MOTHER EARTH AND WOMEN: REFLECTIONS ON GENDER ROLES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION THROUGH THE LENS OF ECOFEMINISM & ECO-SPIRITUALISM A CASE STUDY OF THE YELLOW YARN KAREN’S COMMUNITY IN UTHAI THANI PROVINCE

Abstract

This research article aims to 1) examine the relationship between gender roles, beliefs in Mother Earth, and environmental management within the Jaowat cult of the Yellow Yarn Pwo Karen in Uthai Thani Province, and 2) analyze women’s roles as symbolic and practical mediators between nature, spirituality, and social order through the lenses of ecofeminism and eco-spirituality. Employing an ethnographic approach, the study draws on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and ritual analysis conducted in Ban Phu Muen community, Huai Khot District. Twenty key informants, including spiritual leaders, ritual specialists, and community members across generations, participated in the research.  The findings reveal that the Jaowat belief system positions women, Mother Earth, and land as the core axis of its cosmology. Women function not merely as symbolic representations but as active agents governing ritual practices, agricultural cycles, and ecological balance. Complementary dualities—between Jaowat and Mae Ya, men and women, and the human and supernatural realms—operate as cultural mechanisms regulating resource use and sustaining ethnic identity. This study argues that Karen women’s spiritual-ecological knowledge constitutes a form of ecological authority that challenges state-centered development paradigms and contributes to a contextualized understanding of ecofeminism in Southeast Asia.