Congress theme

The Latin American and Caribbean region is characterized by widespread inequalities across societies and territories. These inequalities are rooted in deeply ingrained mechanisms of domination based on class, race, gender, and territory. Demands for greater justice mobilize powerful social movements that draw on rich traditions of Latin American thought. These movements challenge institutions and political systems, sparking debates and conflicts that can lead to practical experiences and progressive or radical reforms. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the development of political ecology approaches has enriched the meaning of justice by shedding light on the multiple levels and forms of producing injustice. These approaches go hand in hand with advancements in recognizing the diversity of Latin American peoples and their rights. This recognition is based on processes specific to each country, as well as the adoption of international conventions that challenge established conceptions of justice. In this context, are traditional approaches that distinguish different forms of justice sufficient to analyze the complexity of these processes?

The Latin American and Caribbean region has been facing a period of uncertainty since the beginning of the decade. The pandemic has exposed deep fractures in societies, particularly in terms of the vast inequalities in access to healthcare and the high death rate. It has also exacerbated the economic crisis, already triggered by the slowdown in Chinese growth, leading to an increase in poverty, precariousness, and insecurity in several Latin American and Caribbean countries. Environmental changes have an uneven impact on populations and are exacerbated by land-use choices made in recent decades, which contribute to the increase in fires, droughts, floods, and their consequences for vulnerable populations. These situations lead to population displacement, environmental conflicts, and often give rise to struggles over resources.

Despite these challenges, most Latin American states are expressing their willingness to initiate transitions towards more sustainable and inclusive societies, while contributing to global environmental protection and climate change mitigation goals. However, some states and political movements advocate for disruptive approaches that shift the pursuit of justice to other instances. These tensions highlight the difficulties in achieving just transitions that reduce inequalities and are perceived as such by the populations concerned. It is about providing concrete responses to the daily difficulties faced by populations, by rethinking the frameworks for intervention and collective action, even as Latin America is increasingly attracting the attention of international actors, particularly for its wealth of materials essential for the ecological transition, the production of renewable energy and food, and for the storage of atmospheric carbon in its forests and protected areas. Can Latin America play these different roles of planetary balance without harming the women and men who live there?

Justice can be first and foremost considered as a normative category carried by different currents of thought, which can refer both to usual theories, such as Rawlsian justice, and to critical views or more recent developments proposing to broaden the scope of reflection to other categories than the human.

In a large group marked by the weight of legal traditions, the proposed reflection can involve questioning the legal order and institutional functioning, but also leads to questioning the ability of Latin American democracies to broaden and make new notions of justice operational. Conversely, how can we understand that some Latin American societies have brought to power authoritarian rulers who reject democratic principles in favor of alternative versions of justice such as market justice or divine justice?

Justice, as a guiding principle, is also constructed through legal rules and procedures, the recognition or non-recognition of legal pluralism within states, and the consideration of new objects and dimensions. This includes, for example, the recognition of the legal personhood of natural elements, as enshrined in the constitutions of Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombian legislation. These new visions of justice reflect the evolution of societal values, but also the ways in which societies organize and transform in a world where information circulates instantaneously but is also manipulated, reshaped, and mobilized.

Similarly, the recognition of the linguistic rights of indigenous, Creole, and Afro-descendant communities in the Americas is a major challenge for promoting a just and equitable society. It entails guaranteeing actors the possibility of full participation in public life, equal access to justice, and the preservation of their cultural practices.