International Journal on Responsibility
The International Journal on Responsibility (IJR) (ISSN: 2576-0955) is an international, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary forum for theoretical, practical, and methodological explorations into the various and complex issues of responsibility. Animated by the question “Who or what is responsible to do what for whom?,” IJR is a broad-ranging journal that incorporates insights from the full range of academic and practical inquiry from the humanities and the social and natural sciences related to addressing the diverse aspects of responsibility.
IJR publishes scholarship and creative works on responsibility. The contents examine theoretical, empirical, intellectual, practical, policy, and ethical issues relating to responsibility. In addition, the journal encourages research and reporting on ways in which responsibility relates to issues ranging from the individual to broad public concern, past, present, and future. Themes include the use of responsibility in academic and nonacademic settings; the development of new perspectives on the topic of responsibility; the application of a focus on responsibility in practical problems; and, the historical and interdisciplinary dimensions of responsibility.
Published: 02 September 2025
Articles
Religious Moral Suasion and Material Support for the Environmental Justice Movement
The Environmental Justice (EJ) movement in the United States is comprised of diverse groups of people with a variety of environmental grievances and interests coming together to obtain equal distribution of pollution burdens across communities, reduce environmental hazards, and ensure fair enforcement of laws and policies meant to safeguard the environment for all. The 17 Principles of Environmental Justice developed in 1991 at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit remains a touchstone document today
Sarah Nahar
Healing the Sacred: The Fight to Restore Onondaga Lake and Honor Indigenous Land
The Onondaga Nation is petitioning the Organization of American States (OAS) for land rights to Onondaga Lake, a notoriously polluted body of water in Central New York State. The Onondaga Nation is one of six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois), and Onondaga Lake is the sacred site where Gayanashagowa, the Great Law of Peace, was established. As Keepers of the Central Fire, the Onondaga Nation bears the responsibility of maintaining unity and peace within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This article examines the history of the lake, its significance to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the consequences of its desecration through industrial pollution. By juxtaposing Haudenosaunee teachings with the European Christian Doctrine of Discovery, we reveal how clashing worldviews led to violence, land theft, and genocide against the Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous Nations. Specifically, we apply Steven T. Newcomb’s Domination Code to analyze the settler-colonial justification for resource extraction, which left behind ecological and social devastation. We argue that returning Onondaga Lake to the Onondaga Nation is a vital step toward restoring this sacred place, bringing long-overdue healing to its people, the surrounding communities, and the natural world. The protection and restoration of Onondaga Lake is not only essential for its future but for the well-being of all. The restoration of Indigenous sacred spaces is a catalyst for meaningful social and ecological change.
Adam DJ Brett
Betty Hill (Lyons)
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