Justice for Glaciers: the politics of personhood in climate change litigation

In a groundbreaking legal claim, a Peruvian farmer is suing a German energy company over climate change impacts. Ethnographically tracing the claimant’s journey from the Peruvian Andes to the German courts, this article shows how the lawsuit invokes the notion of corporate personhood to construct an ethically charged relationship between the plaintiff and defendant. However, the legal framework excludes other nonhuman persons such as Andean earth beings. Despite their formal invisibility, the invocation of earth beings provides public justification for a legal claim that has garnered significant media attention. Both within and beyond formal legal frameworks, nonhuman ecosystem persons can play a role in legal and political debates about climate change. Building on work in legal anthropology and discussions about rights of nature, this paper argues that an attention to the politics of personhood can highlight the socio-material relations at stake in environmental disputes, opening discussions about new forms of political engagement.

Walker-Crawford, N. (2024). Justice for Glaciers: The Politics of Personhood in Climate Change Litigation. Journal of Legal Anthropology, 8(1), 1-19. Retrieved Feb 18, 2025, https://doi.org/10.3167/jla.2024.080101