Indigenous peoples, particularly Indigenous women, have had a long-standing struggle fighting against neo-colonial societies that seek to underpin the self-determination of Indigenous land and bodies. In this essay, I shall analyse the article “Our Bodies, Our Communities, Our Self-Determination” by Winona LaDuke through a feminist technoscience lens, and argue that Indigenous environmental conservation practices are long standing form of technology that can be used to resist harmful neo-colonial capitalist practices and renegotiate the treatment of land, sovereignty, and the rights of women.
Feminist technoscience is an interdisciplinary field of study that emerged from feminist critiques, and takes a social constructivist approach to tackle …show more content…
The transformation of this feminine work towards a professionalized male dominated identity pushed women out public spheres and helped to stratify race, gender, and class lines (Wajcman 9). This shift is also evident in the ideological values placed on science. Western medicine has asserted its dominance over other forms of traditional medicine and is coded with the masculine assumptions of reason and objectivity. Indigenous medicine and natural healing have been relegated as lesser medicines as lesser and coded as “feminine”. (Wajcman …show more content…
The concept of nature, community and the self are interconnected and interlinked, thus one has an effect on the other (Dei, Hall, Rosenberg). Western science and technology is rooted in Cartesian conceptions where the mind and body are separate and that cures can be found by focusing specific parts of the body to make it work again. (Dei, Hall, Rosenberg). This is a very mechanistic comparison but it also reflects perceptions of society, that the entirety of society is not sick, only certain parts of it that can be pin pointed and cured. LaDuke says that Western society ignores the “inherent property rights of Indigenous people” as well as traditional knowledges, technologies and cultures by “imposing industrialist systems over them. She balks as the narrative of these societies that call Indigenous peoples "primitive” when corporations utilize Indigenous medice, plants and genetic material to further their own agendas (LaDuke). Indigenous knowledges and technologies are valuable and have historically maintained a balance between the protection of the Earth and the needs of
Feminist technoscience is an interdisciplinary field of study that emerged from feminist critiques, and takes a social constructivist approach to tackle …show more content…
The transformation of this feminine work towards a professionalized male dominated identity pushed women out public spheres and helped to stratify race, gender, and class lines (Wajcman 9). This shift is also evident in the ideological values placed on science. Western medicine has asserted its dominance over other forms of traditional medicine and is coded with the masculine assumptions of reason and objectivity. Indigenous medicine and natural healing have been relegated as lesser medicines as lesser and coded as “feminine”. (Wajcman …show more content…
The concept of nature, community and the self are interconnected and interlinked, thus one has an effect on the other (Dei, Hall, Rosenberg). Western science and technology is rooted in Cartesian conceptions where the mind and body are separate and that cures can be found by focusing specific parts of the body to make it work again. (Dei, Hall, Rosenberg). This is a very mechanistic comparison but it also reflects perceptions of society, that the entirety of society is not sick, only certain parts of it that can be pin pointed and cured. LaDuke says that Western society ignores the “inherent property rights of Indigenous people” as well as traditional knowledges, technologies and cultures by “imposing industrialist systems over them. She balks as the narrative of these societies that call Indigenous peoples "primitive” when corporations utilize Indigenous medice, plants and genetic material to further their own agendas (LaDuke). Indigenous knowledges and technologies are valuable and have historically maintained a balance between the protection of the Earth and the needs of