Ecofeminist Epistemology in Vandana Shiva’s The Feminine Principle of Prakriti and Ivone Gebara’s Trinitarian Cosmology

Cynthia Garrity-Bond First Published January 15, 2018 Research Article Abstract The ecofeminist cosmologies of Indian scientist Vandana Shiva and Catholic theologian Ivone Gebara are examined. At the centre of each author’s discourse is their feminist epistemology that occasion a new way of knowing, incorporating each thinker’s social locations as nexus for authority. For Shiva, the feminine principle of Prakriti, or the awareness of nature as a living, interdependent force, is realized through the inclusion of women as sources of expertise and knowledge. Gebara rejects classical theology and philosophy as androcentric, anthropocentric, and hierarchical. Instead Gebara envisions a revised epistemology of inclusivity with emphasis on multiplicity and unity initiated by an ecofeminist Trinitarian cosmology. Taken together Shiva and Gebara provide an epistemology that privileges the paradox of unity through diversity and difference as a solution to society’s current ecological crises. Keywords Shiva, Gebara, Trinity, Feminist, ecofeminist, epistemology, cosmology References Deicke, C (1990) Women and Ecocentricity. In: Hunt Badiner, A (ed.) Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. Google Scholar Famella, VMM, Sugirtharajah, RS (eds) (2003) Dictionary of Third World Theologies. New York: Orbis Books. Google Scholar Gebara, I (1996) The trinity and human experience: an ecofeminist approach. In: Ruether, RR (ed.) Women Healing Earth. New York: Orbis Books. Google Scholar Gebara, I (1999) Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. Google Scholar Gebara, I (2002) Out of the Depths: Women’s Experience of Evil and Salvation. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. Google Scholar Primack, J, Abrams, NE (2006) The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos. New York: Riverhead Books. Google Scholar Shiva, V (1989) Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. London: Zed Books. Google Scholar Swimme, BT, Tucker, ME (2011) Journey of the Universe. London: Yale University Press. Google Scholar White (1967) The historical roots of our ecological crises. Science, New Series, 155(3767): 1203–207. Google Scholar Websites www.navdanya.org Google Scholar