6. Avoid strict looks like androcentrism and anthropocentrism

2023/06/07 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Ingurumena
• Dekalogoa

Scientific evidence shows a clear correlation between climate change and gender. The consequences of the emergency are particularly serious for poor women and girls, for older women, for people in the LGBTIQ+ group, for people with functional diversity, for migrant women and for people living in camps. If they are invisible in normal situations and more in emergency situations.

Research and climate policies should incorporate a view of women to consider the vulnerability they suffer in the androcentric system. If we perpetuate the male gaze as a universal gaze, the characteristics and needs of women and other vulnerable groups will remain invisible.

The eco-social transition will only be effective if women are at the centre, active agents of change and focused on the debate. Incorporating the complementary approach is critical to improving environmental care, reducing poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Moreover, sustainability also requires giving up the strict anthropocentric view of our species. Anthropocentrism is deeply rooted in our society: we are convinced that human beings are at the centre of nature and that other living beings are at their service. This approach hinders the understanding of the functioning of nature, since the human being, far from being in the middle of nature, is only a gear of complex machinery.

In the complex ecosystem network, each species has a certain function: some are pollinators, others break down matter, others create soil… and thanks to their contribution the system works. Understanding the functioning of ecosystems is fundamental to internalize that living beings are interdependent and that humans depend on other species. Therefore, the dissemination of scientific knowledge of ecology can contribute to the decomposition of anthropocentrism in Western society and to the achievement of a true effective eco-social transition.