Fighting for the River: Gender, Body, and Agency in Environmental Struggles

Fighting for the River explores women's intimate relationships with river waters and how these relationships empower local communities to resist private run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plants in Turkey. Özge Yaka develops a body-centered, phenomenological approach to women's environmental activism and combines it with a relational ontological perspective to demonstrate how our corporeal connection to nonhuman entities is constitutive of our more-than-human lifeworld.

Format: Hardback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 25 July 2023
Publisher: University of California Press

Fighting for the River delves into the profound and intimate connections that women share with river waters,unveiling the ways in which these connections empower local communities to resist the establishment of private run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plants in Turkey. Drawing upon extensive ethnographic research, Özge Yaka adopts a body-centered, phenomenological approach to women's environmental activism, seamlessly blending it with a relational ontological perspective. By doing so, the book transcends the confines of the natural resources frame, unveiling how our corporeal connection to nonhuman entities is integral to our existence within the broader realm of more-than-human life.

Fighting for the River centers its exploration around the human body, treating bodily senses and affects as the mediums through which more-than-human connectivity and political agency manifest. By analyzing local environmental struggles as battles for coexistence, Yaka frames human-nonhuman relationality as a matter of socio-ecological justice. Through this lens, the book sheds light on the ways in which women's embodied relationships with river waters serve as a catalyst for resistance, fostering a sense of collective responsibility and solidarity among communities facing the threat of hydroelectric development.

In conclusion, Fighting for the River offers a groundbreaking perspective on the intersection of women's activism, environmentalism, and the more-than-human world. By centering the human body as a point of departure, Özge Yaka provides a rich and nuanced understanding of the ways in which our connections to nonhuman entities shape our political identities and ethical frameworks. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the complex dynamics between humans and the natural world, as well as the power of embodied experiences to inspire social change.

Weight: 499g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520393608