Indigenous and traditional communities’ ways of knowing and being in planetary justice

Abstract

This article contributes to the recent discussion on planetary justice by analyzing two environmental justice struggles around mining projects that impact indigenous peoples and traditional communities in Brazil and South Africa. Though locally based, these ecological distribution conflicts are connected to global chains, impacting the whole planet. We focus on peoples’ demands and to what extent their ways of knowing and being were considered in public consultation and litigation. Moreover, we reflect on what we can learn from these struggles. Our argument goes beyond distributive or procedural justice claims as these peoples are resisting the ontological erasure of their worlds, demanding to be consulted and participate in their own terms. These cases teach us that a deeper understanding of planetary justice entails diverse considerations of time, space, and the relations between human and non-humans. Assessing these struggles offer concrete ways to reimagine just relations, for many worlds in one planet.