It all started with this invented word: "the ecofeminothek". It is an imaginary, hybrid, and nomadic space around ecofeminist books and courageous activists. Elisa Gratias, a German author born under communism in the GDR, and Emilie Langlade, a French journalist steeped in the tales and legends of Brittany, gather around the microphone of the ecofeminothek to question the notion of dreams, utopias and ecofeminist visions in a context of pandemic and climate crisis. It is the love of literature that brought them together, and this is the starting point of their exploration, carried by this ecofeminist quote from the collective "Change the World":
" Words do magic: they change the fabric of the world. If something is said, it is already contaminating reality, or at least minds .
Their intention is to create a space where words, written, shared, begin to form a possible new world out of systems of oppression, domination and destruction of women and nature. Both propose a sound journey into the vibrant and gushing heart of the ecofeminothek circles, a sound space where ecofeminist visions, literatures and actions intertwine from emblematic places in Berlin's women's history, in order to create a fertile ground for a more just European society that takes better care of the living.
The first episodes of this podcast (35 to 40 minutes each) present historical and recent ecofeminist works, revisit events in Berlin's feminist history, punctuated by the words of ecofeminist thinkers, researchers and activists (philosopher Jeanne Burgart Goutal, Care sociologist Garbiele Winker, political scientist Fatima Ouassak, co-founder of the American ecofeminist movement WLOE Anna Gyorgy, climate activist Janna Aljets), and poems created during creative circles around dreams and visions, set to sound and music by artists Daiana Romero Zambrano and Julio Arcala Fanti.
Episode 1 - Introduction to ecofeminist awakening
Books cited
Ecofeminism, published by L'Harmattan, by Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva
References
CREDITS
-Writing and presentation: Elisa Gratias and Emilie Langlade
-Écritures poétiques: Hélène Coron, you also heard an extract from "Lettre à notre chère république" by the author Iris Pikita, set to sound by Michel from Neptune
-Original music, design and production: Daiana Romero Zambrano and Julio Arcala Fanti
-Illustration: Lina Augustin, Graphic design: Flavia Maria Toso
Episode 2 - How can ecofeminist history inspire our present and future actions?
What were the core values and motivations of the early ecofeminists of the 1970s and 1980s? How can their actions at the time feed our dreams and utopias for a better world? This second episode takes us on a journey through the history of ecofeminism through the memories of American activist and ecofeminist pioneer Anna Gyorgy, who developed a European ecofeminist network around the organisation Women and Life On Earth from Berlin in the 2000s. We also dive into the heart of a book that founded ecofeminist thinking, "Woman and Nature", written by the American essayist and poet Susan Griffin. And we are hosted for this episode in an emblematic place of history and feminism in Berlin, Das feministische Archiv FFBIZ.
Books cited
Woman and Nature, by Susan Griffin. "La Femme et la Nature", French edition published in 2021 by Editions Le Pommier.
References
-Book "No Nukes - Everyone's guide to nuclear power by Anna Gyorgy and friends
-Nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania
-Women's Pentagon Action
-Women and Life On Earth Organisation
Anti-globalisation demonstrations against the WTO, Seattle 1999
-Diverse Women for Diversity
-McPlanet Congress on Globalization
-Zukunftsstiftung Landwirtschaft
-1000 women of peace around the world
-Planet Diversity
-Women say NO to NATO
This episode was produced by Positive Lab, thanks to the support of the Franco-German Citizen Fund
-Writing and presentation: Elisa Gratias & Emilie Langlade
-Poetry writing: Sylvaine Charlot and "On being a Weaver" by ecofeminist activist Mina Hamilton
-Original music, design and production: Daiana Romero Zambrano and Julio Arcala Fanti
-Illustration: Lina Augustin, Graphic design: Flavia Maria Toso
Episode 3 - "Care Revolution, for an ecofeminist politics of care, social justice and climate.
In this third episode we dream of a CARE REVOLUTION... We will talk about the strength of revolutionary thinking, and of women's collectives that are opening up new possibilities in society. How do women occupy the militant and political space to inject more empathy, care and solidarity into the workings of our system? With Fatima Ouassak, author of "La puissance des Mères, pour un nouveau sujet révolutionnaire" (The Power of Mothers, for a new revolutionary subject), we will talk about social justice, ecology in working-class neighbourhoods, and the convergence of struggles to mobilise around a common destiny. We will take you to a place that is emblematic of feminism in Berlin and of the political reversals carried out by women, the EWA Frauenzentrum, and we will dismantle the destructive economic mechanisms to dream of a solidarity economy of Care with the German sociologist and activist Gabriele Winker, who has written "Solidarische Care Ökonomie - revolutionäre Realpolitik für Care und Klima".
Books cited
"La puissance des Mères, pour un nouveau sujet révolutionnaire" - by Fatima Ouassak published by La Découverte.
"Solidarische Care Ökonomie - revolutionäre Realpolitik für Care und Klima" - published by Transcript - by German sociologist and activist Gabriele Winker.
References
-Ersten Weiblicher Aufbruch - an appeal by East German women in December 1989
https://lilaoffensive.de/chronologie.html
https://www.ddr89.de/frauen/EWA2.html
Care Revolution Activist Network https://care-revolution.org/netzwerk/
This episode was produced by Positive Lab, thanks to the support of the Franco-German Citizen Fund
Writing and presentation: Elisa Gratias & Emilie Langlade
Poetry writing: Camille Lebourg and Iris Pikita
Original music, design and production: Daiana Romero Zambrano and Julio Arcala Fanti
Illustration: Lina Augustin, Graphic design: Flavia Maria Toso
The podcast "Ecofeminist Dreams was produced by the Franco-German citizen initiative Positive Lab Berlin, a matrix that links art, science and culture to generate feminine-driven ecosystem initiatives with a strong social, environmental and economic impact. It has obtained the support of the Franco-German Citizen Fund.
