Ecological Justice

Encyclopedia of Geography Ecological Justice

Contributors: Jason Byrne Editors: Barney Warf Book Title: Encyclopedia of Geography Chapter Title: "Ecological Justice" Pub. Date: 2010 Access Date: October 22, 2015 Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc. City: Thousand Oaks Print ISBN: 9781412956970 Online ISBN: 9781412939591 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939591.n317 Print pages: 831-833 ©2010 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939591.n317 Conceptions of justice typically address notions of what is right and what is fair. Ecological justice addresses how humans relate with nonhuman species and the natural world. Sometimes called justice to nature, it seeks to delineate human's moral obligations to other species. This entry considers definitions, concepts, and issues central to ecological justice, which is different from environmental justice. The latter term refers to social justice environmentalism. Commentators attribute the term ecological justice to geographers Nicholas Low and Brendan Gleeson, but its scholarly antecedents date as far back as the mid 20th century, to Aldo Leopold's “land ethic” and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which sought to extend ethical behavior to biotic communities. As a research perspective, ecological justice recognizes that nature has intrinsic value and acknowledges the interconnections and mutual interdependence of all species. Proponents seek to expand the domain of “moral considerability” beyond humans to encompass animals, plants, and even inanimate objects such as rocks, rivers, and oceans. There are several bases of ecological justice. Religious grounds often posit humans as custodians of the natural world and are founded on humans’ moral responsibility to other species, stemming from supernatural entities (God, Buddha, Allah, Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime beings, etc.). Instrumental grounds see current and future generations of humans as reliant on the natural world for their needs (e.g., food, medicine, and clothing). Without these species, humans may suffer extinction. More recently, some commentators have argued that humans have a kinship with nonhuman species, as fellow animals and “ecological citizens,” and are thus morally obliged to care for other species. In short, ecological justice seeks to reposition humans’ relationship with nature and to establish moral obligations to nonhuman entities.

Key Thinkers There are too many key thinkers in this field to discuss in detail here. Some key contributions are outlined below, but others also merit attention [p. 831 ↓ ] (including those of J. Baird Callicott, Tom Regan, Ted Benton, and James Lovelock).

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Peter Singer: Animal Rights Perhaps best known for his book Animal Liberation, Singer argues for extending the notion of rights to animals, with some limits. He argues that many animals can feel pain, manipulate the world around them, have cultural expression, and develop deep familial bonds, thus making them worthy of ethical consideration. But Singer dismisses the notion of sentience (intelligence) as a test for moral considerability, arguing that very young humans or mentally disabled individuals may have lower intelligence levels than do many mammals.

Christopher Stone: Do Trees have Standing? Stone sought to challenge long-standing notions of legal inclusivity, expanding the community of legal right to include trees and inanimate objects. He proposed a system of legal rights for nature. Tried in U.S. courts, his propositions failed the test of jurisprudence but paved the way for legal recognitions of nonhuman species.

Roderick Nash and Luc Ferry: Rights of Nature Roderick Nash traced the foundations of “natural rights,” exploring the philosophical and religious foundations of Western humanism. Together with philosophers such as Luc Ferry, Nash has researched how the Cartesian divide between humans and animals developed (i.e., a worldview that separates nature from culture) and how various religious and philosophical traditions have allowed for the development of ecological ethics (e.g., the animal trails of the Middle Ages). Ferry and Nash have challenged some ideas within the deep-ecology movement as being potentially fascist (e.g., what is natural, and place-based ecological connections that determine who and what belong where). Page 4 of 8

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Arne Næss: Deep Ecology Moving beyond Singer, Arne Nœss has proposed a doctrine of equal rights of nature, espousing that all living entities are inherently valuable. Deep-ecology proponents hold nature to be sacrosanct and seek to protect “pristine nature” from human-induced harm by cultivating ethical, spiritual, and emotional identification with nature. But the ecocentric ethics of deep ecologists have been criticized for rendering the idea of rights meaningless, for not paying enough attention to social inequalities, for essentializing nature (ignoring the inherent differences between humans and nonhuman life forms), and for risking social Darwinism (i.e., naturalizing famine or legitimizing paternalism).

Val Plumwood: Ecofeminism The late Val Plumwood strove to develop a feminist basis for ecological justice. She and other ecofeminists have sought to understand and undo structures of domination and oppression (e.g., class, patriarchy, racism, and speciesism) within the broader goal of theorizing how humans relate to nature and how in turn these relationships shape various power relations. They particularly challenge the association of women and nature—and women's supposedly closer affinity to nature, defined by their “natural” reproductive capacities. This thinking they term mutual inferiorization. The ecofeminist project is framed around the liberation of the other (including both women and nature) from masculine, rationalist oppression.

Geographers’ Contributions Within geography, ecological justice proponents include ecosocialists, ecofeminists, human ecologists, and animal geographers. Two areas merit closer attention—animal geography and political ecology.

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Animal Geographies Geographers such as Jennifer Wolch have over the past decade radically redefined the field of human geography to encompass the study of animals and nonhuman nature. Sarah Whatmore, Jennifer Wolch, and Bruce Braun—among others—have sought to create a “more than [p. 832 ↓ ] human” geography, studying for instance how humans are already “hybridized” with nature (e.g., cities are socionatural entities), how humananimal relations have shaped spaces and places (e.g., how ideologically charged animal representations are used to construct ethnoracial identities), and how linkages between ideas about animals and racism, sexism, colonialism, and nationalism have configured cultural practices and power relations. Animal geography has often entailed reconceptualizing animals as what Sarah Whatmore has called strange people, showing how animals possess agency and subjectivity and are worthy of moral consideration and ethical treatment.

Political Ecology Recognizing the interconnections between environmental degradation and socioeconomic exploitation, political ecologists have shown how the workings of capitalism (re)produce large-scale human and animal suffering and environmental harm. The political ecology perspective has cast light on how nature is distributed within cities; how cities function as metabolic entities and as habitats for myriad species; how capitalism “produces” nature—differentially shaping access to nature and determining who and what lives and dies; and how habitat destruction is linked with consumptive lifestyles (e.g., lawn chemicals and groundwater pollution). Understanding political and economic processes and institutions reveals impediments to the flourishing of humans and nonhuman nature. Animal geographers and political ecologists have not only broadened our understanding of nature-society relations but also sketched out research agendas that place ecological justice as a subject of inquiry and goal of action-oriented research. JasonByrne Page 6 of 8

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http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939591.n317 See also • • • • • • • • • • • •

Animal Geographies Deep Ecology Movements Ecofeminism Environmental Ethics Environmental Justice Feminist Political Ecology Justice, Geography of Nature-Society Theory Political Ecology Political Economy of Resources Social Justice Sustainability Science

Further Readings Baxter, B. (2004). A theory of ecological justice. London: Routledge. Benton, T. (2008). Environmental values and human purposes . Environmental Ethics , 17201–220. Braun, B. (2005). Environmental issues: Writing a more-than-human urban geography . Progress in Human Geography , 29635–650. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1191/0309132505ph574pr Castree, N. (2003). Commodifying what nature? Progress in Human Geography , 27273–297. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/0309132503ph428oa Foster, J. B. (2002). Ecology against capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press. Low, N., & Gleeson, B. (1998). Justice, society and nature. London: Routledge. Nash, R. F. (1989). The rights of nature. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Plumwood, V. (1994). Feminism and the mastery of nature. London: Routledge. Page 7 of 8

Encyclopedia of Geography: Ecological Justice

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Robbins, P., Polderman, A., & Birkenholtz, T. (2001). Lawns and toxins: An ecology of the city . Cities , 18369–380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0264-2751%2801%2900029-4 Wolch, J. (2002). Anima urbis . Progress in Human Geography , 26721–742. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1191/0309132502ph400oa Wolch, J. (2007). Green urban worlds. Annals of the Association of American Geographers , 97373–384. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2007.00543.x

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Encyclopedia of Geography: Ecological Justice