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SOPHIE CHAO, KARIN BOLENDER, EBSEN KIRSKEY (eds.), 2022, The Promise of Mul/species 

Jus/ce. Durham/ London: Duke University Press, 284 pp., ISBN: 978-1-4780-1889-6 

 

This edited volume starts with the ques7on who benefits from mul7species jus7ce, and it 

remains a central ques7on throughout the book. Drawing from Western philosophy and the 

poli7cal science of rights, the star7ng points of The Promise of Mul/species Jus/ce is 

thinking cri7cally about whose jus7ce is at stake and who seeks jus7ce. By bridging the 

human/more-than-human realms, the editors in the introduc7on demonstrate well how 

peoples and species create alliances, even though Western legacies of colonialism con7nue 

to separate species and create hierarchies between them.  

 

The book contains an introduc7on, nine chapters, 2 poems, and an aIerword, and the 

contributors are scholars from different fields and backgrounds, and ar7sts. The narra7ves of 

the book allow the reader to hear the stories of individuals and collec7ves entangled with 

diverse forms of life. The authors’ inves7ga7ons and interac7ons with their interlocutors 

have undoubtedly been long-standing, and the reader learns about the Hanford nuclear 

reserva7on; the Wanapun’s sacred sites; the toxicity of deep 7me; pes7cides, bananas and 

people in the Philippines; trapmaker Iddy and rodents in Morogo, Tanzania; feral dogs and 

Amir in Baku; a deceased GaTu bull, his caretaker Pushkar, and GaTu’s spiritual journey; 

juridical and legal processes and the rights of Amazon forest; Indigenous leaders and Judge 

Tolosa in Columbia; the effects of conserva7on; the effects of humans’ learning about ex7nct 

bird, and many other topics. The chapters offer in-depth descrip7ons and analyses of 

mul7species becomings and interdependencies. 

 

The book is ambi7ous and engaging. The authors offer a wealth of new informa7on even for 

those who thought they knew the cases and places well. Clearly, the writers have worked on 

their contribu7ons for some 7me jointly, and the volume is in fact the fruit of a series of 



talks, and in that way there are a good number of references to other chapters in the book, 

making it coherently related.  

 

The introduc7on to the book is followed by a Glossary Species of Jus7ce, which is very useful 

to analyze how inequali7es and claims for jus7ce can be experienced, constructed, and 

ordered. It includes those forms of jus7ce that emerge as concepts from the chapters of the 

book, and which allow an understanding of jus7ce from new ontological and temporal 

perspec7ves. The types of jus7ce drawn from localized cases, include spectral jus7ce 

(Chapter 1 by Govindrajan), transi7onal jus7ce (Chapter 2 by Lyons), mul7world jus7ce 

(Chapter 5 by Marder), and genera7ve jus7ce (Chapter 7 by Lee). Many of these kinds of 

jus7ce, however, are not fully addressed in the book or are only men7oned in the 

Introduc7on. In the mul7species approach and rela7ons, such ideas as intergenera7onal 

jus7ce, patchy jus7ce, and climate jus7ce might have opened up new avenues for theorizing. 

In Indigenous contexts, for instance, climate jus7ce involves not only vulnerable humans, but 

diverse more-than-humans and other-humans (animals, plants, ancestral spirits) that are 

part of social rela7ons. Similarly, intergenera7onal jus7ce among more-than-humans may 

open up noteworthy discussions about plants, which reproduce in different ways, from 

clones, from seeds, from being planted, and so on. The editors also men7on that Indigenous 

socie7es s7ll ac7vely seek recogni7on for their interspecies rela7ons from the perspec7ve of 

species divide and their thinking on humans’ impacts on ecosystems and other species.  

 

The depth of the descrip7on on the historical and poli7cal contexts that situate the stories is 

fascina7ng. However, some7mes the reader wonders where they are being taken by the 

story, and it is not obvious if the wri7ng refers to Asia, Africa, the Caucasus, or to America. In 

fact, this is not a major problem, as many of the species live cross borders, con7nents, 

na7on states, and at the core of this book are the possibili7es of mul7species jus7ce. The 

stories of loss, ex7nc7on, aboli7ons, destruc7on, longings, and claims for jus7ce are read 

with sadness, but there is also hope of new kinds of co-becomings, memorizing, and finally 

jus7ce of different kinds, especially jus7ce that is restora7ve, transforma7ve, and 

transi7onal. 

 



The contribu7ons are ethnographic essays and works of arts. The role of crea7vity and the 

arts played in this edited volume is highlighted and acknowledged. It unfolds naturally 

throughout the book, and becomes  on integral part of the text-form contribu7ons. The 

illustra7ons that open the different chapters succeed in revealing new aspects of the range 

of topics  

 

The introduc7on men7ons in an innova7ve way interspecies’ intersec7onality, which seems 

a convincing way to understand how social and poli7cal ac7on can play a role in crea7ng 

different kinds of mul7species jus7ce. Intersec7onality might have been addressed more 

thoroughly in the chapters, as it is an important aspect of mul7species jus7ce.  

 

In sum, The Promise of Mul/species Jus/ce provides novel and thought-provoking 

perspec7ves concerning the experience of injus7ce and jus7ce. It is a compulsory read for 

scholars in many fields, from the diverse fields of human, social, and life sciences. It is 

relevant and valuable for anyone interested in how to transit towards a fairer society. 

 

Pirjo KrisRina Virtanen 

University of Helsinki 

 

 

 

© 2023 Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen