The Aesthetic Ideology of Juliana v. United States and Its Impact on Environmentally Engaged Citizenship

Abstract

Following Wittgenstein’s call to imagine law as a way of life (1958), we can envisage
environmental law and environmentalism as a way of living beautifully. Employing George
Santayana’s aesthetic theory (1896, 1905, 1910), this article explores environmentally engaged
citizenship as more than a mere ideological manifestation of subjectivity. A multifaceted
relationship between individuals and their environment, it manifests itself through their ideology,
political subjectivity, but also through aesthetic subjectivity. Using Juliana v. USA as a case
study, this article examines civic engagement taking into consideration its deeply ideological and
aesthetic nature.

Keywords: environmentally engaged citizenship, aesthetic ideology, environmentalism, sustainable capitalism,