Abstract

Present and projected levels of human activity on Earth pose grave dangers not only to human communities and cultures but also to millions of other animals, species, and the ecological systems that support life on our planet. This dissertation takes four moral norms that have been proposed as the foundation for an ethic of ecojustice and applies them to the problems posed by unsustainable patterns of human production, consumption, and reproduction. The two-fold goal is to further develop the concept of ecojustice and to frame an ecojustice response to this pressing nexus of issues. ;To accomplish this task, chapters 1 and 2 open the study by examining the ecological, theological, and moral challenges posed by population growth and overconsumption. Chapters 8 and 9 conclude the study by outlining a constructive ethic of ecojustice and by offering a critique of the 1994 United Nations World Plan of Action on World Population. Sandwiched between are five chapters that examine the norms of ecojustice and offer an assessment of five important theologians who represent different approaches to environmental ethics emerging within the Christian tradition. These figures are James Nash, Sallie McFague, John Cobb, Jr., Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Leonardo Boff. Each figure is evaluated on the basis of their potential contributions to an ethic of ecojustice and on the basis of their specific response to population and consumption issues. The book argues that an adequate ethic of ecojustice must emphasize the reciprocal relationship of ecological integrity and social justice and must offer not only sound theological grounding but also specific ethical guidance toward policy formulation