Vandana Shiva (1952-present) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, and author who focuses on maintaining Indigenous agricultural practices.
Vandana Shiva (1952-present) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, and author who focuses on maintaining Indigenous agricultural practices.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejeda. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Carmen Borca-Carrillo. I’m one of the writers and producers behind Womanica, as well as another Wonder Media Network show, As She Rises.
As She Rises is about personalizing the elusive magnitude of climate change through the power of poetry and the stories of climate activists. The second season is out now. And since this month’s theme is Eco Warriors, the team behind As She Rises is taking over Womanca!
This month, we’re highlighting Eco Warriors: women fighting for conservation and ecological justice.
Today’s Womanican is a passionate, albeit polarizing, figure. An Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, and author, she focuses on maintaining indigenous agricultural practices. Let’s talk about Vandana Shiva.
Vandana Shiva was born in 1952 in Dehra Dun, India, near the foothills of the Himalayas. Her father was a forest conservator, who maintained parts of the Indian forest. Her mother was a farmer.
Growing up, Vandana attended Catholic school before enrolling at Panjab University She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics. She then received her master’s degree in the philosophy of science, in Ontario, Canada. After that, she wrote her thesis “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory” earning her a doctorate from the department of philosophy at the University of Western Ontario in 1978.
Taking a break from her studies, she visited India, and was sad to learn that her favorite childhood forest and stream had been cleared and drained to make way for an apple orchard. This discovery sparked her interest in environmentalism. She shifted her focus to research that combined science, technology, and environmental policy.
After finishing her degrees, Vandana worked for the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE). She worked out of mother’s cow barn, back in Dehra Dun. This foundation is an informal network of researchers, working in support of people's environmental struggles.
In the 1960s, the Green Revolution began sweeping across Asia. This was an international project to increase food production in developing countries by using higher-yielding seed.
To do this, the Green Revolution popularized practices like monocropping, or growing the same type of crop on the same land year after year, and using seeds that were genetically modified. These seeds required lots of fertilizer and pesticides, because they weren't native. They hadn’t had time to build resilience in their new environments. The genetically-modified strains were also patented, which made it illegal for farmers to harvest seeds for the next season. Every year, they’d have to pay for new ones.
Vandana believed that the Green Revolution had led to pollution and the loss of indigenous agricultural knowledge. So in 1991, she created Navdanya. Navdanya translates to “nine seeds” or “new gift.”
It’s a women-led, agricultural organization that promotes organic farming and fair trade. It also encourages f armers to maintain traditional farming methods.. In the last 30 years, Navdanya has created 150 seed banks, which collect, multiply and exchange traditional seeds and indigenous knowledge.
Throughout her career, Vandana continued to speak up about the problems caused by corporate greed and globalization. She’s a founding board member of the International Forum on Globalization, a group of international scientists, activists, researchers and writers, dedicated to monitoring and intervening on the impact of globalization. She’s led an International Campaign on Food Rights, which sought to ensure people's right to knowledge and food security.
She was a co-chair of the 1991 World Congress on Women and Environment, and she directed a dialogue on "Women, Ecology and Health.” In 2001, she opened a school and organic farm offering month-long courses in sustainable living and agriculture, near Dehra Dun, her hometown. Time magazine awarded her 2003’s "environmental hero" and Asia Week has called her one of the five most powerful communicators of Asia.
But Vandana, for all her accomplishments, has proven a polarizing figure in the scientific community.
She’s been accused of plagiarizing other scientist’s work in her papers and books, using incendiary language and championing ideas based in pseudo-science. Additionally, Vandana, along with other anti- GMO activists, forced Zambia and India’s governments to reject internationally donated GMO food during climate disasters because it was "poisoned.” And, the anti-GMO lobbying laws she helped pass in India, have led to “seed piracy,” with farmers illegally saving and planting modified strains because of their increased yield.
A complicated figure, Vandana Shiva continues to organize and inspire people throughout the world.
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast. Special thanks to Jenny and Liz Kaplan for inviting me to guest host.
Tune in tomorrow for a new guest host.