Omar Dahbour, "Ecosovereignty: A Political Principle for the Environmental Crisis" (Routledge, 2024)
Mar 1, 2025
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Omar Dahbour, a professor of philosophy at Hunter College, dives into the urgent concept of ecosovereignty as a response to today's environmental crisis. He challenges traditional political theories, arguing they fall short in tackling issues like climate change and extractivism. Dahbour advocates for a rethinking of sovereignty, emphasizing the rights of communities to protect their environments. He discusses the importance of integrating local governance, food sovereignty, and the intersection of ecological justice with self-determination, aiming for a sustainable future for all.
Traditional political frameworks are inadequate for addressing the environmental crisis, necessitating a reconstruction of conceptual tools for effective discourse.
Extractivism serves as a central concern in ecological degradation, highlighting the need for sustainable resource management and addressing historical exploitation practices.
The principle of eco-sovereignty empowers communities to govern their natural resources, promoting ecological justice and challenging traditional notions of state sovereignty.
Deep dives
Challenges of Traditional Political Philosophy in Addressing Environmental Issues
Traditional social and political theories often struggle to adequately address the complexities of the environmental crisis. The existing vocabulary, rooted in nation-states and jurisdictional boundaries, is insufficient for problems that transcend these constructs. This limitation is particularly evident in how political philosophy tends to overlook extractivism—the practice of exploiting natural resources—which lies at the heart of ecological degradation. An urgent need arises to reassess and reconstruct our conceptual frameworks to effectively engage with contemporary environmental challenges.
The Concept of Extractivism and Its Consequences
Extractivism refers to the large-scale extraction of natural resources and the exploitation of ecosystems for human consumption, often leading to significant ecological harm. While this practice dates back centuries, the Industrial Revolution marked a transition to an unsustainable level of resource consumption, resulting in dire consequences such as climate change and biodiversity loss. The author highlights how current economic paradigms neglect the finite nature of ecological resources, framing sustainability and conservation as secondary concerns. Understanding extractivism as a central issue provides a foundation for developing strategies to combat ecological exploitation.
Food Sovereignty and Place-Based Rights Movements
Food sovereignty and place-based rights represent crucial movements that challenge the dominant narratives of global agricultural practices and resource management. The food sovereignty movement emerged in response to the inadequacies of the Green Revolution, which increased food production but failed to alleviate hunger for millions. Activists argue for the right of communities to determine their own agricultural practices, focusing on sustainable methods that support local economies and ecological integrity. Parallelly, place-based rights, particularly among indigenous populations, emphasize the need to protect territorial claims and environmental stewardship against external pressures from corporations and state interests.
The Principle of Eco-Sovereignty
The principle of eco-sovereignty posits that communities have ultimate authority over their natural environments and should dictate the use of resources within their territories. This concept challenges traditional views of sovereignty that align it exclusively with state power, arguing instead for a more nuanced understanding that includes sub-state actors like indigenous groups and local collectives. Such a framework allows for the sustainable management of ecosystems and supports efforts toward environmental conservation. By recognizing the rights of communities to govern their resources, eco-sovereignty aims to promote ecological justice and balance against extractive practices.
Towards a New Conception of Environmental Justice
The discourse on environmental justice is evolving to address the injustices rooted in the initial acts of ecological extraction rather than merely focusing on the downstream impacts of pollution and resource distribution. Recent discussions propose the concept of ecological equity, emphasizing fair and equitable use of environments and sustainability practices. This perspective challenges conventional views on justice that prioritize economic transactions over the intrinsic value of natural ecosystems. It advocates for a shift in philosophical and practical discussions related to justice, urging a reevaluation of how resources are allocated and managed in alignment with ecological integrity.
Part of what makes the challenges that collectively are called the “environmental crisis” so difficult is that the vocabulary we deploy in thinking and discussing the issues emerged under social conditions that are far removed from our present. The familiar idiom of nation states, borders, jurisdiction, and so on seems inadequate for addressing a crisis that concerns global conditions. It’s plausible to think that a cogent response to the environmental crisis will require a reconstruction of the conceptual tools of social and political theory.
In his new book, Ecosovereignty: A Political Principle for the Environmental Crisis (Routledge 2024), Omar Dahbour develops new understandings of the concepts of sovereignty, territory, peoplehood, and self-determination, all with a view toward building a case for the principle according to which peoples have a right to protect and maintain their natural environments.