"The deepest crises experienced by any society are those moments of change when the story becomes inadequate for meeting the survival demands of the present situation.” - Thomas Berry
We are living through multiple, intertwined crises - from climate change and biodiversity loss to gross inequality. Thomas Berry believed the roots of these crises lie, ultimately, in a crisis of our imagination; in the story we tell ourselves about who we are and our place in the world. This is perhaps why, for many, it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of the industrial growth economy.
As a cultural historian, Thomas reminded us that civilisations which grow rapidly by destroying their life support system, collapse rapidly too. As a philosopher, he proposed that we transform from a human-centred to an Earth-centred way of seeing and being in the world; from breaking to complying with the inherent, living laws and limits of life on our planet. This is what he called Earth Jurisprudence.
Earth Jurisprudence is the guiding principle of a new story that is also very ancient. It is a story in which we are invited to remember and re-establish a mutually-enhancing relationship with our living world. As we stand at a crossroads unprecedented in human history, below we explore the principles of Earth Jurisprudence, where they came from and why they are crucial for our future, illustrated by examples of African leaders putting Earth Jurisprudence into practice with their communities and landscapes.
WHAT IS EARTH JURISPRUDENCE?
Jurisprudence is the legal philosophy that underpins constitutions and laws. It defines how we live and govern our lives in their totality, according to deep beliefs about who we are.
An Industrial Era Idea
The present international legal system is, in large part, based on a jurisprudence developed during the industrial era to serve colonists, industrialists and corporations.
This western jurisprudence is anthropocentric, considering humans to be separate from and superior to Nature, which is simply something we can use or abuse without consequence. As a result, the laws stemming from it have been used to legitimise Nature's destruction.
Thomas observed that when human societies come to see the lands and waters that sustain them as a collection of dead resources, rather than as living ecosystems, they begin over-exploiting and undermining their own source of life.
Life Sustaining Systems
Earth Jurisprudence is a life-sustaining philosophy of law. It recognises that we are born into a lawful universe, of which our planet is a part, and that human law needs to be derived from the Earth's laws if we are to live in harmony with our home. This jurisprudence considers humans an inextricable part of Nature.
Earth Jurisprudence is the guiding principle underpinning Indigenous customary governance systems, cultural traditions and cosmovisions that have sustained communities for millennia. Thomas saw this philosophy as a transformational force for industrial societies, describing the shift as:
“The transformation of the western industrial institutions of religion, education, governance and politics from anthropocentric preoccupation to an Earth-centred understanding of our role and responsibilities as humans, embedded in the larger Earth community.”
Over the past two decades, Earth Jurisprudence has inspired a cascade of innovative legal provisions at local, national and international level - a recent UN report describes it as “the fastest growing legal movement of the twenty-first century”.
Rooted in the ancient understanding that any activity undermining the wellbeing of the Earth ultimately undermines us, Thomas emphasises that every being has an inherent right to exist, to flourish and to participate in evolution. Earth Jurisprudence has stimulated the development of movements around Rights of Nature and Ecocide, which build on these ideas by holding individuals and corporations responsible for the co-violation of Nature and human rights.
Principles of Earth Jurisprudence
Wholeness – Earth is a single, interconnected community. The well-being of each member of the Earth community is dependent on the well-being of Earth.
Lawfulness – The universe is lawful and ordered. Earth is the primary giver of law, human law is a derivative.
Duty of Care – Humans have responsibilities to care for all members of the Earth community and maintain Earth's health for future generations.
Rights of Earth – Earth is a living being with intrinsic value. Every constituent of the Earth community has three rights: the right to be, the right to habitat, and the right to fulfil its role in Earth's ever-renewing processes.
Mutual Enhancement – Relationships within the Earth community are reciprocal. Life is a cycle of giving and receiving.
Resilience – The inherent quality of all healthy living systems is to grow, evolve and adapt to change and disturbance, without losing their coherence.
Where does Earth Jurisprudence come from?
Thomas was clear that Earth Jurisprudence, whilst a new term, is not a new philosophy or practice. He pointed towards two sources of inspiration - Mother Earth and Indigenous Peoples. For most of human history we have understood that we are born into a lawful, self-regulating and living system variously called Earth, Pachamama, Gaia. Earth Jurisprudence is a recognition of this fact.
Mother Earth
Nature was described by Thomas as the 'primary text' - the ultimate source of the laws by which human societies should govern themselves. Our planet is, as Thomas said, "a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects". These subjects - plants, animals, water, soil, minerals - exist in a dynamic relationship to one another, within a living, self regulating system.
New advances in science and quantum theory are increasingly showing us that life itself is an emergent property of Earth - of the planet as a whole, rather than constituents of the biosphere alone. As described in Gaia Theory, the relationships between cells, individuals, species and ecosystems are 'homeostatic', meaning that, through natural communications and feedback loops, they work to produce conditions in which life on Earth can thrive.
When the laws and processes by which the complex, beautiful Earth system regulates herself are observed, our planet produces the conditions that allow the community of life, including human beings, to flourish. When a million, interconnected ecosystems and the links between them are fractured, our planet tips towards conditions - destabilised temperatures, storm surges, fire or drought - that are antithetical to much of life as we know it, and certainly to human communities.
Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Peoples who organise themselves according to these fundamental ecological laws still demonstrate a deep-rooted relationship with Earth, despite the industrial onslaught. Thanks to them, we can see the potential for humans to thrive whilst maintaining the dynamic equilibrium upon which the wellbeing of all depends.
“We hold the memory of what it means to be human… I think people should pay close attention to this. Even if we had all the white people’s technology and money, we would be worth nothing if we did not hold the memory of the creation of the world.” - Ailton Krenak, Indigenous leader from Brazil
Indigenous Peoples' multi-generational engagement with the places they live forms the foundation of the ways they govern their lives, connecting and sustaining cultural and ecological diversity. They have developed sophisticated ways of ensuring each generation understands the lawfulness of the world they are born into, through shared stories of origin, art forms like painting and oral histories. Earth’s gift of many diverse ecosystems is reciprocated by our diverse cultural adaptation to them.
As citizens of the industrialised world self-examine and try to transform their own communities, it is essential to stand in solidarity with those non-industrial societies who have long been aware that Earth’s laws are being consistently broken, leading to dire consequences for life itself.
Why is Earth Jurisprudence important now?
The fabric of life on Earth is unravelling. Across our planet, the lives of humans and other species are being displaced or lost to increasing climate chaos and ecological breakdown, while corporate greenwashing, right-wing politics, inequity and conflicts escalate. Over a million species are in imminent danger of disappearing completely; known as the sixth mass extinction, this rapid decline in diversity is the direct result of exponential growth and globalisation by the industrial economy. It will take our Earth millions of years to recover from such a profound undermining of her life support system. At a critical time, Earth Jurisprudence offers us a powerful medicine.
The Unravelling
The harmful gasses we continue to emit are destabilising Earth's climate. Our simultaneous destruction of Nature undermines Earth's ability to re-balance herself, leading us towards tipping points from which there will be no return.
The undoing of our life support system is an inevitable consequence of systematically taking more than Nature can replenish, of poisoning her waters, of digging up what was buried, of manufacturing waste that cannot be re-integrated.
“The industrial process is now in its terminal phase. This is the inevitable consequence of civilisations that destroy their life support system. The difference now is that the dominant civilisation has colonised the farthest reaches of the Earth.” - Thomas Berry
The Reweaving
In response, courageous new movements are emerging. Extinction Rebellion and Schools Strike for Climate are spreading across continents, and from Uganda to New Zealand movements are fighting for recognition of the inherent rights of Nature.
As young leader Greta Thunberg has said – with the passion of the generation whose future the industrial growth economy continues to threaten – we need to listen to the Earth as well as to the scientists and Indigenous knowledge holders informing us of Earth’s ailments.
What is healing, regenerative, pragmatic and realistic for Earth, not for human-centred politics or economics, must be our ultimate guide to what we do next. An Earth-centred perspective enables us to play our part in restoring life-sustaining ways of living, as elder Joanna Macy inspires us.
EXAMPLES OF Earth Jurisprudence in practice
The Gaia Foundation runs a unique, UN-recognised course for African leaders who are reviving Indigenous lifeways. Graduates join the African Earth Jurisprudence Collective and three animations explore their work with communities to revive landscapes, food sovereignty and customary governance across Uganda, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
These are grounded examples of Earth Jurisprudence in practice: testament to the fact that alternatives to our dominant industrial growth economy already exist. That the damages suffered since colonisation can be healed.
Custodians of Life
Dennis Tabaro shares his own story of transformation, from accountant to Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner, as well as how the Indigenous Bagungu People in Buliisa, Uganda, are restoring their sacred natural sites, respect for custodians and clan governance systems in the shadow of oil extraction.
Grains of Hope
Method Gundidza narrates the story of five communities in Bikita, Zimbabwe, who have transformed their food and farming system, as well as their relationship with the wild, by reviving indigenous varieties of millet - their most sacred crop.
Land of Bees
In Kenya, Simon Mitambo tells of the Tharakan people turning a tide of cultural and ecological loss by reviving their traditions, including brewing honey beer for sacred rituals.
how can we make earth jurisprudence our own reality?
When hope is in short supply, delving back into the long evolutionary story in which we are embedded can sustain and guide us.
Nurture our Relationship with Nature
To comply with Earth’s laws, we must know them. This requires us to relearn eco-literacy after generations of disconnection from nature. Nurturing a new relationship with Nature might mean planting a window box, sitting with a tree in a park, observing the cycles of the moon, or more elaborate, wild ways, depending on our circumstances. This practice roots us in the reality of being one cell within the body of our Earth.
When we see life from an Earth-centred perspective, as Thomas did and Indigenous Peoples do, we are compelled to take responsibility - not only for personally prioritising the web of life around us, but also for collectively re-shaping the institutions we encounter. The courageous communities featured above prove that it is possible. Their work is an inspiration for us all to ask: What could we do?
“(We need) the voices of those who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society to other ways of being.” – Ursula K Le Guin
Stand in Solidarity
Embracing Earth Jurisprudence means continually decolonising our minds from the destructive stories we are fed daily by corporate powers and political interests through the media and marketing. Staying conscious can hold us steady in turbulent times, bring clarity in the midst of confusion, and build bridges between species, races, religions and generations. From crisis to kinship.
Thomas believed that our true human potential lies in salvaging our greater ecological selves. This moment of polycrisis calls on us to become more fully human by standing in solidarity with each other as part of the larger Earth community.
“Peace is the result of this recognition of the Earth and the common sense of togetherness that she creates among us all. THROUGH changING our thinking, we can recover a mutually enhancing relationship with the wider Earth community.” – Thomas Berry
THANK YOU
Our thanks to poet and Earth justice advocate Nnimmo Bassey, Earth Jurisprudence practitioners Simon Mitambo, Method Gundidza and Dennis Tabaro, animator Tim Hawkins, and you for reading this deeply.
The African Earth Jurisprudence Collective is comprised of dedicated Earth Jurisprudence Practitioners from across east, west, central and southern Africa.
For several years, they have been accompanying communities on a journey of revival, using holistic methodologies such as elder-centred community dialogues and eco-cultural mapping, learnt from Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon.
As a thinker, a poet and an advocate for the planet, Thomas Berry was an inspiration to many people who are now making huge contributions to the 'Great Work' of shifting humanity back into a mutual-enhancing relationship with the world.
"Thomas helped me to examine the world critically, but without letting go of the mystery, and the wonder, that is an essential component of life on Earth. His thoughts and words inspire me every day." – Roger Chennels, human rights lawyer, South Africa