The Seeds of Vandana Shiva (2021): A Credible Actor of Change
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v24i1.425Keywords:
The Seeds of Vandana Shiva, Eco-feminism, Documentary Film, Persuasive Strategies in Films, Women Empowerment, Environmental ActivismAbstract
Dr. Vandana Shiva has a history of environmental activism and gained popularity in mainstream media specifically for Western audiences. She has established herself as an opposition against seed monopoly and a promoter of unity. This paper chooses The Seeds of Vandana Shiva (2021), a documentary about Vandana Shiva’s environmental activism from an ecofeminist perspective in order to introduce different concepts addressed by this film such as women empowerment, and reductionism. This article offers a discussion on the several persuasive strategies employed in this documentary film in order to promote change, appeal to emotions, and generate a sense of identification with the character and her cause.
References
Bailey, P. (2008, November 18). UC Davis Receives $16 Million Gates Foundation Grant to Support Research to Prevent Childhood Malnutrition. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from UC Davis: https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-receives-16-million-gates-foundation-grant-support-research-prevent-childhood
Becket, J., & Becket, C. D. (Directors). (2021). The Seeds of Vandana Shiva [Motion Picture].
Belmont, C. (2007). Ecofeminism and the Natural Disaster Heroine. Women's Studies, 36(5), 339-372.
Brazeau, M. (2016, November 19). The Eco-Philosophy of Vandana Shiva A Critical Review of Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from Food and Farm Discussion Lab: https://fafdl.org/gmobb/the-eco-philosophy-of-vandana-shiva-a-critical-review-of-staying-alive-women-ecology-and-development/
Cohen, J. (2009, November 17). Defining Identification: A Theoretical Look at the Identification of Audiences With Media Characters. Mass Communication and Society, 4(3), 245-264.
d’Eaubonne, F. (2022). Feminism or Death. France: Verso.
Federici, S. (2004). Caliban and the Witch. Women, The Body and Primitive Accumulation. New York City: Autonmedia.
Friedan, B. (1979). The Feminine Mystique. New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc.
Gates Foundation. (2019, November). Gates Foundation. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2019/11/inv001694: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2019/11/inv001694
Green, M. C. (2021). Transporation into Narrative Worlds. In L. B. Frank, & P. Falzone, Entertainment-Education Behind the Scenes. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan Cham .
Gregg, R. (2011, December). Environmental Documentary Film: A Contemporary Tool For Social Movement. Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. University of Montana.
Greimas, A. (1987). On meaning, selected writings on semiotic theory. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
Hanisch, C. (1969, February). Writings by Carol Hanisch. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from carolhanisch.org: http://www.carolhanisch.org/CHArticlesList.html
Hanson, A. (2010). Environment, Media and Communication. Abingdon: Routledge.
Hofstadter, D. (1999). Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid. United States of America: Basic Books, Inc.
J. Adams, C., & Lori, G. (Eds.). (2022). Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals & the Earth (2 ed.). New York: Bloomsbury.
Kals, E., Schumacher, D., & Montada, L. (1999, March 178-202). Emotional Affinity toward Nature as a Motivational Basis to Protect Nature. Environment and Behaviour.
Kannan, R. (2022, August 19). Review of Vandana Shiva’s Terra Viva — My Life in a Biodiversity of Movements: Clearing the air. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/vandana-shiva-book-chipko-movement-green-environment/article65771172.ece
Krijnen, T., & van Bauwel, S. (Eds.). (2015). Gender and Media: Representing, Producing, Consuming. New York: Routledge.
Kristeva, J., & Lechte, J. (1982). Approaching Abjection. Oxford Literary Review, 5(1), 125-149.
Lamar, B. (2012, December). Going Green: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Environmental Documentary Film. New Zealand: University of Otago.
Makri, A. (2018, February 28). Q&A: Development is about complex systems, not beneficiaries . Retrieved November 21, 2022, from SciDevNet: https://www.scidev.net/global/opinions/q-a-development-is-about-complex-systems-not-beneficiaries/
Miller, H. (2018, February 6). ‘Social Justice Warrior’ Vandana Shiva Is A Poor Advocate For The Poor. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from American Council on Science and Health: https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/02/06/%E2%80%98social-justice-warrior%E2%80%99-vandana-shiva-poor-advocate-poor-12529
n. D. (2019, May 6). UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from Sustainable Developmental Goals: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/#:~:text=The%20Report%20finds%20that%20around,20%25%2C%20mostly%20since%201900.
Nicholas, B. (2001). Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Pruitt, S. (2022, March 11). What Are the Four Waves of Feminism? Retrieved December 15, 2022, from History.com: https://www.history.com/news/feminism-four-waves
Ramesh, S. (2020, January 17). Scientists write to US universities for inviting ‘anti-science’ activist Vandana Shiva. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from the Print: https://theprint.in/science/scientists-write-to-us-universities-for-inviting-anti-science-activist-vandana-shiva/350983/
Reuters Staff. (2015, January 30). Gates Foundation awards $50 million to Stanford vaccine discovery. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-washington-gates-idUKKBN0L328Q20150130
Scott, J. (1998). Seeing like a State: How certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. Yale: Yale University.
Shiva, D., & Jalees, K. (2006). Seeds of Suicide (4 ed.). New Delhi: Navdanya.
Shiva, V. (2014). The Vandana Shiva Reader. The University Press of Kentucky.
Shiva, V. (2016). Biopiracy. California: Berkeley.
Shiva, V. (2016). Who really feeds the world? . Berkley: North Atlantic Books.
Shiva, V., & Shiva, K. (2020, August 31). Oneness vs. the 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom. Chelsea Green Publishing.
SMTM. (2021, August 10). A Chemical Hunger – Interlude D: Glyphosate (AKA the active ingredient in Roundup). Retrieved November 27, 2022, from Slime Mold Time Mold: https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2021/08/10/a-chemical-hunger-interlude-d-glyphosate-aka-the-active-ingredient-in-roundup/
Specter, M. (2014, August 18). Seeds of Doubt. Retrieved Novemer 21, 2022, from The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/25/seeds-of-doubt
Srivastava, U. (2020, January 23). Controversial environmental activist Vandana Shiva denounces industrial farming. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from The Stanford Daily: https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/23/controversial-environmental-activist-vandana-shiva-denounces-industrial-farming/
Stanford University News Service. (1992, 08 26). Gates donates $6 million for Stanford information sciences building. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from Stanford Education: https://news.stanford.edu/pr/92/920826Arc2120.html
Stewart, C., Smith, A. C., & Denton, R. (2007). Persuasion and Social Movements. Long Grove: Waveland Press.
Tailor, J. (1998). Body Horror: photojournalism, catastrophe and war. USA: New York University Press.
Van Eenennaam, A. (2021, March 12). Viewpoint: Fact-checking anti-GMO activist Vandana Shiva’s ‘Poison-Free, Fossil-Free’ food lecture. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from Genetic Literacy Project: https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2021/03/12/viewpoint-fact-checking-anti-gmo-activist-vandana-shivas-poison-free-fossil-free-food-lecture/
Wilkins, L., & Coleman, R. (2005). The Moral Media. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Williams, L. (1991). Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess. Film Quarterly, 44(4), 2-13.
Woodill, S. (2010). Complexity Theory and Ecofeminism: Looking At a Coalition. Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice, 34(2), 85-95.
Wroblewski, M. (2022, March 21). What is a hook in marketing? Retrieved June 25, 2023, from Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/hook-marketing-34667.html
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Kadın/Woman 2000, Journal for Women's Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, with the work [6 months] after publication simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access)
