Across Species and Borders: Political Representation, Ecological Democracy and the Non-Human

Debates about democracy and ecology invariably lead to the question of the representation and membership of non-human animals, ecosystems and the biosphere in world politics. This chapter responds by interweaving two lines of inquiry. One considers the fundamental political theory that could generate an adequate account of how to give representation to the non-human in the polity. Key theoretical interventions will be considered alongside a posthumanist, new materialist account of the material agency of ecosystems. The second considers the dilemmas involved in designing ecological democratic institutions that could include the non-human in communicative systems of membership and accountability. We propose two new enabling structures for ecological inclusion and governance: 15 regional ecosystem assemblies to cover the Earth’s major biomes, and an Earth System Council to coordinate integrated action, both of which include and channel representation from states, indigenous communities, and proxy guardians for the non-human. Such institutions require a deep commitment to the complexity and vitality of the biosphere, reflexivity and humility in proposing Earth system repair, and a constant awareness of the aporetic quality of political representation as such, in support of new forms of interspecies politics and governance that might work for and with the biosphere as a whole.