Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants
Feminist-pragmatist democratic practice and contemporary sustainability movements: Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch, Mary Parker Follett and Vandana Shiva
Department
Liberal Studies
College
Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies
Date Range
2010-2011
Abstract
This paper demonstrates similarities in social change methodologies and theories of democracy between pragmatist feminists of the early 20th century and contemporary feminists in the sustainability movement. Beginning with the Fourth Principle in the Earth Charter this comparison focuses on philosophical and applied innovations of sustainable democracy, utilizing the work of Jane Addams, Mary Parker Follett, and Emily Greene Balch and contemporary activist Vandana Shiva. The links between these four women is based primarily in their advocacy of local democracies beyond representative politics. Although I do not claim that Shiva was influenced by any of these feminist-pragmatist's works, I demonstrate that these women provide an alternative form of democracy that can form a foundation for a contemporary pragmatist approach to sustainable communities.
Conference Name
Annual Conference
Conference Location
Spokane, WA
ScholarWorks Citation
Whipps, Judy, "Feminist-pragmatist democratic practice and contemporary sustainability movements: Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch, Mary Parker Follett and Vandana Shiva" (2010). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 9.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/9
