This month is Women’s History Month. Each week of this month, we will introduce you to the Center’s work by focusing on a particular historical period in philosophy and science.
In times of current crisis, the voices of women are needed more than ever. The accumulation of war and environmental catastrophes teaches us that exploitation of people and nature through violent appropriation and enrichment for the sake of short-term self-interest exacts its price.
Ruth Edith Hagengruber
With these pioneering and more than forceful words, we would like to introduce you to another central research instance of the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, that aims to rethink the past to define the future: The research project EcoTechGender.
The EcoTechGender project concentrates its work on research into women and their achievements in the fields of economics, ecology, technology, natural sciences and the interplay with human science theories on women’s and gender studies. The project, which was first initiated by Prof. Dr. Ruth E. Hagengruber in 2007, continues to deal with the still pressing issues of gender equality and has a special focus on current political events, which pose major challenges to our society today. At the same time, economy, ecology, technology and gender are the factors that will shape our future and are therefore particularly important. The motto Defining the Future – Rethinking the Past also reflects the motivation of the researchers involved, Ruth E. Hagengruber and Felix Grewe.
In 2023, the volume Women Philosophers on Economics, Technology, Environment, and Gender History based on the proceedings of the international conference IAPh 2021 Defining the Future – Rethinking the Past was finally published and represents a very important milestone in Ruth E. Hagengruber’s current EcoTechGender research. She is also posting a regularly EcoTechGender-blog to share her newest ideas and visions on the status quo of the research and political framework.
A huge part of Prof. Hagengrubers research at the Center and the EcoTechGender project is the participation of Women in informatics and economy, but also in other fields. A brief introduction into this exciting research can be found in the 2023 released article on The Third Knowledge Dimension: From a Binary System to a Three-limbed Epistemology In fall 2023 Ruth E. Hagengruber shared her ideas on EcoTechGender in an interview with Dr. Clara Marvellia at the Cultural Entrepeneurship Institute Berlin. These ideas she reshaped with a talk on EcoTechGender at the V. Conference on Ethics and Digitalization hold in November 2023.
To have a look on the crossings of humanities, gender studies and STEM-Research is also the research concept of Felix Grewe. He is working on a research and dissertation project about the works of Donna J. Haraway and the critical analysis of boundaries in science and society imposed on us by patriarchal powers in the past. A core idea of his research is to look at historical examples of male-dominated science that have brought science to the brink of disaster in order to use them for a diffractive analysis and new view of science and society. At the same time, Haraway’s theories and ideas will be examined in order to show how the theories, ideas and innovations of all people, and especially those who have been marginalized in the past, can be implemented. A first sneak view on his project can be found in his talk about The Reinvention of the Human Body, held at the Women and their Body conference in May 2023. 
Over the last few years, a lot of material on the EcoTechGender project has been collected and can be viewed on our YouTube-Playlist. More information about the project itself and its outcomes can be found here.
To find young scholars working in this field, please join our page Find Scholars in New Voices.
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