Women and Climate Change: Examining Discourses from the Global North
Review by Shreya Dash (February 19, 2025): In Women and Climate Change: Examining Discourses from the Global North (The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2023), Nicole Detraz delves into the intricate relationship between women and climate change, positioning it as a critical yet often overlooked dimension of global environmental politics. The book presents a compelling analysis of how climate change discourse has permeated diverse institutions—from corporate conglomerates to religious organizations—each integrating the issue into their agendas as an urgent call to action. Detraz underscores the growing global recognition of climate change as an environmental crisis and a profound socio-political challenge with long-term implications for mental and physical well-being.
A central theme of Detraz’s work is the disproportionate vulnerability of women across different socio-economic, racial, and cultural backgrounds to non-traditional security threats, including environmental degradation and climate-induced disasters. She makes a strong case for moving beyond conventional scientific and economic framings of climate change to incorporate socio-political perspectives, thereby placing women at the heart of contemporary environmental discourses. By doing so, the book highlights the necessity of gender-sensitive approaches to environmental policymaking and advocacy.
Detraz adopts a feminist lens to analyze Global Environmental Politics (GEP), arguing that a more inclusive and intersectional approach would enhance our understanding of climate change and lead to more effective solutions. She emphasizes that women, as historically marginalized stakeholders, experience and respond to climate challenges in distinct ways—insights that remain vastly underrepresented in mainstream climate discourse. The book, therefore, contributes to expanding the qualitative dimensions of environmental research by foregrounding women’s lived experiences and agency in climate activism.
Grounding her arguments in qualitative research, Detraz conducted in-depth interviews with 76 women and analyzed responses from 21 online surveys. These narratives gave her a rich empirical foundation to explore women's roles, expectations, and discursive constructions in climate change discussions. From this research, she identifies four key overlapping areas of discourse, which form the backbone of her analysis. This methodological rigour lends credibility to her argument that climate change cannot be fully understood or addressed without acknowledging the gendered dimensions of environmental vulnerability and resilience.
Unlike the predominant academic focus on the Global South—where studies have extensively documented the intersection of climate change and gender—Detraz focuses on the Global North. She contends that understanding the socio-political climate in developed nations is crucial for contextualizing the environmental struggles faced by the Global South. By situating her analysis within the geopolitical landscape of the North, Detraz challenges conventional assumptions and highlights the interconnectedness of climate vulnerabilities across different regions.
Gender: A Social Construct?
“You cannot easily fit women into a structure that is already coded as male; you have to change the structure.” Mary Beard, Women and Power: A Manifesto (2017)
Nicole Detraz argues that gender remains one of the most underexplored dimensions of Global Environmental Politics (GEP). However, the rise of feminist scholarship has introduced critical subfields such as ecofeminism, feminist political ecology, environmentalist feminism, eco-critical feminism, and critical feminist eco-socialism—each examining the intersection of gender and environmental discourse from a unique lens.
Feminist scholars and gender theorists have long posited that gender is a social construct—comprising assigned roles, expectations, and characteristics based on gender identities rather than biological determinants. Detraz highlights how mainstream discourse continues to view gender as a rigid binary rather than the fluid and evolving spectrum it truly represents. This limited perspective, she argues, reinforces patriarchal structures that marginalize women’s voices in climate-related discussions. By imposing predefined gender roles, these structures not only diminish women’s contributions but also restrict their participation in shaping environmental policies.
This raises a fundamental question: If gender roles are indeed fluid and socially constructed, why do patriarchal systems resist change so vehemently? Such questions challenge the existing narratives in disciplines that may not traditionally be seen as gendered—such as climate change—but remain primarily male-dominated, often privileging male perspectives and interests.
Detraz calls for an urgent reorientation of climate discourse, advocating for greater representation of women—particularly those from intersectional communities, such as women of color and LGBTQIA+ individuals. She contends that incorporating diverse voices into environmental policymaking is essential for achieving sustainability and justice-driven goals.
Building upon these principles, Detraz categorizes four major discourses that shape the gendered experience in climate change discussions. These discourses, which also serve as the central themes of her book, highlight the different ways in which women are perceived within climate debates:
1. Women as Vulnerable
Whenever women and climate issues are discussed, they are often portrayed as victims—an oversimplification that perpetuates harmful stereotypes. More problematically, such narratives frequently depict these women as belonging to the Global South, particularly South Asia. While it is undeniable that women in developing regions face severe environmental challenges—ranging from unequal access to resources like food and water to increased exposure to climate-induced violence—Detraz warns against homogenizing their experiences.
She argues that while acknowledging women’s vulnerabilities is crucial, it is equally vital to avoid weaponizing these narratives in a way that reinforces passive victimhood. Instead, she advocates for shifting the discourse toward empowerment, where policymakers, scientists, and scholars work toward fostering resilience rather than perpetuating dependency. She suggests that a key strategy for achieving this is the meaningful inclusion of marginalized groups—such as women of colour and LGBTQIA+ individuals—in climate decision-making processes.
2. Women as Caregivers
A recurring theme in Detraz’s research is how motherhood influences women’s perspectives on climate change, often deepening their commitment to environmental preservation. While many of her interviewees cited maternal responsibility as a driving force behind their activism, Detraz critiques the assumption that caregiving is an inherently female trait. This narrow framing reinforces traditional gender roles, absolving men of their environmental responsibilities.
She emphasizes that the association of women with caregiving is not just a product of contemporary gender norms but also a legacy of colonial histories. Some scholars argue that colonialism disrupted indigenous and communal caregiving practices, replacing them with rigid, Eurocentric gender roles. As a result, postcolonial societies often struggle to reclaim their once-sustainable and gender-equitable environmental practices. Detraz underscores that challenging these deeply ingrained narratives is essential for fostering collective responsibility toward climate action.
3. Women as Knowledgeable
Detraz challenges the dominance of elite, white male voices in climate expertise, arguing that women—especially those from the Global South—possess critical knowledge that is often overlooked in mainstream discourse. While climate debates are frequently confined to academic conferences and policy forums, women’s lived experiences provide practical, on-the-ground insights that are invaluable in addressing environmental challenges.
She acknowledges that while lived experiences may not always align with conventional research methodologies, they offer a crucial starting point for expanding climate discourse. Detraz cautions against homogenizing women’s knowledge or tokenizing their contributions, urging academic institutions to integrate diverse epistemologies without reinforcing racist or sexist stereotypes. By recognizing the legitimacy of women’s environmental knowledge, climate scholarship can move beyond its current Eurocentric and patriarchal biases.
4. Women as Agents of Change
A key argument in Detraz’s work is that women must be recognized as stakeholders in climate discourse and as active agents in shaping solutions. She stresses that achieving gender equity in environmental governance requires dismantling systemic barriers that exclude women—especially women of colour and Indigenous women—from decision-making spaces.
Her interviews reveal that marginalized women remain underrepresented in climate leadership despite their significant contributions. Addressing this disparity, Detraz argues, requires an intersectional approach that ensures gendered perspectives inform mitigation, adaptation, and crisis management strategies. By positioning women as both agents and consumers within climate debates, she envisions a future where gender equity and sustainable development goals are pursued in tandem.
Conclusion
Nicole Detraz effectively makes the case for integrating intersectionality into Global Environmental Politics (GEP), advocating for including women's perspectives across all spheres of climate discourse. Her argument is about granting agency to women and expanding the scope of environmental research by incorporating diverse social, economic, and political dimensions. She challenges the conventional understanding of climate change as merely an ecological phenomenon with visible physical impacts, emphasizing its far-reaching consequences on marginalized communities. Detraz underscores the importance of inclusive participation in shaping environmental and social justice frameworks by recognising women as key stakeholders.
This book is highly recommended for students and scholars of International Relations and Environmental Science and anyone interested in understanding the intersection of gender and climate change. It provides a nuanced perspective on how different societal groups—particularly marginalized communities—experience climate crises in varying ways based on their socio-economic positioning. Detraz’s focus on the Global North is an insightful complement for readers from the Global South, offering a comparative perspective that deepens our understanding of global environmental politics.
SHREYA DASH, Research Intern (January - March 2025), Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, New Delhi.