Have you seen Yayo Herrero’s coference?
Yayo Herrero gave a master class at the UAB about the reasons that led us where we are at now. The ecofeminist activist talked about how the current system goes against the life we know. Under the watchful eye of students, professors, and other university workers that filled the UAB Theatre, she discussed the sins of humankind, capitalism, and that women are the ones that exercise the least valued tasks in society.
At the occasion of the event, the Vice-rector for Students and Employability, Sara Moreno, has detailed the actions taken by the UAB after declaring the state of climate emergency. For instance, the university will eliminate plastic water bottles from some bars and dining halls and printings of Final degree and master projects, among many other measures focused on this course of action.
After the overview of these actions to improve the environment, under the watchful eye of the huge audience, Yayo Herrero, provided a breakdown, point by point, about how and why we reached the current situation.
The origin of the climate issue, Yayo states, starts in the original sin of humankind. People have “an anthropocentric point of view that places the human race in the center”. We wanted to separate ourselves from the rest of the living world. Everything that surrounds us has turned into resources for human beings, no matter the consequences that can derive from it. The society reached a point where all that matters is what has economic worth and the excuse is always that the economy increases. That means that nowadays “everything is worth it if the economy increases”.
Yayo Herrero stands out due to her feminist view on the issue of climate emergency. She is a professor at UNED university and collaborates in several media. She arouses the interest of very diverse generations. But she’s not the only one that has this view, different from others. She explains that ecofeminism appeared in the late ‘70s, due to the necessity of placing life in the center. In other words, due to the necessity of developing politics, economies, and cultures that prioritizes the maintaining of all kinds of life, human and not human, in good conditions.
In any different occasion or any different place, all that was said would have been considered catastrophist. That is probably why Yayo Herrero pointed out the effort that young people do to face the reality as it is: “we can only get out of the pit if we are aware that we are in it”.
War against life
After the introduction and the first conclusions, Yayo Herrero highlighted once more that the way that the current society is designed has declared “war against life”. She wanted to specify cases that illustrate it.
We reached the peak of oil extraction and oil barrel are not as efficient as before. Despite the commitment to renewable energy, we will never be able to replace oil, she said, since that “the best quality oil energy return on investment is very high, and the one of nowadays renewable energies is much lower”. Then, the first standout aspect is this “war against nature”. A war that can warm up the planet even more to the point of “making survival unviable”
When talking about inequality in the world, Yayo Herrero was very critical and said that “the material truth that globalized and industrialized capitalism hides is pure fascism”. The rich countries are deficient in raw material and overdo waste. However, poverty not only exists between countries. Within the more developed countries also “there are frontiers between people”.
Finally, Yayo Herrero talked about “war against links and relationships”. Humankind is made of dependent beings and we need care when we are vulnerable. However, when we stop meeting the vital conditions collectively, this task “falls on the households and especially on women”. Grandmothers, more and more exploited, and a new market mechanism, in which women sell their labor power, are the new ways to mitigate the lack of vital conditions.
The exciting political task
Yayo Herrero concluded her speech with an epic point, always needed to lift the mood after talking in depth about a harsh reality. “We have to find the strength to confront that minority that has decided to go ahead, even though it is to the detriment of the big majority of living beings on this planet” she said before encouraging the audience to “to unite in the most hard-working, passionate and radical way you can”.
If you missed the conference, you can relive it on the Youtube channel Dinamización Comunitaria de la UAB.