The Post-Anthropocene Ubuntu: Reconceptualizing Legal Personhood for Rivers, Forests, and Sacred Sites in African Jurisprudence

Abstract

The Anthropocene epoch has fundamentally challenged traditional anthropocentric legal frameworks that position nature as mere property or resource. This paper examines the transformative potential of Ubuntu philosophy—"I am because we are"—in reconceptualizing legal personhood for natural entities within African jurisprudence. Drawing from recent global developments in rights of nature jurisprudence, including landmark cases from New Zealand, India, and Colombia, this research explores how African legal systems can leverage indigenous cosmologies and Ubuntu ethics to grant legal personhood to rivers, forests, and sacred sites. Through comparative analysis of international precedents and African customary law, this paper argues that Ubuntu-based legal personhood offers a culturally resonant and philosophically robust framework for environmental protection in post-Anthropocene Africa. The research demonstrates that recognizing natural entities as legal persons aligns with African communitarian values while addressing contemporary environmental crises. This paper contributes to the growing scholarship on ecological jurisprudence by proposing an Ubuntu-centered model for rights of nature that bridges traditional African knowledge systems with modern legal innovation.