It all startedwiththe coined word “ecofeminothek”. It’s an imaginary, hybrid, nomadic space centered around ecofeminist works and courageous activists. Elisa Gratias, a German author born under communism in the GDR, and Emilie Langlade, a French journalist lulled by the tales and legends of Brittany, gather around the ecofeminothek microphone to question the notion of dreams, utopias and ecofeminist visions in a context of pandemic and climate crisis. A love of literature brought them together, and it was the starting point for their exploration, inspired by this ecofeminist quote from the “Changer le monde” collective:
” words work 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 for words, written and shared, are beginning to shape a possible new world that emerges from systems of oppression, domination and destruction of women and nature. Both offer a sonic journey into the vibrant, gushing heart of the ecofeminothek circles, a sound space where ecofeminist visions, literatures and actions intermingle from emblematic places in Berlin’s women’s history, to create fertile ground for a fairer European society that takes better care of the living.
The first episodes of this podcast (35 to 40 minutes each) present ecofeminist works, both historical and recent, 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 WLOE movement Anna Gyorgy, climate activist Janna Aljets…), and poems created in 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
Quoted books
Ecoféminisme, éditions 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 author Iris Pikita, set to sound by Michel from Neptune.
-Original music, sound 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 first ecofeminists of the 70s and 80s? How can their actions 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 in the 2000s set up a European ecofeminist network around the organization Women and Life On Earth, based in Berlin. We also delve into the heart of a seminal book in ecofeminist thought, “Woman and Nature” by American essayist and poet Susan Griffin. And for this episode, we’ve been welcomed by an emblematic venue for Berlin’s feminist history, Das feministische Archiv FFBIZ.
Quoted books
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-globalization 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 , with support from theFonds Citoyen Franco-Allemand
-Writing and presentation: Elisa Gratias & Emilie Langlade
-Poetic writing: Sylvaine Charlot and “On being a Weaver” by ecofeminist activist Mina Hamilton
-Original music, sound 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 policy in favor of care, social justice and climate.
In this third episode, we dream of a CARE REVOLUTION… We’ll be talking about the power of revolutionary thinking, and about women’s collectives that are opening up new possibilities in society. How can women occupy the activist and political space to inject more empathy, attention to others and solidarity into the workings of our system? With Fatima Ouassak, author of “La puissance des Mères, pour un nouveau sujet révolutionnaire”, we’ll be talking about social justice, ecology in working-class neighborhoods, and the convergence of struggles to mobilize around a common destiny. We’ll take you to a place that is emblematic of feminism in Berlin and the political reversals brought about by women, the EWA Frauenzentrum, and we’ll be dismantling destructive economic mechanisms to dream of a solidarity-based Care economy with German sociologist and activist Gabriele Winker, who has written “Solidarische Care Ökonomie – revolutionäre Realpolitik für Care und Klima”.
Quoted books
“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/
CREDITS
This episode was produced by Positive Lab , with support from theFonds Citoyen Franco-Allemand
-Writing and presentation: Elisa Gratias & Emilie Langlade
-Poetic writing: Camille Lebourg and Iris Pikita
-Original music, sound design and production: Daiana Romero Zambrano and Julio Arcala Fanti
-Illustration: Lina Augustin, Graphic design: Flavia Maria Toso
Episode 4 – Sowing the seeds of freedom.
What kind of society do we want to defend? How can we understand the mechanisms of the capitalist system to better deconstruct it? How can we act locally against a global system? This 4th episode focuses on the book “1% Reclaiming power from the almighty rich” by one of the world’s most high-profile ecofeminist activists, Vandana Shiva. Released in 2018, this book very clearly questions what relationship to the world and to living things we want. We are hosted for this episode about free seeds at the S.U.S.I. Women’s Intercultural Center in Berlin on SUSI Frauenzentrum by Adalca Tomas, a feminist and ecofeminist activist who has accompanied all our Œcofeminothek circles. She will talk about her ecofeminist awakening, land grabbing, and an ecofeminist congress in her native Angola.
Featured book
“1 % Reprendre le pouvoir face à la toute puissance des riches” by Vandana Shiva, published by Points.
References
-Christiane Barkhausen, writer, founder of the SUSI center
Silent spring, by Rachel Carson – 1962
-Poem La Tierra by Daiana Romero Zambrano
-Être écoféministe, by Jeanne Burgart Goutal, éditions l’Echappée
Excerpts from Vandana Shiva’s lecture International Womxn’s Day Lecture at The Harvard Graduate School of Design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ErD5Vx8dTw&t=775s
CREDITS
This episode was produced by Positive Lab, with support from Fonds Citoyen Franco-Allemand
-Writing and presentation: Elisa Gratias & Emilie Langlade
-Poetic writing: Daiana Romero Zambrano
-Original music, sound design and production: Daiana Romero Zambrano and Julio Arcala Fanti
-Illustration: Lina Augustin, Graphic design: Flavia Maria Toso
The podcast
” Ecofeminist dreams “
wasproduced 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 was supported by the Fonds Citoyen Franco-Allemand.
