Maria Mies is a Marxist feminist scholar and activist, renowned for her theory of capitalist-patriarchy, which recognizes third world women and difference. In 1979, at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, she founded the Women and Development programme. She has written numerous books and articles that deal with topics relating to feminism, third world issues and the environment, including The Lace Makers of Narsapur (1982), Women: The Last Colony (1988), Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale (1999) and The Subsistence Perspective (1999).Vandana Shiva, a world-renowned environmental leader and thinker, is director of the Research Foundation on Science, Technology, and Ecology, India. In 1993 Shiva won the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize and in 2010 was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for her commitment to social justice. She is the author of over 20 books, including Staying Alive (1989), The Violence of the Green Revolution (1991), Biodiversity (1992), Monocultures of the Mind (1993), Biopolitics (1995), Stolen Harvest (2001), Protect or Plunder (2001), Earth Democracy (2005) and Soil Not Oil (2009).

Written by two world-renowned scholars

Foreword - Ariel SallehPreface to the 'Critique Influence Change' edition1. Introduction: Why We Wrote This Book TogetherPart I: Critique and Perspective2. Reductionism and Regeneration: A Crisis in Science, Vandana Shiva3. Feminist Research: Science, Violence and Responsibility, Maria MiesPart II: Subsistence V. Development4. The Myth of Catching-up Development, Maria Mies5. The Impoverishment of the environment: Women and Children Last, Vandana Shiva6. Who Made Nature Our Enemy?, Maria MiesPart III: The Search for Roots7. Homeless in the 'Global Village', Vandana Shiva8. Masculinization of the Motherland, Vandana Shiva9. Women Have No Fatherland, Maria Mies10. White Man's Dilemma: His Search for What He has Destroyed, Maria MiesPart IV: Ecofeminism V. New Areas of Investment through Biotechnology11. Women's Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation, Vandana Shiva12. New Reproductive Technologies: Sexist and Racist Implications, Maria Mies13. From the Individual to the Dividual: the Supermarket of 'Reproductive alternatives' Maria MiesPart V: Freedom for Trade or Freedom for Survival14. Self Determination: The End of a Utopia? Maria Mies15. GATT, Agriculture and Third World Women, Vandana Shiva16. The Chipko Women's Concept of Freedom, Vandana, Shiva

In this groundbreaking work, two world-renowned scholars argue that ecological destruction and industrial catastrophes constitute a direct threat to everyday life, the maintenance of which has been made the particular responsibility of women. In both industrialized societies and the developing countries, the new wars the world is experiencing, violent ethnic chauvinisms and the malfunctioning of the economy also pose urgent questions for ecofeminists. Is there a relationship between patriarchal oppression and the destruction of nature in the name of profit and progress? How can women counter the violence inherent in these processes? Should they look to a link between the women's movement and other social movements?Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva offer a thought-provoking analysis of these and many other issues from a unique North-South perspective. They critique prevailing economic theories, conventional concepts of women's emancipation, the myth of 'catching up' development, the philosophical foundations of modern science and technology, and the omission of ethics when discussing so many questions, including advances in reproductive technology and biotechnology.In constructing their own ecofeminist epistemology and methodology, these two internationally respected feminist environmental activists look to the potential of movements advocating consumer liberation and subsistence production, sustainability and regeneration. They argue for an acceptance of limits and reciprocity and a rejection of exploitation, the endless commoditization of needs, and violence.