8M: Ecofeminism for a just peace

8M: Ecofeminism for a just peace

• On the occasion of tomorrow's celebration of International Women's Day, and after a year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ecologists in Action launches an ecofeminist and anti-war manifesto calling for the end of the war in Ukraine and the end of all current wars .
• The environmental organization also joins the demonstrations called by feminist groups in the Spanish State and will participate in some marches with its own call and poster.

Ecofeminism for a just peace is the manifesto that Ecologists in Action has created to commemorate March 8, 2023. The text relates militarism to patriarchy and defends that peace is a necessary element to guarantee any form of dignified life.

The manifesto, which is based on the paradigm of putting life at the center, defends care, cooperation, redistribution and the daily reconstruction of survival. It also points to patriarchy (in interaction with capitalism) as the system that reflects and perpetuates militaristic and warlike culture. At the same time, it analyzes how wars, in addition to destroying human lives, impact natural life, destroying territories and non-human life, and particularly affect the living conditions and bodies of women.

The ecofeminist manifesto defends the culture of peace, good treatment, the construction of agreements and respect, as well as the recognition of women in mediation, reparation and pacification processes.

For all these reasons, the environmental organization demands that the European Union and all the governments involved work actively to promote an agreement that puts an end to the war in Ukraine and all current wars.

In addition to launching its ecofeminist manifesto, Ecologistas en Acción shows its support for the mobilizations called by feminist groups in the Spanish State. In some territories, such as Madrid, Catalonia, Galiza or País Valencià, the environmental organization will participate in some marches with its own call and poster, as well as in other protest activities.

Ecofeminism Manifesto for a Just Peace

Last February 24 marked one year since Russian troops invaded the territory of Ukraine. This sad anniversary reminds us that, like this one, many war conflicts of high or low intensity remain active on the planet, sometimes prolonged for decades, and that the meeting point of all of them is always the suffering of populations that suffer the horrors of military confrontations. The Ecofeminism Area of Ecologists in Action wants to take advantage of this March 8, 2023 to express its rejection of all armed interventions and its defense of peace with justice.

Peace is a necessary element to guarantee any form of dignified life. Preserving the state of peace must always be the first objective in political, social and human relations.

As feminists and environmentalists, our logic is pacifist. War conflict uses violent confrontation, misappropriation and destruction; Ecofeminism defends care, cooperation, redistribution and the daily reconstruction of survival. What we simply call “putting life at the center.”

The militaristic framework, the armies, the infrastructures, the technologies of war are tools that reflect and sustain/perpetuate the patriarchal system, an order of owners that seeks the domination of women, peoples and lands. A tool against self-management and community maintenance of what is alive.

When peace is broken, women continue to take charge of social reproduction, as imposed by patriarchy, but that burden becomes heavier in times of conflict, since it occurs in conditions of greater lack, destruction of support networks. , of shortages and lack of health.

In wars, women's bodies become a territory of appropriation and violence by soldiers. Rape, exile, loss of freedom, increase in violence are practices that are linked to war and that women suffer on the front lines.

During wars, military requirements are prioritized and the basic needs of the civilian population are left in the background or subordinated to others. Not only during wars - or we could say that our system is always at war, since the needs of life are always subordinated to the market, to economic interests, to power.

Wars destroy human lives, but they also destroy the natural environment and the lives of many animals. The appropriation of scarce natural assets is at the heart of many war conflicts. In times of decreasing resources due to overexploitation of the planet, military pressure on them becomes a greater risk.

Wars consolidate the position of the great economic powers. The capitalist system uses military power, in fact, promotes it, to maintain or increase its profit rates.

Peace negotiations, if they occur, are done with the women's backs turned. They are only made visible as victims, not as agents capable of offering a more community-based, life-defending, conciliatory vision. The peace agreements, if they arrive, do not focus on the needs of the majority of the population or on improving the living conditions of women. At the end of the war, the women who survive take on a good part of the work of material and social reconstruction, often after having lost children, partners, and friends. “We did not have children,” they say, “so that they would die in the war.”

Militarism normalizes a logic of hatred and fear of the Other in which violence is presented as necessary. This logic exacerbates racism and discrimination. Furthermore, it justifies the control of the population and the loss of rights in favor of a supposed security that protects from a supposed external threat. This world divided according to the friend-enemy binomial deteriorates community networks, those that many women weave to support themselves and the most vulnerable people.

We refuse to accept an order that is imposed by force. We refuse to believe that violence is the only way to resolve disagreements. As ecofeminists we are pacifists/antimilitarists and we defend the construction of a culture of peace and nonviolent resistance. We know it is not easy right now, but our condition as interdependent beings should force us to protect all lives. We are convinced that cooperation and not competition explain our most valuable achievements. That is why we know that peace is possible.

We demand that the Spanish Government, the European Union and all the governments involved work actively to promote an agreement that puts an end to the war in Ukraine and all current wars.

The world is one house. As ecofeminists we oppose all wars and the violence that militarism and war culture bring with them. We need a culture of good treatment, of building agreements and respect. Many towns, many communities, many women are walking in this direction.