Presentation short abstract

Analyzing 32 environmental conflicts from the EJAtlas linked to Monsanto–Bayer, this paper reveals structural power asymmetries in global agribusiness and advances “slow justice” as a political-ecological framework to counter corporate impunity and the normalization of slow violence.

Presentation long abstract

In 2016, the “Monsanto Tribunal” became a landmark act of transnational civil society resistance. Although symbolic and without legal authority, it filled the void left by institutions unwilling to confront the ecological and human harms caused by Monsanto. Farmers, scientists, and activists from multiple continents testified about toxic exposures (especially glyphosate), land dispossession, biodiversity loss, and violations of health and food sovereignty. In 2017, international judges concluded that Monsanto’s practices could constitute ecocide and called for stronger mechanisms of corporate accountability in international law. In 2018, Bayer acquired Monsanto and retired its name—yet not its practices nor their consequences—illustrating how corporations adapt by merging, rebranding, and shifting responsibility while affected communities continue to wait. According to the EJAtlas, 32 cases across 24 countries are linked to Monsanto–Bayer. These conflicts reveal a global pattern of agribusiness expansion through monocultures, GMOs, intensive food production, and livestock systems—present in 17 cases. GMOs also appear in 17 cases, reflecting tensions around farmer autonomy. Agrotoxics appear in 11 cases, biopiracy in 8, and deforestation in 6, exposing slow poisoning and ecological destruction. This paper qualitatively analyses these 32 cases to show how Monsanto–Bayer’s practices generate environmental conflicts and how communities demand health, land, biodiversity, self-determination, and justice. I argue that these cases reveal structural power asymmetries, where agribusiness profits rely on diffused, unpunished harm. I advance “slow justice” as a political-ecological counterpoint to “slow violence,” highlighting how justice is deliberately delayed through legal loopholes, trade agreements, corporate lobbying, and manufactured scientific doubt.