Sharing world with plants

What would the world look like if there were justice for plants, too?

Stefano Mancuso explores this question in their book The Nation of Plants (2021) where they present plants as a collective of individuals, as a nation. In the nation of plants, the Earth is a common home for all life and the rights based on the relations between organisms are acknowledged. Decentralized democracy is preferred to centralized order, the rights of every contemporary and future generation are respected, everyone’s right to clean water, soil, and atmosphere is secured, and wasting non-renewable resources at the expense of the future generations is forbidden. Everyone can freely choose where to live, and mutual aid of all living beings is acknowledged as a condition for coexistence and progress. According to Mancuso (2021), plants give “us rules - in reality, their very own constitution – to use as a guidebook for the survival of our species.” (p. 9).

Common World Research Collective (2021) outlines visions for education for a livable planet in their background paper for UNESCO. According to their vision, by 2050, we will understand how to pursue justice beyond human-centeredness. We will learn that we are not only social but ecological beings, we will teach that agency is shared collectively, and we will cherish collectivity and try to learn to live with the world pursuing ethics beyond mere humanistic basis.