We are constantly told that we should "think about the world after": after the pandemic, after the #MeToo wave. If we want a feminist post-world, the best solution is surely to listen to those who strive to imagine it, to theorize it, to research it. They are women, artists, researchers, politicians, experts in their field who want to make things happen, so that we never go back to the world before. Each week, The Elephant gives them the floor, to think together about feminist futures.
Vanessa Jérome does not like simplifications. The sociologist constantly returns to the complexities of the topics she studies. First of all, political ecology, at the heart of her latest book Militer chez les verts (Presses de SciencesPo, 2021) and which can only be conceived in a plural way. Then feminism, or rather feminisms, as she likes to call it.
Listening to her, one quickly understands that social and political constructions can only be written in their plural forms, because they cannot be reduced to homogeneous entities. The researcher therefore talks to us about feminisms, ecologies, and ecofeminisms.
When asked if she is a feminist, she naturally states that "yes. But feminisms are plural and not all of them fit with my vision of the world or of what it should be. I'm not a TERF (NDLR: Trans-exclusionary radical feminism) feminist, for one thing. I'm not a "crib-struck" feminist, who is naive enough to believe that being a woman is enough to be fight for women’s liberation and wellbeing. No, otherwise we wouldn't have had Thatcher... "
As one builds one's science, the researcher has built her activism through readings, encounters and words. Recalling Simone de Beauvoir’s illustrious phrase, Vanessa Jérome adds: "You are not born a feminist, you become one. I became one. I do not come from a family where this kind of commitment was acquired, so I did not inherit it. It took me a while to realize that I was a woman, that is, to understand that I shared a common destiny with other individuals who also identified as 'woman'. A community of destiny. Or to put it differently, a similarity of position in the relationships of dominations which was the fruit of the same inequalities, the same discriminations, the same impediments. And to transform this observation into solidarity, and into a will to fight. To identify oneself as a woman, and to fight for one's own liberation and that of others, the one does not go without the other.”
It is from her position as a sociologist that she approaches the question of feminisms. According to her own words, however, feminism is not her primary way of understanding the world as a researcher: she is above all led by "social anger".
"I work because I am angry. Angry from the same anger which Bourdieu defined as necessary, inherent to our line of work. An anger that both creates the work and the matter from which one forges, by dint of working on it, the so-called social sciences. My feminism is caught in this form of social anger, aroused by a plurality of injustices that merge. These are the ones that feed the anger from which and with which I work to formulate the questions that I ask myself, and that I ask the world."
In a world where feminine anger is still often condemned or reduced to the rank of madness, or even hysteria, one cannot help but think that claiming such militant anger is already a beautiful way to break the codes. Words don't scare the researcher.
On the question of ecofeminism, she does not hesitate to affirm that it is an all but obvious cross-over "otherwise we would not be here. I must confess that it was not obvious to me either. First of all, we would have to define what ecofeminism is. I would tend to say that it is a double complication: defining ecology is complicated, in a political sense, you have to add an -s; the same goes for feminism, so you have to add an -s as well. This makes the -s in ecofeminisms an even wider issue”. Because they are political movements, ecology and feminism are not unified but rather complex, with underlying divisions among them. Hence Vanessa Jérome’s conclusion : “There are several ecofeminisms, some more essentializing than others".
The essentialist approach is likely to be a problem for ecofeminism - or rather, of ecofeminisms. Because it implies that there are common traits and qualities that all women share biologically, essentialism has been described by many feminists as fueling patriarchy and reinforcing gender stereotypes. Namely, the idea that women share a biological sacred bond with nature has been the subject of critics by feminist scholars.
The theoretical basis of this ecofeminism is however simple: it rests on the link drawn between ecology and feminism, in particular by the analogy made between the domination of men over nature and women. The problem arises when one establishes a sacred connection between these two concepts. The notion of Mother Nature, often seen as implying such an essentialist connection, has had more than one feminist rolling their eyes. Being a true activist herself, Vanessa Jérome is no exception to this rule.
But the researcher has been able to decentralize her gaze and approach the question of ecofeminisms from another point of view. Recently affiliated to the University of Victoria in British Columbia, in Canada, she was able to integrate the social dynamics of her adopted country into her research.
"Crossing the border into Canada, I found that the anger which fuels my work is the same one created by the condition of Aboriginal women. They receive very little support while defending their lands against capitalist extractivist looting, namely against the pipelines, or when they raise awareness about the sexual violence and the murders they fall victims of. The Aboriginal question is very complex. But clearly, part of the lack of solidarity has to do with the clash of vocabularies. So, at the moment, the aboriginal condition is fuelling both my anger and, consequently, my work”.
On the matter of Aboriginal feminism, which the sociologist is currently studying, she adds: “we are quick to label them [the aboriginal women] as essentialists, and to discredit their ecofeminism. To understand this, we have to get rid of the white woman's look, far from this type of formulation and ignorant of the reality it describes. Here, to be an ally of the struggles, it is necessary to kill the colon that one has in oneself.”
This tells us one thing : there are as many ecofeminisms as there are places in the world. Drawing from the notion of intersectionality, which takes into account that some people can be subjected to multiple forms of domination (such as gender, community, race, or even social class), the sociologist offers a new, more broad, form of intersectionality – which includes space – "race, class, gender and territory".
Taking the lessons Canada has taught her, Jerôme claims that the French ecological and feminist struggle should therefore be built from the country's own perspective and situation.
"In the French reactionary context, as described by Frédérique Matonti in her last book (Comment sommes-nous devenus réacs? Fayard, 2021), it is essential to create a common common front. We've already let a lot of trains go by. We don't dispose of the striking power conservatives have over the media, we don't dispose of their violence. And we must remmeber that their visions are dangerous, and that their hatred kills. It is necessary to have infinite patience to deconstruct their speech: every word, every sentence. It takes a lot of energy and willpower for another reality –educated by the immensity of the knowledge brought by the social sciences – to nourish another hope for social sciences ; to nourish another hope for the society. When I think about the state of France, and of the upcomming presidential election, I find myself to be exactly where I started – angry ".
Namely fearing the rise of extreme-right ideas within the country just before the French presidential election, the solution offered by Vanessa Jérome is to join forces and work together toward a more feminist and inclusive world.
If there are two lessons to be learned from this interview with the French sociologist, it is that we must draw on our anger and unite in our diversity to move forward. It’s a long road, Vanessa Jerôme’s activism and passion are the best antidote to all social and political setbacks.
Vanessa Jérome's reading advice
"Joyce Green's Making space for indigenous feminism opens up perspectives with which we are less familiar but without which any attempt to build a feminist international would be futile.” With its second edition released in 2017, this collective work focuses on the various problems faced by indigenous peoples and how an indigenous and decolonial feminism can provide answers to them.
As a bonus, we recommend the article by Claire Legros published in Le Monde last October "L'écoféminisme, contre les "dominations croisées" des femmes et de la nature". We find there Vanessa Jérome, but also all the voices of the moment on the question of ecofeminism.
Comments