Ecology and feminism in performance

Composting histories 1962–2020

Cara Berger

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781526152473
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526152466
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Performance Art

This book provides a vital new history of feminist performance through an ecological lens. It argues that from the 1960s to the present, artists have used performance to challenge the linked oppression of women and nature. Proposing 'composting' as a new method for writing feminist history, the study moves beyond linear narratives to trace regenerative connections between generations of practitioners. It provides sustained analysis of genres from land art to postdramatic theatre, re-evaluating the work of canonical figures while examining how contemporary artists continue to address these urgent themes. By placing ecofeminism in dialogue with feminist new materialism, queer ecology, and transecological thought, this study demonstrates how performance has been a crucial site for imagining more just and sustainable futures in an age of environmental crisis.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: composting feminist performance histories
• 1 The planet placed in the feminine: the ecofeminist performances of Judy Chicago, Ana Mendieta, Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Agnes Denes
• 2 Wounded earth: dark feminist ecologies in performances by Rachel Rosenthal and Rebecca Belmore
• 3 Erotic earth: the queer ecologies of Carolee Schneemann, Claire Cunningham, and Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens
• 4 The new materialist turn and postdramatic theatre: diffractive dramaturgies in the works of Sasha Waltz, Mette Ingvartsen and Pamela Z
• 5 Figuring trans*human ecofeminism with Ana Vaz and Tosh Basco
• Conclusion: preparing the ground for ecofeminist futures
• Bibliography
• Index