The Subaltern Silence: An Eco-Feminist Analysis of the Global South's Fractured Voice in Climate Negotiations

Abstract

This paper addresses the persistent fragmentation of the Global South's collective voice within international climate negotiations. Transcending conventional state-centric analyses of competing national interests, this study employs a postcolonial eco-feminist framework to address the central research question: To what extent do internal patriarchal state structures in the Global South undermine the formation of a unified negotiating voice on climate change, and how does this manifest in the national climate policies of Pakistan and Nigeria? The central thesis advanced is that this disunity is a direct manifestation of entrenched patriarchal structures within states in the Global South. These structures grant preeminence to masculinist-coded objectives, such as industrial economic growth and national security, thereby systematically marginalizing the lived experiences and knowledge of the most climate-vulnerable populations, particularly women. Existing scholarship has largely examined the fragmentation of the Global South through the lenses of divergent material interests, North–South power asymmetries, or institutional weaknesses; however, it has rarely interrogated the gendered and patriarchal logics underpinning these divisions. By foregrounding this overlooked dimension, the paper addresses a critical gap in both climate diplomacy and feminist IR literature. Through a comparative analysis of Pakistan and Nigeria, this paper demonstrates that the silencing of these "subaltern" voices precludes the formation of an authentic, unified external position grounded in climate justice.