Gender and Sustainability: Evolution of Discourse and Feminist Critique of Sustainable Development


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Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the stages of evolution of the UN social, environmental and gender policies and the peculiarities of their convergence into an integral concept of sustainable development, to assess the influence of feminist organizations on the direction and content of the concept of sustainable development, as well as criticism of «sustainability» and alternative development models proposed by feminist organizations and social movements, including the «Fridays for the Future» movement. The UN is the main international structure for shaping global social, environmental and gender policy. Over 75 years of the organization's activity, hundreds of documents have been adopted, dozens of conferences have been held in the field of eliminating social, gender and environmental inequalities. In 1992, the UN member states approved the «Agenda for the 21st century», in which social, gender and environmental aspects of development were combined into a holistic concept of sustainable development. Since that time, these political fields are considered in integrity and interconnection. International women's organizations have played a decisive role in integrating gender issues into the concept of sustainable development. Thanks to their activities, the legal aspects of enhancing gender equality are enshrined in the key UN documents on sustainable development - «Agenda 21» (1992), «Millennium Goals» (2000), «Implementation Plan» (2002), «The future we are want «(2012),» Sustainable Development Goals 2030 «(2015). At the same time, there are processes of the formation of an alternative gender discourse and feminist criticism of the official concept of sustainable development. International feminist movements and organizations have played a huge role in this. Currently, there are several feminist approaches to the study of the relationship between women and the environment: ecological-feminist, economic-ecological and post-structuralist. The most important area of activity for feminist organizations is the fight against global climate change. With the onset of the fourth wave of feminism in environmental protection, new trends and vivid leadership figures have emerged, and there has been a direct increase in women's presence in global climate policy. The most striking example of this trend is the climate movement «Fridays for the Future» (PRB), created by eco-activist G. Thunberg.

About the authors

Yuri Yu. Kovalev

Ural Humanitarian Institute, Ural Federal University named after First President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin

Email: yykowaljow@gmail.com
Cand. Sci. (Geograph.), Associate Professor, Department of Theory and History of International Relations Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation

Polina S. Yakovleva

Ural Humanitarian Institute, Ural Federal University named after First President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin

Email: polina.37@bk.ru
Department of Theory and History of International Relations Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation

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