| dc.description.abstract | The Green Belt Movement of Kenya is an environmental conservation
movement that began in 1977 as a project of women planting trees. It has since
grown into a popular movement in Kenya expanding its goals of environmental
rehabilitation to include broader socio-political issues in the Kenyan context. To
date the GBM has been the subject of studies, which have analysed various
phases of its development. However, these studies have paid limited attention
to the gendered aspects of the movement, despite the GBMs central focus on
the mobilization of women. It Is the gendered nature of the movement that this
study has sought to explore in more depth.
This is a qualitative case study, which relies on documentary analysis of
primary and secondary sources of information on the GBM. Ecofeminist and
WED perspectives drawn from feminist theorizing and research which show the
links between gender and the environment are used to explore how gender
issues have influenced the evolution of the GBM. In particular, the social
constructionist insights on the relationship between women and the
environment highlighted by these theories are used to emphasize the broader
context that has shaped women's engagement in environmental issues. The
themes explored include how gender roles and gendered social organizations
have influenced the structure of the GBM, as well as rights to resource access
and management and gender politics in a broader Kenyan context.
The study concludes that women's involvement in the GBM is rooted in a
complex ideological and material reality, which underlies existing social,
economic and political structures in Kenya. I argue that women's initiatives
within the GBM are related to both livelihood strategies, and to gender
inequality and social justice issues in Kenya. Thus attention to gender is critical
for any analysis of the GBM as a social, political and environmental movement. | |
