The eco-queer tree of South African constitutionalism

For Transafrica, with a focus on what might lie beyond more familiar forms of queer resistance, I sought to explore – as encouraged by Distinguished Professor Philippe-Joseph Salazar (my doctoral co-supervisor) and the book editors – how my current research could tie in with the field of eco-queerness. Having heard of queer ecology, I was curious to test how this could be related to post-apartheid constitutionalism. In short, the Constitutional Court of South Africa in its logo depicts diverse people standing under a tree to give pictorial expression to its transformational identity, while the concept of “justice under a tree” is further incorporated in this Court’s architecture, art collection and in the green robes that the judges wear. Turning to queer ecology, I frame the tree of law as a symbol that might lead us to appreciate the need to move away from the granting of a greater legal position to humans above all other things. As an act of eco-queering, I locate the symbol of a tree sheltering humans, deliberately “planted” as a transformational device at this Court, as a challenge to the perceived divide between humankind and nature – it is this line of (legal) thinking that has led to the severe climate and ecological emergencies we face in the Anthropocene. As the apartheid project created division through spatial policies, the design of the Constitutional Court reacts in showing how people of all races, genders and sexualities are to be treated and protected as equals in the environment that all humans share. We can come to conclude that the (human) rights we lay claim to are of a healthy environment, or dependent on a healthy environment, and nature should be regarded as a legal entity worthy of protection beyond merely as a “resource” we can lay claim to, often to exploit. I survey these themes more deeply in the book chapter.

Transafrica: The Languages of Postqueerness
Chantal Zabus and Chris Dunton (anthology editors)
Published: January 2025
Imprint: Zed Books
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
See: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/transafrica-9781350400771/