Vandana Shiva and the Possibility of Empowerment

Abstract

Vandana Shiva is an environmental activist and ecofeminist whose political and academic career has been developed by valuing the knowledge of women and traditional peoples, highlighting how this knowledge, nature, and biodiversity are exploited by capitalist corporations. From this perspective, this article analyzes elements of Shiva’s activism and intellectual pursuits that contribute to the process of ecofeminist empowerment. The methodology was a narrative bibliographic review. It is possible to consider an ecofeminist empowerment when Shiva highlights the leading role of women, peoples, and traditional producers, processes of political awareness, and opposition to the power of capitalist corporations over the countryside.