Human rights vs. Eco-justice: conflicts and other futures in urban open spaces in Cali, Colombia

This article offers a novel, grounded way of assessing the intense interaction between human rights and eco-justice in urban open spaces. Using three iconic parks in the city of Cali, Colombia, as its sites of investigation, the article explores how the anthropocentr-ism of human rights and the structural order that foregrounds them results in eco-justice aspirations being undermined by human rights – including as environmental rights – in these spaces. The article reflects on three negative consequences of the tensions marking the relationships between human rights and eco-justice in Cali: defaunation; a prolifera-tion of ‘urban heat islands’; and increased local pollution.