Ethical Engagements in Soil and Community Practices
Summary
Ethical engagements in soil and community practices have emerged as a critical nexus between environmental stewardship, social justice and agricultural innovation. This field interrogates how human societies cultivate reciprocal relationships with soils, recognising the agency of soil biota and the rights of communities to participate in land governance. Central themes include the development of relational frameworks that move beyond extractive paradigms, the incorporation of indigenous and decolonial perspectives that restore ancestral soil wisdom, and the application of feminist and care ethics to transdisciplinary research. Practitioners and scholars alike emphasise attentiveness to more-than-human assemblages, fostering networks of care that span farmers, local populations and ecological processes. Such approaches have demonstrable benefits for soil health, biodiversity, food security and community resilience. By drawing on diverse methodologies—from participatory action research to narrative enquiry—this area of study highlights the practical potential of soil care in mitigating land degradation, strengthening food sovereignty and advancing equitable environmental governance on a global scale.
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Ethical Engagements in Soil and Community Practices publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in ethical engagements in soil and community practices across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
More-than-human ethics: An ethical framework that recognises the intrinsic value and agency of non-human entities in shaping ecological relationships.
Soil biota: The community of living organisms—microbes, fungi, invertebrates and roots—that inhabit soil and drive nutrient cycling and ecosystem functions.
Ecologies of care: Relational models emphasising networks of mutual support among humans, non-humans and their environments to foster wellbeing and sustainability.
Biodynamic agriculture: A holistic farming system incorporating spiritual, astronomical and ecological principles to enhance soil vitality and farm biodiversity.
Decolonial ecology: An approach that critiques colonial power structures in environmental thought, reclaiming indigenous and anticolonial perspectives on land and soil.
References
- Organising Food Systems Through Ecologies of Care: A Relational Approach. Journal of Business Ethics (2024).
- Caring for soil life in the Anthropocene: The role of attentiveness in more‐than‐human ethics. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2019).
- A feminist ethos for caring knowledge production in transdisciplinary sustainability science. Sustainability Science (2021).
- Hocus pocus? Spirituality and soil care in biodynamic agriculture. Environment and Planning E Nature and Space (2020).
- Decolonising the Earth: Anticolonial Environmentalism and the Soil of Empire. Theory Culture & Society (2024).
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