social justice – Justice Everywhere

Animals / General / International / Social justice

25 November, 2024

More Than a Name: Decolonising Wildlife

Anna’s Hummingbird hovering © Matt Perry

Vancouver’s official city bird is the small but charming Anna’s Hummingbird. This bird’s namesake was a 19^th Century Italian Duchess – Anna Masséna. These hummingbirds are not found in Europe, so the chances are Anna never even saw one in flight. And yet, the whole species unknowingly trills through the sky carrying her banner.

The colonial practice of giving birds eponyms (names after a particular person) was frequently used to uphold a person’s legacy, curry favour, or directly honour them. In North America alone, there are over 150 bird species with eponyms.^[1] They include the Stellar’s Jay, the Scott’s Oriole and the Townsend’s Warbler. And this practice is not reserved just for our feathered friends. Many mammals, reptiles and fish are named eponymously, too. The mammals include the Abert’s Squirrel, the Heaviside’s Dolphin, and the Schmidt’s Monkey.^[2]

This post provides a short case in support of renaming animals currently named eponymously. It defends two ideas that should inform the renaming process. First, renaming prevents the improper glorification of racist or colonial figures and so it is morally required to create a social environment necessary for human equality. Second, renaming as a process productively reorients us to each animals’ importance – independent of human history.

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Democracy / Governance / International / Social justice

7 October, 2024

by Sara Van Goozen

At last, justice for the Chagos Islanders?

Aerial photograph of the coconut plantation at East Point, Diego Garcia. Photograph shows strip of land between both ocean and lagoon, with the dilapidated plantation buildings sitting in a lawn surrounded by coconut trees. — Aerial photograph of an abandoned coconut plantation at East Point, Diego Garcia. See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Last week, the news that the UK has agreed to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius was widely reported. The agreement was denounced by many in the British press and political establishment – including by all current candidates for leadership of the Conservative Party. On the other hand, in other quarters the deal was greeted with cautious optimism. US President Joe Biden welcomed the agreement as a “clear demonstration that … countries can overcome longstanding historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes”. In a joint statement, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth called it “a seminal moment in our relationship and a demonstration of our enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the rule of law”.

Among Chagossians the feelings seem more mixed. Some see it as a step in the right direction, suggesting that Mauritius is more likely to put resettlement plans in place. Others, however, have criticised the fact that, even in a decision like this, Chagossians have been systemically excluded from the discussion. One group representing Chagossians in the UK, Mauritius and the Seychelles claimed that “Chagossians have learned this outcome [of the negotiations] from the media and remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland”. Others, speaking to the BBC, expressed frustration that, once again, decisions about their future were made without their input.

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Animals / Climate / Distribution / Environment / General / Social justice

19 August, 2024

by admin

From the Vault: Nature, Animals, and the Environment

While Justice Everywhere takes a short break over the summer, we recall some of the highlights from our 2023-24 season.

Student climate strike in Melbourne, Australia (2021). John Englart from Fawkner, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here are a few highlights from this year’s posts on issues relating to nature, the environment, and animals:

In an important intervention, guest author Griffin Kiegiel argues that we need to pay to an underappreciated aspect of conscious AI: it’s massive environmental impacts.
Matthew Perry discussed the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, and highlighted ways in which we can build on it.
A recent agreement between Australia and Tuvalu, aimed at helping Tuvalu deal with the ravages of climate change, has been cautiously hailed as progress. However, Virginia De Biasio argues that it actually perpetuates climate injustice.
Angie Pepper discussed the Grand National and the extent to which we share responsibility for harm befalling horses.
In another incisive post, Peter Dietsch argues that modern debates about climate justice and debates about social justice should be integrated.
Finally, 5 years after Extinction Rebellion was formally launched outside the UK Parliament, Costanza Porro asked, ‘What is next for the environmental movement in the UK?‘

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Stay tuned for even more on this topic in our 2024-25 season!

Justice Everywhere will return in full swing in September with fresh weekly posts by our cooperative of regular authors (published on Mondays), in addition to our Journal of Applied Philosophy series and other special series (published on Thursdays). If you would like to contribute a guest post on a topical justice-based issue (broadly construed), please feel free to get in touch with us at justice.everywhere.blog@gmail.com.

Animals / Economics / General / Social justice / Work

12 August, 2024

by admin

From the Vault: The Journal of Applied Philosophy

While Justice Everywhere takes a short break over the summer, we recall some of the highlights from our 2023-24 season.

The cover page of a recent edition of Journal of Applied Philosophy. (c) Wiley 2024

Here are a few highlights from this year’s posts published in collaboration with the Journal of Applied Philosophy:

In the first Journal of Applied Philosophy post, Suzy Killmister discusses what, if anything, members of oppressed groups can do to counter oppression.
We also featured a post by David Benatar, on what he refers to as the “paradox of desert”.
Caleb Althorpe and Elizabeth Finneron-Burns ask, Would a post-work future really be a good thing?
In a thought-provoking piece, Nico Müller and Friderike Spang, argued that violent animal activism may be impermissible even when we grant that animals have rights.
In another very popular post, Rubén Marciel and Pablo Magaña discussed how the animal industry undermines consumers’ autonomy in a number of different ways.
Finally, Katharina Berndt Rasmussen discussed her article (co-authored with Nicolas Olsson Yaouzis) exploring the roles that implicit bias and social norms play in discriminating hiring practices.

Stay tuned for even more on this topic in our 2024-25 season!

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Justice Everywhere will return in full swing in September with fresh weekly posts by our cooperative of regular authors (published on Mondays), in addition to our Journal of Applied Philosophy series and other special series (published on Thursdays). If you would like to contribute a guest post on a topical justice-based issue (broadly construed), please feel free to get in touch with us at justice.everywhere.blog@gmail.com.

Democracy / Distribution / Economics / General / Governance / Punishment / Social justice

5 August, 2024

by admin

From the Vault: Justice, Democracy, and Society

While Justice Everywhere takes a short break over the summer, we recall some of the highlights from our 2023-24 season.

A person casts a vote during the 2007 French presidential election. Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons

Here are a few highlights from this year’s writing on a wide range of issues relating to justice, society and democratic systems:

For our ongoing “Beyond the Ivory Tower” series, Leonie Smith spoke to Lisa Guenther about her work with incarcerated people and what we can learn from her experiences for developing a more just approach to criminal justice.
Julia Hermann discussed her cutting-edge work on so-called artificial womb technologies and some of the social implications of this technology.
Peter Dietsch also discussed some of his recent work, in this case on how to think about the oft-repeated claim that modern Western society is “too individualistic”.
In a much shared guest-post, Marc Sanjaume-Calvet (Universitat Pompeu-Fabra) argues that “Defensive Federalism” can effectively protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority.
In another fascinating guest-post, Emma Holmes (St Andrews/Stirling) discusses Kate Manne’s recent discussion of food deserts, and urges us to focus on some of the important underlying dynamics.
Finally, Diana Popescu-Sarry argues that policymakers should pay attention to “post-truth” believers.

Stay tuned for even more on this topic in our 2024-25 season!

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Justice Everywhere will return in full swing in September with fresh weekly posts by our cooperative of regular authors (published on Mondays), in addition to our Journal of Applied Philosophy series and other special series (published on Thursdays). If you would like to contribute a guest post on a topical justice-based issue (broadly construed), please feel free to get in touch with us at justice.everywhere.blog@gmail.com.

Distribution / General / Health / Social justice

13 May, 2024

by admin

What is the real problem with food deserts?

“Hispanic Sodas Sabor Tropical Supermarket Miami” by Phillip Pessar is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

This is a guest post by Emma Holmes (University of St Andrews/University of Stirling)

Why do some people choose to eat unhealthy food? Earlier this year, Kate Manne – Cornell philosopher and author of several books about misogyny – published Unshrinking, a fascinating and compelling critique of fatphobia. Throughout, she argues against moralising our food choices. There is nothing immoral about wanting to eat greasy, salty, delicious, processed food, says Manne. I agree – but I think she misses something. People’s food preferences are not just random – some people prefer to eat unhealthy foods because their desires have been shaped by an unjust system.

I’ll focus on Manne’s discussion of food deserts to make this point. A so-called ‘food desert’ is a place where there is nowhere nearby or affordable to access healthy food. The term ‘desert’ makes it sound as if this problem is naturally occurring, which it is not – food deserts are the result of urban planning decisions and they disproportionately affect poor people and people of colour. I argue that people who live in food deserts are done an injustice because they are influenced to prefer foods which are bad for their health.

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Children / Democracy / Rights

15 April, 2019

by Nicolás Brando

Why Should Children Have the Right to Vote?

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. (C) www.kremlin.ru

The debate on lowering the age of enfranchisement has become a hot topic during the last couple of decades. Countries like Argentina, Austria, Brazil or Scotland, for example, have lowered their voting age to 16. Many others, such as Estonia, Malta or some German Landen, have lowered it for local elections. Arguing for the need to enfranchise 16- and 17-years old seems like a very reasonable claim. Recent research on adolescent brain development has shown that a 16-year-old has the same abilities for cold cognition as any adult. Thus, adolescents are equally equipped to make an informed choice when voting. Why, then, would it be justified to limit their rights as political citizens just because of their age?

I think few would disagree with the arguments in favour of a 16-year-old’s right to vote. But what if we go a bit further, and were to abolish age-thresholds for enfranchisement altogether? Is it such an absurd idea to claim that a 6-year-old should be allowed to vote, as David Runciman argues? What reasons do we have to justify her exclusion? And, what are the reasons for claiming that she should have this right ensured? (more…)

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