Chapters for The Handbook of Ecofeminism
deadline for submissions: February 13, 2026
full name / name of organization: Nicole C. Dittmer, PhD
contact email: ncdittmer@gmail.com

In 1974, Françoise d’Eaubonne coined the term ecofeminism in Le féminisme ou la mort, foregrounding the intertwined domination of women and nature and calling for the liberation of both from systems of exploitation. Since its emergence, ecofeminism has inspired scholars and activists across disciplines and global contexts.

The Handbook of Ecofeminism (hereafter The Handbook), edited by Douglas Vakoch and Nicole C. Dittmer, seeks to honor and advance this dynamic movement through a collection of original essays on leading ecofeminist thinkers and practitioners from six continents. The volume opens with foundational ecofeminists and environmental activists such as Vandana Shiva, Wangari Maathai, and Dolores Huerta, and concludes with posthumanist theorists including Rosi Braidotti, Donna Haraway, and Stacy Alaimo. Between these sections, contributors examine how ecofeminist perspectives foster more holistic scientific paradigms, promote ethical responsibility toward nonhuman animals, and cultivate affirmative spiritual practices. Collectively, the volume demonstrates that ecofeminism is not only a critical framework for exposing injustice but also a generative force for imagining and enacting emancipatory futures. This comprehensive handbook will be of significant interest to scholars and students in ecofeminism, women’s and gender studies, and the environmental humanities.

Additional chapter proposals are invited to complement more than 40 confirmed chapters for The Handbook of Ecofeminism, scheduled for publication in 2027. Interested authors should submit a 300-word abstract outlining the proposed influential figure, their impact on the field of ecofeminism, and their primary areas of specialization. Abstracts should articulate a clear and compelling thesis that highlights the purpose and contribution of the proposed chapter. Submissions should also include a 200-word contributor biography, a list of keywords, and five key references. Materials should be sent by February 13, 2026 to Nicole C. Dittmer at ncdittmer@gmail.com. Authors will be notified of acceptance decisions by March 1, 2026.

All contributors must have completed a PhD. Only previously unpublished work will be considered, and the editors seek a broadly international and diverse group of scholarly contributors. This CFP welcomes contributions from a wide range of scholarly disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and other professional fields.

Proposals should clearly indicate how the chapter will provide a comprehensive overview of the proposed ecofeminist (or ecofeminist-adjacent) figure, identifying major themes, intellectual influences, and key developments within their area of expertise.

Chapters will be structured around eight thematic sections. The priority topics and ecofeminist figures are outlined below, and submissions that engage with these are particularly welcome.

We are especially seeking chapters that focus on key ecofeminists from the following areas:
Disability Studies
Materialism/New Materialism
Queer Studies
Postcolonial Studies
Posthumanism Studies
Criminal Rights
Spirituality/Enlightenment
Ecopoetry

Some examples of 20th- and 21st-century American ecofeminists who would be appropriate as subjects of chapter include:
Mel Y. Chen (Animacies, Intersectionality, and Queer Ecology)
Alice Walker (Intersectionality and Ecowomanism)
Ynestra King (Social Ecology, Body Politics)
Alison Kafer (Disability Studies and Environmental Justice)
Mia Mingus (Disability Studies and Environmental Justice)
Octavia Butler (Intersectionality and Environmental Justice)

Although all of the above examples are from the United States, we place high priority on ecofeminists from diverse countries around the world, particularly those underrepresented in our already confirmed chapters. We encourage chapters on ecofeminists through the ages, from antiquity to the present. Proposals should avoid the ecofeminists listed below, for which we already have confirmed contributors:

Part I. Classical Ecofeminism
Françoise d’Eaubonne, Adriana Teodorescu, PhD, Department of Social Work, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania.
Elin Wägner, Katarina Leppänen, PhD, Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Sherry B. Ortner, Nicole C. Dittmer, PhD, Department of English and Education, Nightingale College, Utah, USA.
Wangari Maathai, Aslı Değirmenci Altın, PhD, Department of English Language and Literature, Hacettepe University, Turkey.
Vandana Shiva, Esther Daimari, PhD, Department of English, Tezpur University, India.
Maria Mies, Sarannya V Pillai, PhD, Department of English, RV University, India.

Part II. Environmental Activism
Moira Millan, Nicolás Campisi, PhD, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.
Adenike Titilope Oladosu, Clara Ijeoma Osuji, PhD, Augustine University, Nigeria.
Arundhati Roy, Anita Balakrishnan, PhD, Department of English, Queen Mary’s College,
India.
Helena Norberg-Hodge, Abhik Gupta, PhD, Emeritus, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, India.
Medha Patkar, Shalini M., PhD, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Central University of Kerala, India.
Ateyyat El Abnoudy, Pervine Elrefaei, PhD, Department of English, Cairo University, Egypt.

Part III. Environmental Poetry and Prose
Li Qingzhao (李清照), Peter I-min Huang (黃逸民), PhD, English Department of Tamkang University, Taiwan.
Audre Lorde, Quynh H. Vo, PhD, Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies, American University, Washington DC, USA.
Zoë Brigley, Michelle Deininger, PhD, Department of Humanities in the Division of Continuing and Professional Education, Cardiff University, Wales.
Leslie Marmon Silko, Nicolás Campisi, PhD, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.
bell hooks, Rebekah Taylor-Wiseman, PhD, Department of English, Brenau University, Georgia, USA.

Part IV. Science Reformulated
Margaret Cavendish, Katarzyna Burzyńska, PhD, Department of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland.
Carolyn Merchant, Sam Mickey, PhD, Department of Theology and Religious Studies and the Environmental Studies Program, University of San Francisco, California, USA.
Rachel Carson, Michelle Deininger, PhD, Department of Humanities in the Division of Continuing and Professional Education, Cardiff University, Wales.
Lynn Margulis, Başak Ağın, PhD, Department of English Language and Literature, TED University, Turkey.
Suzanne Simard, Auður Aðalsteinsdóttir, PhD, Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Ocean, Climate and Society (ROCS), University of Iceland, Iceland.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Rachel Hart Winter, PhD, Department of Theology, Dominican University, Illinois, USA.
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Nicole C. Dittmer, PhD, Department of English and Education, Nightingale College, Utah, USA.

Part V. Animals and Vegetarians
Anna Kingsford, Hatice Övgü Tüzün, PhD, Department of American Culture and Literature, Bahçeşehir University, Turkey.
Carol J. Adams, Laura Wright, College of Arts and Sciences, Western Carolina University, North Carolina, USA.
Karen J. Warren, Kerim Can Yazgünoğlu, PhD, Department of English, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, Turkey.
Val Plumwood, Iris Ralph, PhD, Department of English, Tamkang University, Taiwan.
Fiona Probyn-Rapsey, Deirdre C. Byrne, PhD, Department of English Studies, University of South Africa (Unisa).
Deborah Bird Rose, Melanie Duckworth, PhD, Department of English, Østfold University College, Norway.
Lori Gruen, Karen Ya-Chu Yang, PhD, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan.
Sunaura Taylor, Katarzyna Burzyńska, PhD, Department of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland.

Part VI. Spirituality and the Goddess Reclaimed
Joanna Macy, Hatice Övgü Tüzün, PhD, Department of American Culture and Literature, Bahçeşehir University, Turkey.
Jean Shinoda Bolen, Sunaina Jain, PhD, Department of English, MCM DAV College, India.
Carol P. Christ, Anupama Nayar, PhD, Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, India.
Mary Daly, Chan Kit-sze Amy, PhD, Technoscience Culture Research and Development Center, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong.
Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sam Mickey, PhD, Department of Theology and Religious Studies and the Environmental Studies Program, University of San Francisco, California, USA.

Part VII. Across Ecofeminism’s Stages
Greta Gaard, Özlem Karadağ, PhD, Department of English Language and Literature, Istanbul University, Turkey.
Aoki Yayoi, Keitaro Morita, PhD, Graduate School of Intercultural Communication, Rikkyo University, USA.
Alicia H. Puleo, Irene Sanz Alonso, PhD, Department of Modern Philology, University of Alcalá, Spain.
Janis Birkeland, Nicole Anae, PhD, Department of Literary and Cultural Studies, Central Queensland University, Australia.

Part VIII. Posthuman Futures
Rosi Braidotti, Anja Höing, PhD, Independent Scholar of English Literature.
Donna Haraway, Tina Sikka, PhD, School of Arts and Culture, Newcastle University, England.
Catriona Sandilands, Christina Holmes, PhD, Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, DePauw University, Indiana, USA.
Stacy Alaimo, Lenka Filipova, PhD, Department of Literary and Cultural Studies, Freie Universität, Germany.
Astrida Neimanis, Sarah Bezan, PhD, Radical Humanities Lab, University College, Ireland.
Björk, Auður Aðalsteinsdóttir, PhD, Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Ocean, Climate and Society (ROCS), University of Iceland.

The editors of The Handbook have published extensively in ecofeminism, with previous books, essays, and chapter contributions including:

'"the terror of the rustics:" or, Witches and Werewolves: Lunar and Nature's Monstrosities in Catherine Crowe's 'A Story of a Weir-Wolf' (1846)' (2025)
'From Becoming to Being: The Material-semiotic Abhumanity of Peri-to-post-menopausal Women in the Victorian Gothic' (2025)
'"Mistress of the Broomstick": Biology, Ecosemiotics and Monstrous Women in Wizard's The Wild Witch of the Heath; or The Demon of the Glen' (2023)
'Victorian Literature and Ecofeminism' (2022)
Monstrous Women and Ecofeminism in the Victorian Gothic, 1837-1871 (2022)
The Routledge Handbook of Ecofeminism and Literature (2022)
Ecofeminist Science Fiction: International Perspectives on Gender, Ecology, and Literature (2021)
Dystopias and Utopias on Earth and Beyond: Feminist Ecocriticism of Science Fiction (2021)
'Malignancy of Goneril: Nature's Powerful Warrior' (2020)
Literature and Ecofeminism: Intersectional and International Voices (2018)
Ecofeminism in Dialogue (2017)
Women and Nature?: Beyond Dualism in Gender, Body, and Environment (2017)
Feminist Ecocriticism: Environment, Women, and Literature (2012)
Ecofeminism and Rhetoric: Critical Perspectives on Sex, Technology, and Discourse (2011)