Structures, Systems and Differences that Matter: Casting an Ecological-Intersectionality Perspective on Female Subsistence Farmers’ Experiences of the Climate Crisis

Abstract

Based on research with subsistence farmers in Kenya, this article applies a gender and ecological-informed intersectionality lens to explores how and why overlapping modes of social injustices and ecological conditions augment subsistence female farmers’ vulnerability and shape their (non)adaptive responses to the climate crisis. We uncover the inter-locking and underlying social/ecological power dynamics at macro (global; biosphere), meso (country; local ecosystems), and micro (interpersonal, personal; inter-populations/communities of organisms) levels, revealing how these human- and natural-world elements intra-act and affect consumers’ actions/vulnerabilities and undermine the effectiveness of climate-resilient interventions. We call for scholars/practitioners to identify and address intersecting global and localized power dynamics (including their own positions of power), to add a gender- and ecological-focus, and to include the voice and perspective of all participants so that solutions do not increase (gendered) inequalities/inequities or vulnerabilities.