The Ecology of Law

The Ecology of Law PDF Author: Fritjof Capra
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 1626562083
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book Here

Book Description
Winner, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in Politics/Current Events: A systems theorist and a legal scholar present a new paradigm for protecting our planet. This is the first book to trace the fascinating parallel history of law and science from antiquity to modern times, showing how the two disciplines have always influenced each other—until recently. In the past few decades, science has shifted from seeing the natural world as a kind of cosmic machine best understood by analyzing each cog and sprocket to a systems perspective that views the world as a vast network of fluid communities and studies their dynamic interactions. The concept of ecology exemplifies this approach. But law is stuck in the old mechanistic paradigm: The world is simply a collection of discrete parts, and ownership of these parts is an individual right, protected by the state. Fritjof Capra, physicist, systems theorist, and bestselling author of The Tao of Physics, and distinguished legal scholar Ugo Mattei show that this obsolete worldview has led to overconsumption, pollution, and a general disregard on the part of the powerful for the common good. Capra and Mattei outline the basic concepts and structures of a legal order consistent with the ecological principles that sustain life on Earth that better addresses many of the economic and social crises we face today. This is a visionary reconceptualization of the very foundations of the Western legal system, a kind of Copernican revolution in the law, with profound implications for the future of our planet. “Thoughtful . . . The authors propose a philosophy and jurisprudence that is deeply radical—upending centuries of Western tradition and culture—but possibly crucial to solving looming environmental problems.” —Publishers Weekly

The Ecology of Law

The Ecology of Law PDF Author: Fritjof Capra
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 1626562083
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book Here

Book Description
Winner, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in Politics/Current Events: A systems theorist and a legal scholar present a new paradigm for protecting our planet. This is the first book to trace the fascinating parallel history of law and science from antiquity to modern times, showing how the two disciplines have always influenced each other—until recently. In the past few decades, science has shifted from seeing the natural world as a kind of cosmic machine best understood by analyzing each cog and sprocket to a systems perspective that views the world as a vast network of fluid communities and studies their dynamic interactions. The concept of ecology exemplifies this approach. But law is stuck in the old mechanistic paradigm: The world is simply a collection of discrete parts, and ownership of these parts is an individual right, protected by the state. Fritjof Capra, physicist, systems theorist, and bestselling author of The Tao of Physics, and distinguished legal scholar Ugo Mattei show that this obsolete worldview has led to overconsumption, pollution, and a general disregard on the part of the powerful for the common good. Capra and Mattei outline the basic concepts and structures of a legal order consistent with the ecological principles that sustain life on Earth that better addresses many of the economic and social crises we face today. This is a visionary reconceptualization of the very foundations of the Western legal system, a kind of Copernican revolution in the law, with profound implications for the future of our planet. “Thoughtful . . . The authors propose a philosophy and jurisprudence that is deeply radical—upending centuries of Western tradition and culture—but possibly crucial to solving looming environmental problems.” —Publishers Weekly

Law and Ecology

Law and Ecology PDF Author: Richard O. Brooks
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351922912
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 430

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1970 Earth Day was first celebrated marking the dawn of worldwide environmental consciousness and the passing of many environmental laws. In part, these events were the result of the maturing of the science of ecology which recognized the interdependence of the web and cycles of nature. This volume explores the relationship between ecology and environmental law, beginning with a description of the two very different disciplines. This description is followed by a history of their episodic interactions: the early period of origin, the mid-century formative period from 1950 to 1970, the initial serious period of interaction after Earth Day in 1970 and the testing of the relationship during the next two decades. Utilizing a number of case studies, examinations of the key 'linkage persons', legal instruments and the migration of ecological concepts and frameworks, this book analyzes the final flowering of an ecosystem regime which embraces the connections between the two disciplines of ecology and environmental law. Concluding with an inventory of the problems posed by the relationship between the two disciplines and an agenda for future research, this clearly structured, comprehensive and stringent book is an essential resource for all serious scholars and students of ecology and environmental law.

From Environmental to Ecological Law

From Environmental to Ecological Law PDF Author: Kirsten Anker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000328627
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book increases the visibility, clarity and understanding of ecological law. Ecological law is emerging as a field of law founded on systems thinking and the need to integrate ecological limits, such as planetary boundaries, into law. Presenting new thinking in the field, this book focuses on problem areas of contemporary law including environmental law, property law, trusts, legal theory and First Nations law and explains how ecological law provides solutions. Written by ecological law experts, it does this by 1) providing an overview of shortcomings of environmental law and other areas of contemporary law, 2) presenting specific examples of these shortcomings, 3) explaining what ecological law is and how it provides solutions to the shortcomings of contemporary law, and 4) showing how society can overcome some key challenges in the transition to ecological law. Drawing on a diverse range of case study examples including Indigenous law, ecological restoration and mining, this volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and policymakers of environmental and ecological law and governance, political science, environmental ethics and ecological and degrowth economics.

Law and Ecology

Law and Ecology PDF Author: Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136817115
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
Law and Ecology: New Environmental Foundations contains a series of theoretical and applied perspectives on the connection between law and ecology, which together offer a radical and socially responsive foundation for environmental law. While its legal corpus grows daily, environmental law has not enjoyed the kind of jurisprudential underpinning generally found in other branches of law. This book forges a new ecological jurisprudential foundation for environmental law – where ‘ecological' is understood both in the narrow sense of a more ecosystemic perspective on law, and in the broad sense of critical self-reflection of the mechanisms of environmental law as they operate in a context where boundaries between the human and the non-human are collapsing, and where the traditional distinction between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism is recast. Addressing current debates, including the intellectual property of bioresources; the protection of biodiversity in view of tribal land demands; the ethics of genetically modified organisms; the redefinition of the 'human' through feminist and technological research; the spatial/geographical boundaries of environmental jurisdiction; and the postcolonial geographies of pollution – Law and Ecology redefines the way environmental law is perceived, theorised and applied. It also constitutes a radical challenge to the traditionally human-centred frameworks and concerns of legal theory.

Laws, Theories, and Patterns in Ecology

Laws, Theories, and Patterns in Ecology PDF Author: WALTER DODDS
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520944542
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book Here

Book Description
Physics and chemistry are distinguished from biology by the way generalizations are codified into theories tested by observation and experimentation. Some theories have been sufficiently tested to qualify as laws. In ecology, generalizations worthy of being called theories are less common because observations and experimentation are difficult and exceptions are more common. In this book, Walter K. Dodds enumerates generalizations in ecology. Introductory material describes how the practice of science in general, and ecology specifically, yields theories and laws. Dodds also discusses why such ideas are only useful if they have predictive ability, and delineates the scope of these generalizations and the constraints that limit their application. The result is a short book that delves deeply into important ecological ideas and how they predict and provide understanding.

Contributions to Law, Philosophy and Ecology

Contributions to Law, Philosophy and Ecology PDF Author: Ruth Thomas-Pellicer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317527356
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Get Book Here

Book Description
Contributions to Law, Philosophy and Ecology: Exploring Re-Embodiments is a preliminary contribution to the establishment of re-embodiments as a theoretical strand within legal and ecological theory, and philosophy. Re-embodiments are all those contemporary practices and processes that exceed the epistemic horizon of modernity. As such, they offer a plurality of alternative modes of theory and practice that seek to counteract the ecocidal tendencies of the Anthropocene. The collection comprises eleven contributions approaching re-embodiments from a multiplicity of fields, including legal theory, eco-philosophy, eco-feminism and anthropology. The contributions are organized into three parts: ‘Beyond Modernity’, ‘The Sacred Dimension’ and ‘The Legal Dimension’. The collection is opened by a comprehensive introduction that situates re-embodiments in theoretical context. Whilst closely bound with embodiment and new materialist theory, this book contributes a unique voice that echoes diverse political processes contemporaneous to our times. Written in an elegant and accessible language, the book will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates and established scholars alike seeking to understand and take re-embodiments further, both politically and theoretically.

The Environment-Conflict Nexus in International Law

The Environment-Conflict Nexus in International Law PDF Author: Eliana Cusato
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108837522
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 307

Get Book Here

Book Description
Unpacks key assumptions about the 'environment', its relationship with violent conflict, and the justification for its protection underlying international law.

The Turning Point in Private Law

The Turning Point in Private Law PDF Author: Ugo Mattei
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1786435187
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Get Book Here

Book Description
Can private law assume an ecological meaning? Can property and contract defend nature? Is tort law an adequate tool for paying environmental damages to future generations? This book explores potential resolutions to these questions, analyzing the evolution of legal thinking in relation to the topics of legal personality, property, contract and tort. In this forward thinking book, Mattei and Quarta suggest a list of basic principles upon which a new, ecological legal system could be based. Taking private law to represent an ally in the defence of our future, they offer a clear characterization of the fundamental legal institutions of common law and civil law, considering the challenges of the Anthropogenic era, technological tools of the Internet era, and the global rise of the commons. Summarizing the fundamental institutions of private law: property rights, legal personality, contract, and tort, the authors reveal the limits of these legal institutions in relation to historical international evolution and their regulation in the contexts of catastrophic ecological issues and technological developments. Engaging and thoughtful, this book will be interesting reading for legal scholars and academics of private law and, in particular, those wishing to understand the role of law when facing technological and ecological challenges.

The Making of Environmental Law

The Making of Environmental Law PDF Author: Richard J. Lazarus
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226470644
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Get Book Here

Book Description
The unprecedented expansion in environmental regulation over the past thirty years—at all levels of government—signifies a transformation of our nation's laws that is both palpable and encouraging. Environmental laws now affect almost everything we do, from the cars we drive and the places we live to the air we breathe and the water we drink. But while enormous strides have been made since the 1970s, gaps in the coverage, implementation, and enforcement of the existing laws still leave much work to be done. In The Making of Environmental Law, Richard J. Lazarus offers a new interpretation of the past three decades of this area of the law, examining the legal, political, cultural, and scientific factors that have shaped—and sometimes hindered—the creation of pollution controls and natural resource management laws. He argues that in the future, environmental law must forge a more nuanced understanding of the uncertainties and trade-offs, as well as the better-organized political opposition that currently dominates the federal government. Lazarus is especially well equipped to tell this story, given his active involvement in many of the most significant moments in the history of environmental law as a litigator for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, an assistant to the Solicitor General, and a member of advisory boards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Ranging widely in his analysis, Lazarus not only explains why modern environmental law emerged when it did and how it has evolved, but also points to the ambiguities in our current situation. As the field of environmental law "grays" with middle age, Lazarus's discussions of its history, the lessons learned from past legal reforms, and the challenges facing future lawmakers are both timely and invigorating.

Nature's Trust

Nature's Trust PDF Author: Mary Christina Wood
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521195136
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 461

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book exposes the dysfunction of environmental law and offers a transformative approach based on the public trust doctrine. An ancient and enduring principle, the public trust doctrine empowers citizens to protect their inalienable property rights to crucial resources. This book shows how a trust principle can apply from the local to global level to protect the planet.