Women's Voices from the Rainforest

Book excerpt: Women's Voices from the Rainforest explores the position of the women whose families are tearing down the rainforest. These women of Central and Latin America have been largely invisible until now, but they are at last turning their voices into action. International development policy and its top-down culture must take much of the blame for environmental and social destruction of the rainforest. Presenting the contrasting results of different methodologies, a comprehensive literature review, and the voices of the rainforest women themselves, told in life histories, the authors argue for the adoption of "grassroots" strategies, not international solutions.