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: Paperback / softback
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, illuminating how our corporeal connection to nonhuman entities is integral to shaping 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 humans establish connections with nonhuman environments. Through this lens, Yaka analyzes local environmental struggles as battles for coexistence, framing human-nonhuman relationality as a matter of socio-ecological justice. By examining the ways in which women navigate and engage with river waters, Fighting for the River sheds light on the intricate ways in which our bodies, senses, and experiences shape our relationships with the natural world and our place within it.

Through its rich and nuanced analysis, Fighting for the River offers valuable insights into the complex interplay between human beings, nonhuman entities, and the environment. It challenges traditional understandings of environmental activism and highlights the importance of recognizing the embodied experiences and perspectives of women in environmental decision-making processes. By advocating for a more inclusive and justice-oriented approach to environmental conservation, the book contributes to a broader understanding of the interconnectedness of all life forms and the urgent need to protect and preserve our planet's natural resources.

Weight: 358g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520393615