The following appeared in Volume 98, Number 1 (Fall, 1998) of the APA Newsletters

Ecofeminism: A Practical Environmental Philosophy for the 21st Century, an international conference organized by Andrew Light was held at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, April 2 through April 5. Missoula, with its breathtaking mountains, was a perfect location for a conference with this theme. The trip was certainly worth it, despite the rather abrupt way that planes are forced to land in Missoula because of the mountains. The conference was attended by both scholars and local activists, which made for an interesting mix.

The opening Plenary Session on Thursday evening included the following presentations: Val Plumwood (University of Montana, University of Sydney), "The Cassandra Principle," Françoise d’Eaubonne (Ecologie-Feminisme Centre, Paris), "What Could an Ecofeminist Society Be? European Perspectives on Ecological Feminism in the 21st Century," and Deborah Slicer (University of Montana), "Hoeing the Ecofeminist Word: University of Montana’s Program in Ecological Agriculture and Society (PEAS) as Ecofeminist Practice." The presence of three such important ecological feminist scholars, and the unusual opportunity to hear Professor d’Eaubonne, a founder of ecological feminism who made the trip from Paris for this occasion, was exciting. All of the papers were quite interesting. Discussion was lively, even though many had traveled a long time that day in order to be there for the session.

The second day included four sessions. Session one kicked off with Lori Gruen (Stanford University) presenting "Alliance Building: Ecofeminism and Environmental Justice," followed by Karen Warren’s (Macalester College) paper "Environmental Justice: Some Ecofeminist Worries About a Distributive Model." Session two featured Greta Gaard’s (Western Washington University) "Ecofeminist Contributions to the U.S. Green Movement." Session three included a co-presentation by Irene Diamond and David Seidenberg (University of Oregon) titled "Explorations in Jewish Ecofeminism," and Albert Borgmann’s (University of Montana) "Gender and Nature." Session four included Kari Marie Norgaard (University of Oregon), "Philosophy into Practice: Problems in Ecofeminist Research Design," and Noël Sturgeon (University of California-Santa Cruz/Washington State University), "The Power is Yours Planeteers! The End of the Cold War and Contemporary Environomentalism in Children’s Popular Culture."

After the last session we were invited to attend a special art opening at the UM Gallery titled "Encompassing Visions: Expanding the Language of Ecofeminism." It was quite refreshing after a day of listening to papers. The art was interesting and innovative, reminding us that there are many interesting ways to express ideas motivated by ecofeminist concerns.

Saturday was also packed full. We began with a panel called "Interrogating Ecological Identities: Strategic Essentialism, Radical Democracy, the Green Self." Panelists were Sturgeon, "WomanEarth Feminist Peace Institute and the Race of Parity," and Light, "What is the Green Self." The next session featured Christopher Preston’s (University of Oregon) paper, "Environment and Belief: The Importance of Place in the Construction of Knowledge."

After a lunch break we tried something a little different. Some participants were feeling that the subject of vegetarianism really needed to be discussed in depth by the group of people present. So, we changed the schedule to make room for this conversation. Plumwood delivered a paper focusing on questions of ethnocentrism in literature on vegetarianism and "animal rights." This was followed by Marti Kheel’s talk, "The Hidden Hostility in Holism: An Ecofeminist Critique." Then, instead of reading my paper, which was an ecofeminist critique of anthropocentrism in artificial intelligence and neural net research, I led a discussion on issues that surfaced over the course of the weekend, such as vegetarianism and animals. Discussion centered around whether claims that vegetarianism is morally required are ethnocentric. The next session included papers by Jill Belsky (University of Montana), "Women’s Groups in Conservation and Development: The Politics and Practice of Community-Managed Ecotourism in Gales Point, Belize," and a co-presentation by Connie Bullis and Lincoln Houde (University of Utah), "Ecofeminist Pedagogy: An Explanatory Case."

Closing events that evening included a theater performance by Erin Lindbergh and Lisa Barry and an open discussion on "Translating Ecofeminist Theory into Practical Advocacy." The discussion was led by the following activists and scholars: Bryonny Schwan with Women’s Voices for the Earth, Joni Seeger, University of Vermont, and Louisa Wilcox, Wild Forever.

This conference was enjoyable for several reasons. The quality of presentations was consistently high. Many dealt with issues that I have been grappling with myself, particularly the relationship between ecofeminist theory and practice. I appreciated the interaction between scholars and community activists who are not scholars. This, along with the varied events, and flexibility in the schedule when people wanted to focus on certain issues, made it a success.