Will We Care When Myths Die Too?: Irish Mythology and Feminist Environmentalism
Location
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114
Event Website
https://2026undergraduateresearchsy.sched.com/event/2Ix8M/will-we-care-when-myths-die-too-irish-mythology-and-feminist-environmentalism
Start Date
15-4-2026 3:30 PM
End Date
15-4-2026 4:00 PM
Description
This project examines how Irish folklore offers a cultural model for ecological policy that challenges dominant Euro-Western Platonic approaches to the environmental crisis. Drawing on Val Plumwood’s ecofeminist theory, I argue that environmental exploitation in the United States is not caused by a lack of knowledge, but by a lack of cultural frameworks that encourage ethical care for the natural world. In contrast, Irish folklore presents nature as autonomous and morally significant, fostering a long-standing cultural respect for the environment.
Situating this work within ecofeminist philosophy, environmental humanities, and folklore studies, my project complicates Plumwood’s critique of localized or cultural approaches by demonstrating how folklore operates as an accessible, community-based medium for ecological ethics. Through close readings of Irish fairy tales such as “Frank Martin and the Fairies,” I demonstrate how fear, retaliation, and moral judgment function as tools that enforce environmental responsibility and resist instrumentalization of nature.
My central argument is that Irish folklore models a counterculture in which nature is not a passive resource but an active participant in moral and social life. Ultimately, this project argues that addressing the ecological crisis in the United States requires interdisciplinary approaches that integrate the humanities, culture, and storytelling to foster meaningful public engagement and care for the environment.
Publication Date
2026
Will We Care When Myths Die Too?: Irish Mythology and Feminist Environmentalism
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114
This project examines how Irish folklore offers a cultural model for ecological policy that challenges dominant Euro-Western Platonic approaches to the environmental crisis. Drawing on Val Plumwood’s ecofeminist theory, I argue that environmental exploitation in the United States is not caused by a lack of knowledge, but by a lack of cultural frameworks that encourage ethical care for the natural world. In contrast, Irish folklore presents nature as autonomous and morally significant, fostering a long-standing cultural respect for the environment.
Situating this work within ecofeminist philosophy, environmental humanities, and folklore studies, my project complicates Plumwood’s critique of localized or cultural approaches by demonstrating how folklore operates as an accessible, community-based medium for ecological ethics. Through close readings of Irish fairy tales such as “Frank Martin and the Fairies,” I demonstrate how fear, retaliation, and moral judgment function as tools that enforce environmental responsibility and resist instrumentalization of nature.
My central argument is that Irish folklore models a counterculture in which nature is not a passive resource but an active participant in moral and social life. Ultimately, this project argues that addressing the ecological crisis in the United States requires interdisciplinary approaches that integrate the humanities, culture, and storytelling to foster meaningful public engagement and care for the environment.
https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/urs_event/2026/oralpresentations/18