Ecological justice in rural reconfiguration processes: Case study of neo-rurals in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

This article deals with the renewal of urban-rural relationship based on references to ecological justice. We analyse, from the perspective of the justification theory, collective actions, conflicts and innovations around three back-to-the-land cases (the "Demetria" rural district, the Cooperative of Agroecological Famers - "Cooperacra" and the "Milton Santos" rural settlement) in São Paulo state. The desire to live in rural areas or to develop organic farming sheds new light on rurality and on the role of agriculture, closely linked to the debate on sustainable development. The justification theory leads us to identify the principles of justice used by our interlocutors in order to legitimize their actions. Our hypothesis is that an ecological justice emerges, with sometimes undefined contours, and is thus permeable to other sets of normative principles of justice. Therefore, the arguments can be replaced in the context of other types of justification called on by the actors, allowing distinguishing the case of Demetria from those of Cooperacra and the Milton Santos rural settlement.