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In the Virocene epoch, global pandemics such as COVID-19 disrupt the world order organized by capitalism and racial privilege, making clear the unsustainability of 'normal' ways of organizing society and nature. Despite its failure to address these disruptions, the existing capitalist-racist system attempts to reproduce itself, posing greater risks of disease, inequalities, and injustice to the most vulnerable human and nonhuman populations. The Virocene epoch makes these workings visible, and challenges both hegemonic and counterhegemonic ways of organizing human–nature relations. Political ecology requires new emancipatory theoretical-political strategies firmly grounded in a theory of justice that embodies social and ecological rights in order to imaginatively produce new ways to counter such social and ecological crises arising from the global process of capitalism and viral activities. To this end, political ecology must develop a universal perspective on the justice-rights-power nexus with an explicit moral basis to enhance its emancipatory praxis against the globalizing challenges of the Virocene, without reproducing existing vulnerabilities and without dismissing hegemonic and counter-hegemonic narratives in the name of otherness, difference, universalism or sameness. In this article, I reconfigure the justice-rights-power nexus to dismantle oppression and injustice in pursuit of regenerative solutions. I chart an alternate 'multispecies theory of justice' building upon love as an embodiment of the moral foundations for critical multispecies justice praxis, which produces another world of diverse, interconnected communities committed to social and ecological wellbeing. The 'Lovecene' is an aspirational planetary-order shaped by multispecies (human and non-human) equality and justice that transcends the anthropocentricism of current periodizations of planetary-level social and economic change. It attempts to overcome the limitations of many political-ecological theories of justice centered on notions of 'right order', 'fairness', 'distribution', and 'opportunities and capabilities', thereby successfully addressing the sociological and ecological vulnerabilities of the Virocene.Key Words: Virocene; political economy of health; capitalism; racism, vulnerability, pandemic

COVID-19 has ushered in a new planetary epoch—the Virocene. In doing so, it has laid bare the limits of humanity's power over nature, exposing the vulnerability of 'normal' ways of living and their moral and pragmatic bankruptcy in coping with those vulnerabilities. 'Normal' is powerless against the virus and has not worked for a majority of the world's human and non-human population. Whatever new normal humanity fashions depends on the socio-ecological change set in motion by mutations between human and non-human species. The outcomes of society's responses to the pandemic depend on how human agency, as an embodiment of social, ecological, and metaphysical relations, transforms the relations now shaped by capitalism and racism—the two mutually reinforcing processes at the root of the Virocene's social and ecological vulnerabilities. A deeper understanding of vulnerabilities is necessary to avoid recreating a 'new normal' that normalizes the current oppressive and vulnerable social order, while inhibiting our ability to transform the world. At the same time, the sweeping possibilities of alternative ways of organizing humanity's mutual wellbeing and nature lie at our fingertips. The emancipatory political consciousness, rationalities, and strategies inherent in such intuitively sensible and counter-hegemonic approaches, first and foremost, are matters of justice, embodied in the power that shapes human-nature metabolism. The Virocene is thus a battleground for social and ecological justice. To be effective partners in these struggles for justice, political ecology needs a universal perspective of social and ecological justice that functions both as a form of critical inquiry—that is, as a way to understand how social and ecological inequalities and justices arise and function—and as a form of critical praxis—that is, as a way to reclaim and transform capitalism and racism's power in valuing and organizing social and ecological wellbeing.Key Words: Virocene; political economy of health; capitalism; racism, vulnerability, pandemic

Regardless of the state of theory and practice in sustain-able development, there is no doubt that an ethical/moral imperative exists to address socioeconomic inequality and degradation of the environment. To realize the goals of sustainable development, it must be liberated from its embeddedness in the ideology and institutional parameters of capitalism. This calls for a departure from the current reformist character of development theory and the practice and articulation of an alternative vision of political economy, as well as a politically strong commitment to realizing it. This endeavor should be global in scope: not in an attempt to create a homogeneous world order but rather to prevent social diversity from being reconfigured and disciplined according to the imperatives of capital. The state must play a pivotal role if social transformative efforts are to bear fruit and break through the impasse capitalism has imposed on realizing the goals of sustainable development.

Indigenous knowledge (IK), experienced in development, is a product of a set of institutions often external to where they are located. The results of the use of IK in sustainable development are another example of capitalism's capacity to configure development according to its own imperatives. Rather than being an instrument of sustainable development, IK has become a means through which the diversity of knowledge systems and the embedded cultures in which they exist are disciplined and managed according to capital's need to expand. The collaborative role played by the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in this process is obscured by their use of the seductive language of empowerment of marginalized social groups. NGOs' interventions run counter to the interests of the people they claim to serve. The challenge to work towards an alternative institutional environment that could liberate the use of IK from being determined by the ideology and institutions of capitalism.

Regardless of the state of theory & practice in sustainable development, there is no doubt that an ethical moral imperative exists to address socioeconomic inequality & degradation of the environment. To realize the goals of sustainable development, it must be liberated from its embeddedness in the ideology & institutional parameters of capitalism. This calls for a departure from the current reformist character of development theory & the practice & articulation of an alternative vision of political economy, as well as a politically strong commitment to realizing it. This endeavor should be global in scope: not in an attempt to create a homogeneous world order but rather to prevent social diversity from being reconfigured & disciplined according to the imperatives of capital. The state must play a pivotal role if social transformative efforts are to bear fruit & break through the impasse capitalism has imposed on realizing the goals of sustainable development. 1 Appendix, 41 References. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications, Inc.]

Examines the role of social and environmental justice, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and political economy; international perspective; 13 articles. Contents: Preface: the power of unsustainable development: what is to be done? by Jude L. Fernando; Toward just sustainability in urban communities: building equity rights with sustainable solutions, by Julian Agyeman and Tom Evans; NGOs and production of indigenous knowledge under the condition of postmodernity, by Jude L. Fernando; The links between poverty and the environment in urban areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, by David Satterthwaite; Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen as growth poles: regional industrial development in Thailand and its implications for urban sustainability, by Jim Glassman and Chris Sneddon; Sustainable development and urban growth in the Argentine Pampas region, by Jorge Morello, Silvia Diana Matteucci, and Andrea Rodríguez; Poverty, sustainability, and the culture of despair: can sustainable development strategies support poverty alleviation in America's most environmentally challenged communities? by Amy K. Glasmeier and Tracey L. Farrigan; Environmental activism and social networks: campaigning for bicycles and alternative transport in West London, by Simon Batterbury; Urbanization and the politics of land in the Manila region, by Philip F. Kelly; Neoliberalism and nature: the case of the WTO, by Elaine Hardwick and Richard Peet; NGOs, organizational culture, and institutional sustainability, by David Lewis; The paradox of sustainability: reflections on NGOs in Bangladesh, by Joseph Devine; An innovative combination of neoliberalism and state corporatism: the case of a locally based NGO in Mexico City, by Roger Magazine.

Indigenous knowledge (IK), experienced in development, is a product of a set of institutions often external to where they are located. The results of the use of IK in sustainable development are another example of capitalism's capacity to configure development according to its own imperatives. Rather than being an instrument of sustainable development, IK has become a means through which the diversity of knowledge systems & the embedded cultures in which they exist are disciplined & managed according to capital's need to expand. The collaborative role played by the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in this process is obscured by their use of the seductive language of empowerment of marginalized social groups. NGOs' interventions run counter to the interests of the people they claim to serve. The challenge to work towards an alternative institutional environment that could liberate the use of IK from being determined by the ideology & institutions of capitalism. 1 Appendix, 15 References. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications, Inc.]

An introductory essay to a special issue on children's rights looks at the relation between convictions expressed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) & actual commitments. The many ways children's rights are violated across the globe are described, including the increasing number of children living in poverty, as well as those who are victims of neglect, assault, armed conflict, work accidents, & landmines. The complexity of children's rights in the US is discussed, along with concerns over the refusal of the US & Somalia to sign the CRC, which has been ratified by 191 nations. Examination of reasons why so many countries have not developed integrated strategies for implementing the CRC argues that the technocratic nature of the discourse avoids addressing power relations that are crucial for understanding the needs of children. Other issues discussed include the roles played by nongovernmental organizations; conflicts between "commercial humanism" & "civic humanism"; & the importance of a global perspective. A synopsis of each essay is included. 18 References. J. Lindroth

Empowerment of women by means of micro-credit-based income generation programs is a new orthodoxy in the development discourse. The first part of the article appraises this phenomenon in a broader historical context. It shows how women's interests are being subsumed by and subordinated to the priorities of mainstream development in ways detrimental to the radical aspirations of the NGOs' empowerment project. The second part is a critical evaluation of the current approaches used in studies on micro-credit and empowerment. These studies have mostly focused on the final outcomes of micro-enterprises rather than the process through which they are achieved. The third part, based on field research in Bangladesh, demonstrates that the widely documented successes of micro-enterprises are a result of the activities of the very institutions that are considered to be oppressive to women. In this process, NGOs contribute to further legitimization of the same institutions that their micro-enterprises desire to transform.

Empowerment of women by means of microcredit-based income generation programs is appraised in a broader historical context. The whole picture shows how women's interests are being subsumed by & subordinated to the priorities of mainstream development in ways detrimental to the radical aspirations of nongovernmental organization (NGO) empowerment projects. A critical evaluation of current approaches used in studies on microcredit & empowement shows that the primary focus has been on the final outcomes of microenterprises, rather than the process through which they are achieved. Field research in Bangladesh demonstrates that the widely documented successes of microenterprises are a result of the activities of the institutions that are considered to be oppressive to women. In this process, NGOs contribute to further legitimization of the institutions that their microenterprises desire to transform. Adapted from the source document.