This text is part of the special Research section: climate issues
For ecofeminist Laurie Gagnon-Bouchard, the sense of wonder and vulnerability are two crucial pieces of the puzzle that represents the fight against climate change. Portrait of a researcher who decided to study the ecological crisis through the lens of philosophy.
Like several generations of children, Laurie Gagnon-Bouchard spent her summers at Camp Minogami. This holiday camp, well anchored in the Mauritian forest, welcomes young people aged 7 at 18 since 1963.
Expeditions to Mino, as his friends call him, including long nights observing the stars and the moon around a fire, forever changed his outlook on nature. A rite of passage which will have been decisive.
“Mino was a way of connecting me to nature, of cultivating my sense of wonder,” recalls the 31-year-old researcher. We also did forest survival and canoe expeditions, we had no choice but to develop special ties with nature. I never saw it (nature) in the same way again. »
This sense of wonder, combined with a particular sensitivity to social injustices since his early childhood, was the cornerstone of his academic career. After a bachelor’s degree in political science, Laurie Gagnon-Bouchard undertook a master’s degree in sociology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). It was there that she had an “intellectual breakthrough”.
“During a course on extractivism [exploitation massive des ressources de la nature ou de la biosphère], the men in the class were very interested in resource and energy management, she explains. For my part, I especially wondered what that said about our relationship with the world. This is where I came across ecofeminist texts which highlighted how environmental exploitation was linked to human exploitation, particularly of women. It clicked. » This awareness paved the way for her doctoral studies in philosophy where she specialized in environmental and feminist ethics.
Convergence of struggles
In its most simplified definition, ecofeminism is a movement that highlights the connection between the exploitation of women and the destruction of the environment. Born in the 1970s, the term brings together a set of visions that want to highlight the consequences of systems of oppression on nature and women.
“Ecofeminism is also a theoretical term that translates a lot of practices that can be as militant as they are distant,” she says, referring to the field of research. Ecofeminism is plural. »
One interpretation of ecofeminism is that patriarchal society is based on values of conquest and exploitation which have the effect of exacerbating social inequalities. For the lecturer who teaches Introduction to Ecofeminisms at the Institute for Research and Feminist Studies (IREF) at UQAM, this problematic link between man and the world has been documented for a long time.
“In philosophy, there are writings that date back to the 16the century, at the beginning of modern thought, which confirm this idea. Men, excluding women and racialized people, are considered larger than life, she recalls. There is a duty for men to dominate, master and exploit the environment around them. »
Vulnerability, a lifeline
To rethink the relationship between man and nature, Laurie Gagnon-Bouchard offers several possible solutions. For her, adopting a posture of vulnerability would help to find a certain form of humility and would allow us to approach the issue of climate change from a new angle.
“I think we need to accept our vulnerability in the face of nature, that we don’t know everything, that we won’t be able to solve everything with technology,” says the doctoral student in political thought at the University. from Ottawa. We won’t be able to control everything, there is something bigger than us. »
The ecofeminist gives as an example indigenous knowledge, which has historically been set aside because it did not have “scientific value”. Reintegrating this knowledge could be part of a “process of humility”.
“In indigenous cosmologies [ensemble des savoirs physiques et métaphysiques], there is the idea that nature and people form a whole, she continues. This way of seeing things allows us to move beyond the existing framework, that is, the one that we must take advantage of, control and exploit the natural resources that surround us. There is also an important place for the sense of wonder and the love we have for nature. »
Asked about the place of ecoanxiety in her life, the researcher mentions that she has learned to live with it. According to her, this anxiety is a sign of a connection with the environment around her, the opposite of denial, which she describes as “disturbing”.
“To be in denial is to choose ignorance,” she said, referring to the philosophical concept of willful ignorance (willful ignorance). Denial doesn’t change anything, it only freezes emotions. It comes down to vulnerability, you have to make room for these emotions in order to then act. »
Summers at Camp Minogami allowed Laurie Gagnon-Bouchard to develop a sincere love for the nature around her. Aware of how lucky she was to develop this bond, she hopes that humans will be able to reinvent their relationship with the world around them to meet the climate challenge.
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