This Elusive Land: Women and the Canadian Environment

This Elusive Land introduces readers to women’s perceptions and experiences of the Canadian natural environment. This multidisciplinary anthology discusses the ways in which women integrate the social and biophysical settings of their lives, featuring a range of contexts and issues in which gender mediates, inspires, and informs a sense of belonging to and in this land. In particular, the historical association of women with “domestic” nature is challenged by the investigation of women’s lives in a broad range of environments.

The collection begins with an introduction to literatures on women and the environment, and to Canada within ecological feminist conversations. The first section discusses the invisibility of women in traditional accounts of Canada's exploration and settlement, pointing to the literary, historical, and geographic significance of women's experiences in a variety of landscapes. Section two develops the ways in which the natural environment is a source of social and economic livelihood, with particular emphasis on fishery, forestry, agriculture, and parks. The third section explores environmental politics through a feminist perspective. The book concludes with a discussion of new directions for a culturally and ecologically diverse Canadian environment.

This book contributes to women’s studies through its environmental focus; informs environmental studies with a range of feminist perspectives; and complements Canadian studies by integrating disciplinary perspectives of the Canadian experience from the humanities and social sciences.