
The concept of sustainability emerged at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) in Stockholm in 1972 and was coined by Norwegian Gro Brundtland in the report "Our Common Future" (1987). According to this definition, the sustainable use of natural resources should "meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." However, despite the urgency of the concept and the constant evolution it has undergone over time, its application is often restricted to the controlled use of natural resources and the preservation of wildlife. In other words, it treats the situation from the perspective of "man versus nature," as a dichotomous view, with the loss of a holistic perspective.
This dubious conceptualization of modern environmentalism is constantly tested and has opened up space for many criticisms, including feminist criticism. In the text "Ecofeminist Philosophy" (2000), philosopher Karen J. Warren analyzed the social construction of the "man-nature" dichotomy and its negative impact on women and the environment, suggesting that "women and nature have always been understood as the 'other' in patriarchal societies" and that the dichotomies of man-woman, culture-nature, mind-body, and reason-emotion in Western society have led to a predominance of supposedly "masculine" characteristics and a "logic of dominance." A long historical precedent of associating women with nature, culminating in the oppression and marginalization of both.
