Jacques Derrida and the ecofeminist vision

For Derrida, the law is not able to reflect justice because firstly, law and justice are different in kind (in that law is tangible whilst justice is not, being a metaphysical concept) and secondly, it is founded on violence while justice is not (again in its metaphysical sense). In the Force of Law, Derrida argues that because of these conflicting concepts, justice cannot be incorporated into the law until the law is deconstructed and the differences reconciled. This means that the law must be traced back to its original foundations and the gap bridged through the incorporation of other perspectives. Feminist jurisprudence advocates hold a similar argument; however they blame patriarchy and focus on the injustices towards women, whom they view to be the most targeted and disadvantaged under the patriarchal legal system. So, feminists argue that patriarchy and its institutions are founded on violence and must be deconstructed. Ecofeminists argue in a similar vein but their argument transcends gender, as they regard women and nature to be inextricably linked. For ecofeminist, justice for women extends to justice for all life on earth. In that light, the ecofeminist understanding of justice mirrors the Derridean concept of justice and political ethic and their argument is closely aligned with that of as Derrida’s deconstruction theory, as both speak up for excluded others and challenge existing ideologies and social structures, which continue to sanction institutionalised violence and the many injustices that are inflicted humans and non-human others. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part provides an overview of Derrida’s deconstruction theory as applied to the law and reinforces the argument that deconstructive techniques offer new interpretive strategies that undermine conventional interpretations. The second part outlines the connection between Derrida, the law and ecofeminism and provides a direction in which deconstructive techniques are able to offer new interpretations and perspectives that incorporate both Derrida’s and the ecofeminist vision of justice. The third part challenges the discourses and practices contained within contemporary society, politics and the law.