Women and Green Economy: Saving Future Planet or Embedded Gender Inequality?

Abstract

In the past decades, the idea of a green economy has arisen in response to environmental issues worldwide and institutionalized in the SDGs conception. The global pattern is that the green economy emerged from the grass-roots initiative, mainly driven by women. It is intriguing how the industry that could potentially save the future of the planet is driven by women who mostly face structural and cultural barriers in participating in the economic process. This paper is aimed to investigate the matters by focusing on under what condition the dominant actors of the green economy initiative in a female-dominated field. We pinpoint the reality of Surabaya's green economy as the primary case study. Surabaya, the capital city of East Java, Indonesia, is no different from the rest. The green economy initiative is most driven by grassroots in the form of small-medium enterprises, and it is a female-dominated field. Having employed the gender analysis in the process, we argue that the green economy is perceived as "less-economical," and the business model generates less income than the conventional. Thus, the dominant narrative is that women are suitable to participate since the wage earner is widely associated with masculinity and men. It potentially creates another layer of discrimination against women in general.