Why Planetary Justice?

2020 was humanity’s Annus Horribilis; the year opened with fierce bush fires in Australia, rapidly followed with a global pandemic that, at the time of writing, is still largely out of control, this in turn was followed by wild-fires in the USA.  These events occurred against a global backdrop of disasters – few on the planet were untouched by these forces of nature.

On December 20, 2019 I was putting the finishing touches to what was to become Planetary Justice when a bushfire near my home forced us to evacuate.  Practice had invaded my theory.  As my community recovered from the fire I noted that people instinctively gravitated to the sort of ideals that I had been reading and writing about.

 Although Planetary Justice is  a book of political philosophy targeted at the academic market; I believe it important that the book reaches a wider audience.  If there is one thing that Annus Horribilis did far more effectively than any work on political philosophy is to confirm to many that humanity is facing a stark choice: either we reinvent the way we conduct our politics or we will be the agents of our extinction.  

Climate scientists have been warning us that unless we address our CO2 emissions we will experience, on almost a yearly basis, unprecedented violent weather events.  Ecologists have been warning us that the reduction in global biodiversity exacerbates the risk of pandemics.  As early as 1971 the Club of Rome argued that we were living beyond our means and that we were heading for collapse.  Of course, there are those who argue that we have the technology to deal with these challenges.  I do not disagree.  However, when we find our politicians respond to Covid19 with promises to get us back to ‘normal’, we have start to ask questions; do we agree with Margaret Thatcher’s mantra ‘that there is no alternative’?  Or do we believe that we can do better? Planetary justice is about doing better without placing our ecosystem at risk.

My book is based on the premise that neoliberalism is leading humanity into an evolutionary cul-de-sac.  The evidence is overwhelming – without changing course we will be midwife of our own collapse.  The planet will go on, but we will not be part of that future.

I have started this blog because change can only happen if people start talking and thinking about alternative visions for the future.  Political philosophy addresses four questions that we need to ask.  The first concerns the question of ‘order’ or how do we ensure that people are dealt with fairly? The second may be described as orientation – this refers to the need to understand the nature of the world we inhabit – the natural world imposes constraints on what we can and cannot do – we need to solve the issue of fairness within those constraints.  The third role is closely related to this – it is reconciliation.  It refers to the fact that we need to focus on what we can change and be reconciled to the nature of the world we inhabit.  The fourth role is to develop a political philosophy that probes the limits of practical political possibility.  The aim is to develop a conception of planetary justice which addresses both sustainability and social justice.

©John Töns 16/09/2020