April 12, 2013
Valerie Padilla Carroll presents poster at American Society for Environmental History conference
Submitted by Valerie Padilla Carroll
Valerie Padilla Carroll, women's studies, presented her poster, "Origins and Origin Narratives of New Domesticity: Tracing the Movement through 20th Century Social and Environmental Activisms" at the 2013 American Society of Environmental History conference in Toronto.
This poster explored new domesticity, a philosophy and practice that see the homemaker as an integral actor producing security and prosperity for family, community and the environment.
Emerging in the last few decades predominately in the United States, new domesticity calls for women and men to reject the market economy and return to the domestic sphere. Such a return will ensure, proponents say, a more just society for humans and a more harmonious interaction with nature. This tracing of the movement and its origins is one part of a larger project, which examines the ways that women, people of color and the peoples of the Global South are employed by eco activists and movements both as actual labor and as symbols of greener lifestyles.