Unveiling Gendered Mechanisms in Environmental Warfare: Towards an Integrated Feminist Framework

Francesca Fassbender, Tel Aviv University (Germany)

Environmental warfare—the deliberate modification or destruction of the environment and environmental infrastructures for military purposes—has existed for centuries and has often been normalized as collateral damage in war. In recent years, scholars from multiple disciplines have begun to investigate its underlying causes, examining conflict dynamics, actor types, ideologies, cultural factors, and climate-related variables. Yet one perspective remains strikingly absent: gender. This absence is surprising given that both feminist security studies and feminist ecology have long explored the intersections of gender, destruction, and environmental degradation. Bridging these two fields allows us to uncover how gendered logics and militarized masculinities contribute to the justification and execution of environmental warfare. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for unveiling the social structures that normalize such destruction and for integrating gender-sensitive approaches into future conflict resolution and environmental peacebuilding efforts.