various theoretical disciplines, ideological perspectives, and societal realms to the forefront. These players recount stories from around the globe that highlight the social and economic challenges faced by women subject to adverse environmental factors. Significant issues such as critical livelihood studies, water management, and water pollution, among others, are given a fresh perspective by highlighting the intersection of gender with water management policies and practices. Bringing to light both the challenges and the successes of women affected by environmental change, the chapters within the book emphasize the importance of looking to spaces of everyday life for sources of knowledge and understanding. More importantly, the book stresses the need to include alternative forms of knowledge, such as Eleanor Hayman’s collaborative chapter with
Mark Wedge/Aan Gooshú and Colleen James/Gooch Tláa on Indigenous storytelling. Buechler and Hanson do an excellent job in creating a space that is open to the voices of women to share their personal experiences and insightful knowledge. Throughout the book, examples of women’s lived experiences are recounted through different scales, such as Patricia Perkins and Patricia Walker’s chapter on different groups of women involved in local and global
socio-geographic factors, particularly social differences that intersect with gender. By shifting the methodological lens from which these challenges are viewed and providing diverse, alternative perspectives, forwarding thinking theories and practices are presented as a framework to develop new solutions to these issues. However, in keeping with FPE’s philosophy, Buechler and Hanson’s book does not try to provide a governing, all-encompassing solution
The chapters within the book emphasize the importance of looking to spaces of everyday life for sources of knowledge and understanding. community engagement programs; different sources, like the audio–visual sources discussed in Citt Williams and Ivan Golovnev’s chapter; and different perspectives, resonated throughout the book with each chapter clearly respecting the voices of those sharing their challenges and triumphs in the face of environmental change. Buechler and Hanson have compiled 12 chapters that illustrate the diverse challenges faced by different individuals, communities, and societies in relation to water resources. The authors highlight that the traditional discourse surrounding these challenges neglect to consider several socio-economic and
to combating climate change. Rather, the book provides a much-needed platform to facilitate a collective dialogue in order to understand the complex social, economic, and environmental challenges being experienced across the globe. This book will be of interest to a wide array of readers; however, those particularly interested in environmental studies, feminist and gender studies, critical theory, and public policy would benefit greatly from reading this book. At its very core, the book promotes an inclusive and fresh approach to research that would benefit academics and professionals alike.
www.thesolutionsjournal.org | November-December 2016 | Solutions | 93
Reviews Media Reviews Syrian Female Journalists Seek Civil Society by Dominique Bonessi In major western media headlines, we see the stereotypical refugee woman crying, donning a hijab, and holding an infant—the victims of the Syrian civil war. “Syria woman is one that is refugee,” Rula Asad, co-founder and executive director of the Syrian Female Journalists’ Network, told a crowd gathered at the Middle East Institute. “Stereotyping and victimizing women is annoying, especially when other women are the political leaders.” In a time of so much negativity in the media, Asad said the war is an opportunity to improve Syrian civil society. Those at the frontlines fighting for the continuation of Syrian culture and the development of Syrian civil society are female journalists. In the midst of the Syrian civil war and migrant crisis throughout Europe, the need for civil society has never been greater. But the lofty goal of negotiation has been falling on deaf ears. There are over 400,000 dead so far in the six-year-long war. After three peace talks, 12 civilian groups wrote a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon grieving that the talks have offered “neither peace nor protection” to the Syrian people. Female journalists from various organizations hope to fill in the gaps between media and civil society. Founded in 2012, the Syrian Female Journalists’ Network (SFJN) connects roughly 73 female and male journalists in and outside of Syria. The idea was borrowed from German female journalists working to improve gender equality in German media. “Syrian journalists that we train face many challenges in reporting the
Syrian Female Journalists Network
war,” Milia Eidmouni, Asad’s partner and co-founder of SFJN, said. “They have no helmets or vests, and much of their equipment was confiscated by militants trying to censor news.” Asad and Eidmouni took civilian journalists and trained them into professionals. The group’s main objective is to report what is happening in Syria and achieve gender democracy in international reporting on Syrian women. “The biggest issue for civil society in Syria is fear and mistrust,” said Caroline Ayoub, co-founder and project manager of SouriaLi (Syria is Mine) Radio. “Syrians don’t know who they can turn to for information, so we wanted to fill in the gap. That is the responsibility of the media.”
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Ayoub’s three-year-old radio program provides a variety of cultural and political shows from both within and outside of Syria. Ayoub was arrested in 2012 in Damascus for her nonviolent activism against the regime. Currently, the radio broadcast has only three journalists in Syria working under aliases, while the rest of the journalists work from afar via Skype, Google Hangout, and e-mail. One of SouriaLi’s most popular programs was a cooking show covering 30 stories of Syrian cooks from Kurdish, Armenian, and Arab backgrounds and preserving the cultural heritage of areas that can no longer be inhabited. While change lags for civil society in Syria, Ayoub, Asad, and Eidmouni see their efforts as investing in Syria’s future, 50 years from now.