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Redefining who matters: institutionalising multi-species justice
In a time of environmental crisis and heightened social and political tension, a panel of SEI experts call for institutionalising justice for all species through key areas of innovation such as international laws on ecocide and the expansion of personhood beyond humans.
The idea of multi-species justice challenges fundamental understandings about who counts, to whom responsibility is owed and how societies ought to be organised in the face of environmental and climate crisis.听
To make a real difference, however, multi-species justice needs to be taken up in actual institutional and social transformation, particularly at a time where we are witnessing heightened social and political conflict as well as significant regressive moves in democracy and social justice across the world.听
This panel discussion will reflect on the challenges of institutionalising multi-species justice at a historical moment characterised by both a burning desire to bring about radical change and concerted efforts to wind change back. The speakers will consider key sites of innovation including international laws on ecocide, the expansion of personhood beyond the human, judicial interventions, and democratic experiments. We aspire to provoke a lively discussion about how to navigate a path between inspiring transformative ideals and challenging political realities.
This event was presented online on 22 June 2022.
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Speakers
Danielle Celermajer听is a Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney, and Deputy Director 鈥� Academic of the Sydney Environment Institute.听Her books include听Sins of the Nation and the Ritual of Apology听(Cambridge University Press 2009),听A Cultural Theory of Law in the Modern Age听(Bloomsbury, 2018), and听听(Cambridge University Press, 2018).听She听is Director of the Multispecies Justice Project and along with her multispecies community, she has recently lived through the NSW fires, writing in the face of their experience of the 鈥渒illing of everything鈥�, which she calls 鈥渙mnicide鈥�.听She is the Research Lead on听Concepts and Practices of Multispecies Justice.
David Schlosberg听is Professor of Environmental Politics in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, and Director of the Sydney Environment Institute. His work focuses on contemporary environmental and environmental justice movements, environment and everyday life, and climate adaptation planning and policy.听He is the author of听听(Oxford, 2007); co-author of听听(Oxford, 2013); and co-editor of both听听(Oxford 2011), and听听(Oxford 2016). His latest book,听,听was published by Oxford.听He is one of the Research Leads on听听,听,听,听听and听.
Christine Winter听is a Senior Lecturer in the Politics Program at the University of Otago Te Whare Wh膩nanga o 艑t膩kou and a research affiliate of the Sydney Environment Institute. Her research focuses on the ways in which justice theory perpetuates practices of domination, oppression and violence in the settler states broadly and specifically for M膩ori of Aotearoa New Zealand. Her key areas of interest are multispecies, environmental, intergenerational and climate justice.听
听was one of the founding members of the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University听and is a 2022 Visiting Fellow at the Sydney Environment Institute. She is the author of听Law, Fiction and Activism in a Time of Climate Change听(Routledge, 2019) and听Law, Climate Emergency and the Australian Megafires听(Routledge, 2021), and co-editor of听Law as if Earth Really Mattered:听the听Wild Law Judgment Project听(Routledge, 2017).听Law, Fiction and Activism in a Time of Climate Change听was shortlisted for the international 2020 Hart-SLSA book prize and the 2020听inaugural听Australian Legal Research Book Award.
听is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and the Development Studies in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and a 2022 Visiting Fellow at the Sydney Environment Institute. She works primarily on transnational social movements, with a particular interest in the global movement for the rights of nature in Ecuador, the United States, and Australia. Her recent ethnographic work has focused on the use of these rights in contexts of large-scale resource extraction.
Header image: Middle Fork, near North Bend, WA by Dave Hoefler via Unsplash.