The Ecological Citizen: Confronting human supremacy
HOME | ABOUT | SIGN UP FOR EMAILS
Long article
Ecologies of oppression: Fraying the fabric of justice
The Ecological Citizen Vol 9 No 2 2026: epub-160-1 to 7
Share via browser:
|
|
ACCESS PDF OF ARTICLEFirst published: 19 April 2026 | PERMANENT URL | DOWNLOAD CITATION IN RIS FORMAT
Abstract
As ecological and social crises deepen, the concept of justice demands deeper reflection. This article argues that justice is not a human-made institution or moral ideal but an ontological condition: the integrity of relationships that sustain existence. When these relationships are systematically and deliberately broken, oppression emerges, affecting not just humans but the entire web of life on Earth. Three case studies drawn from the US – the Flint water crisis, the resistance at Standing Rock, and the fragmentation of transboundary corridors in the Northern Rockies – illustrate how governance, resource extraction and neglect weaken relational harmony. Seeing justice as the natural order of relationships shifts ethical responsibility: our role is not to create justice but to recognize and honour it, living as one thread in the larger fabric of existence.
Keywords
