- Loyola University Chicago School of Law
25 East Pearson Street
Chicago, IL 60611 - (312) 915-7044
Carmen Gonzalez
Loyola University Chicago, Law, Faculty Member
- Seattle University, School of Law, Emeritusadd
- Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, International Environmental Law, Law and Development, International economic law, Sustainable Development Law, and 23 moreHuman Rights, Sustainable Development, Agriculture, Rural Development, Imperialism, Trade Policy, TWAIL - Third World Approaches to International Law, Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality, Women of Color Feminism, Environmental Sustainability, Food Security, Post-Colonialism, Postcolonial Studies, International Law, International trade law, Feminist Theory, Public International Law, Intersectionality, International Investment Law, Critical Race Theory, Decolonial Thought, Colonialism, and Global (North/South) Environmental Politicsedit
- Carmen G. Gonzalez is the Morris I. Leibman Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She writes i... moreCarmen G. Gonzalez is the Morris I. Leibman Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She writes in the areas of international environmental law, environmental justice, human rights and the environment, and food security. After graduating from Yale University and Harvard Law School, Professor Gonzalez clerked for Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and practiced law at Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro, where she specialized in environmental litigation. She later served as an attorney at Pacific Gas and Electric Company and as Assistant Regional Counsel in the San Francisco office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Professor Gonzalez was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, a Visiting Professor at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in Nanjing, China, and a U.S. Supreme Court Fellow. She has taught and/or worked on environmental law projects in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. In 2017, she served as the George Soros Visiting Chair at the Central European University School of Public Policy in Budapest, Hungary and as the Norton Rose Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Houston Law Center. In 2019, she was selected as Vermont Law School's Distinguished International Environmental Law Scholar.
Professor Gonzalez is active in a variety of professional organizations. In 2016, she was elected to the Governing Board of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Academy of Environmental Law (IUCNAEL). She served as Chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, co-chair of the IUCNAEL's Research Committee, and member of the Board of Trustees of Earthjustice. She is currently a member scholar of the Center for Progressive Reform, a non-profit research and educational organization that seeks to inform policy debates regarding environmental regulation. She has served as member and vice-chair of the International Subcommittee of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (an advisory body to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on environmental justice issues), and has represented non-governmental organizations in multilateral environmental treaty negotiations.edit
Despite the global endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals, environmental justice struggles are growing all over the world. These struggles are not isolated injustices, but symptoms of interlocking forms of oppression that... more
Despite the global endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals, environmental justice struggles are growing all over the world. These struggles are not isolated injustices, but symptoms of interlocking forms of oppression that privilege the few while inflicting misery on the many and threatening ecological collapse. This handbook offers critical perspectives on the multi-dimensional, intersectional nature of environmental injustice and the cross-cutting forms of oppression that unite and divide these struggles, including gender, race, poverty, and indigeneity. The work sheds new light on the often-neglected social dimension of sustainability and its relationship to human rights and environmental justice. Using a variety of legal frameworks and case studies from around the world, this volume illustrates the importance of overcoming the fragmentation of these legal frameworks and social movements in order to develop holistic solutions that promote justice and protect the planet's ecosystems at a time of intensifying economic and ecological crisis.
The downloadable document includes the table of contents, the contributor biographies, the foreword by Boaventura de Sousa Santos, and the introductory chapter by the editors.
The downloadable document includes the table of contents, the contributor biographies, the foreword by Boaventura de Sousa Santos, and the introductory chapter by the editors.
Research Interests: Human Rights Law, Chidlren's Rights, Sustainable Development, Social Development in developing countries, Environmental Justice, and 14 moreGender and the Environment, Environmental Law and Human Rights, Indigenous Environmental Worldviews, International Environmental Law, DeGrowth, Intersectionality, Environmental Racism, Human Dignity, Public Interest Litigation, Anthropocene, Environmental Justice, Indigenous Rights, Water Rights, Vulnerability Analysis, Racial capitalism, and Social Ecological Resilience
The courageous and inspiring personal narratives and empirical studies in Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class, Power, and Resistance of Women in Academia name formidable obstacles and systemic biases that all women faculty—from diverse... more
The courageous and inspiring personal narratives and empirical studies in Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class, Power, and Resistance of Women in Academia name formidable obstacles and systemic biases that all women faculty—from diverse intersectional and transnational identities and from tenure track, terminal contract, and administrative positions—encounter in their higher education careers. They provide practical, specific, and insightful guidance to fight back, prevail, and thrive in challenging work environments. This new volume comes at a crucial historical moment as the United States grapples with a resurgence of white supremacy and misogyny at the forefront of our social and political dialogues that continue to permeate the academic world.
The uploaded document consists of the book’s cover page, table of contents, foreword, and introduction.
The uploaded document consists of the book’s cover page, table of contents, foreword, and introduction.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Environmental Law, Human Rights Law, Renewable Energy, Wind Energy, and 14 moreEnvironmental Studies, Energy, Energy Policy, Renewable Energy Policies, Energy Conservation, Energy and Environment, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Law and Human Rights, Energy efficiency, Climate Justice, Biofuels, and Energy justice
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between... more
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, indigenous rights, trade, investment, extractive industries, human rights, land grabs, hazardous waste, and climate change. Born out of the recognition that global inequality and profligate consumerism present threats to a sustainable planet, this books makes a unique contribution to international environmental law by emphasizing the priorities and concerns of the global South.
The downloadable document contains the table of contents as well as the book introduction (co-authored by Sumudu Atapattu and Carmen G. Gonzalez)
The downloadable document contains the table of contents as well as the book introduction (co-authored by Sumudu Atapattu and Carmen G. Gonzalez)
Research Interests: International Relations, Environmental Law, International Studies, Human Rights Law, International Law, and 22 moreInternational Development, Human Rights, Postcolonial Studies, Climate change policy, Environmental History, Sustainable Development, Law and Development, Environmental Politics, Energy and Environment, Environmental Justice, Environmental Law and Human Rights, International Environmental Law, Climate Change Law, Food Justice, Climate Change and Energy Law and Policy, and International Trade Regulation, Political ecology, NGOs, sustainable development, biodiversity, agroecology, amazonia, brazil, global change, environmental actors, protect areas, nature conservation., Environment and Development, International Environmental Law and Policy, Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection, TWAIL - Third World Approaches to International Law, Climate change negotiations, and Global (North/South) Environmental Politics
Presumed Incompetent is a pathbreaking account of the intersecting roles of race, gender, and class in the working lives of women faculty of color. Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors expose... more
Presumed Incompetent is a pathbreaking account of the intersecting roles of race, gender, and class in the working lives of women faculty of color. Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors expose the daunting challenges faced by academic women of color as they navigate the often hostile terrain of higher education, including hiring, promotion, tenure, and relations with students, colleagues, and administrators. The narratives are filled with wit, wisdom, and concrete recommendations, and provide a window into the struggles of professional women in a racially stratified but increasingly multicultural America.
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Lawyers, scholars, and activists have long sought to incorporate ecocide into the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to address corporate and governmental impunity for massive and severe ecological damage, including the... more
Lawyers, scholars, and activists have long sought to incorporate ecocide into the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to address corporate and governmental impunity for massive and severe ecological damage, including the harms caused by climate change. This Article uses the framework of racial capitalism to examine and critique the proposed criminalization of ecocide. Coined by South African scholars and activists and refined by political theorist Cedric Robinson, the theory of racial capitalism offers valuable insights on the root causes of the climate crisis and the manifold injustices it inflicts on marginalized states and peoples. While most discussions of climate justice focus on the disproportionate impacts of climate change on those who contributed least to the problem, this Article examines the processes through which racial capitalism plunders the land, labor, and natural wealth of states and peoples racialized as inferior to generate profits for global elites. These processes immiserate most of the world's population, subject marginalized communities to the "slow violence" of polluting industry, destabilize the planet's ecosystems, generate prodigious quantities of greenhouse gases, and deprive subaltern populations of the resources needed to adapt to climate change and other socio-ecological crises. In other words, the fossil fuel-based capitalist world economy that caused the climate crisis was sparked and sustained by slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism (including its latest incarnation, neoliberalism).
The Article highlights two core features of racial capitalism: its racial stratification of humans for the purpose of profit making and its eco-destructive logic. It explains international law's complicity with these core features through legal doctrines that construct nature as property and justify the subordination of non-European peoples by portraying them as the backward and barbaric "other" who must be civilized through continuous economic, political, and military interventions. Applying these insights to the proposal to codify ecocide, the Article concludes that the proposed definition of ecocide may reinforce rather than subvert racial capitalism's core features by (1) focusing on individual culpability and spectacular acts of ecological destruction while obscuring racial capitalism’s inherently predatory, eco-destructive logic; (2) perpetuating international law’s civilizing mission through the selective prosecution of the racialized “other”; and (3) devaluing nature, subaltern communities, and world views antithetical to racial capitalism through the incorporation of cost-benefit analysis into the definition of ecocide. Recognizing the interconnectedness of slavery, colonialism, neocolonialism, and climate change, the Article calls for reparative and restorative forms of justice instead of punitive approaches that scapegoat individuals for the structural ills of racial capitalism.
The Article highlights two core features of racial capitalism: its racial stratification of humans for the purpose of profit making and its eco-destructive logic. It explains international law's complicity with these core features through legal doctrines that construct nature as property and justify the subordination of non-European peoples by portraying them as the backward and barbaric "other" who must be civilized through continuous economic, political, and military interventions. Applying these insights to the proposal to codify ecocide, the Article concludes that the proposed definition of ecocide may reinforce rather than subvert racial capitalism's core features by (1) focusing on individual culpability and spectacular acts of ecological destruction while obscuring racial capitalism’s inherently predatory, eco-destructive logic; (2) perpetuating international law’s civilizing mission through the selective prosecution of the racialized “other”; and (3) devaluing nature, subaltern communities, and world views antithetical to racial capitalism through the incorporation of cost-benefit analysis into the definition of ecocide. Recognizing the interconnectedness of slavery, colonialism, neocolonialism, and climate change, the Article calls for reparative and restorative forms of justice instead of punitive approaches that scapegoat individuals for the structural ills of racial capitalism.
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This essay was published as part of a symposium on an article by John Knox and Nicole Tronolone titled Environmental Justice as Environmental Human Rights. Environmental Justice as Environmental Human Rights examines U.S. environmental... more
This essay was published as part of a symposium on an article by John Knox and Nicole Tronolone titled Environmental Justice as Environmental Human Rights. Environmental Justice as Environmental Human Rights examines U.S. environmental law through a human rights framework and pointedly acknowledges its greatest shortcoming: the failure to address environmental racism. Responding to the article, this essay argues that this shortcoming is reinforced by the relegation of environmental racism to the periphery of the environmental law curriculum. This stands in sharp contrast to developments in legal practice. Environmental justice is increasingly central to the work of public interest environmental law organizations and state and federal environmental protection agencies. The essay offers best practices to integrate environmental justice into casebooks and classrooms to educate students about the dangers of colorblind environmental advocacy.
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This essay explores the implications of the right to a healthy environment for the long-standing criticisms of international human rights law as a project and product of the Global North. It examines the Southern origins of the right to a... more
This essay explores the implications of the right to a healthy environment for the long-standing criticisms of international human rights law as a project and product of the Global North. It examines the Southern origins of the right to a healthy environment and its interpretations in regional human rights tribunals. The essay analyzes the responses offered by this evolving jurisprudence to various objections to human rights-based approaches to environmental protection. These include the human rights-based framework's individualism, anthropocentrism, failure to address transboundary harm, and failure to challenge the economic law instruments that perpetuate environmental degradation.
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The concept of racial capitalism has been embraced by scholars and activists as a means of exploring the common roots of contemporary social and ecological crises. These include unprecedented environmental degradation, extreme economic... more
The concept of racial capitalism has been embraced by scholars and activists as a means of exploring the common roots of contemporary social and ecological crises. These include unprecedented environmental degradation, extreme economic inequality, the resurgence of authoritarian ethno-nationalism, increasingly militarized and racialized policing and border control, and the expulsion to the margins of society of growing numbers of humans, including persons who are unemployed, incarcerated, or homeless. This essay examines the logic of racial capitalism in order to distinguish between reforms that entrench it and those that facilitate its dismantlement. I.
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Scientists believe that we have entered a new geological epoch known as the Anthropocene in which the unbridled economic activity of the planet’s most affluent populations threatens irreversible ecological harm. The environmental crises... more
Scientists believe that we have entered a new geological epoch known as the Anthropocene in which the unbridled economic activity of the planet’s most affluent populations threatens irreversible ecological harm.
The environmental crises of the Anthropocene are deeply connected to the laws, policies, and institutions that enable a small fraction of humanity to pillage nature with impunity while imposing devastating economic and ecological consequences on the planet’s most marginalized populations.
This path-breaking volume offers a breath-takingly fresh and insightful diagnosis of the problem. The environment is the foundation of human life, and assumptions about the natural environment are embedded, implicitly or explicitly, in every area of international law. In order to understand international law’s complicity with global environmental degradation, it is necessary to deconstruct the discipline, identify fallacious and destructive assumptions, and remake the discipline by drawing upon the diverse legal traditions and values that have been subjugated by Eurocentric and anthropocentric practices, institutions, and ideologies.
The environmental crises of the Anthropocene are deeply connected to the laws, policies, and institutions that enable a small fraction of humanity to pillage nature with impunity while imposing devastating economic and ecological consequences on the planet’s most marginalized populations.
This path-breaking volume offers a breath-takingly fresh and insightful diagnosis of the problem. The environment is the foundation of human life, and assumptions about the natural environment are embedded, implicitly or explicitly, in every area of international law. In order to understand international law’s complicity with global environmental degradation, it is necessary to deconstruct the discipline, identify fallacious and destructive assumptions, and remake the discipline by drawing upon the diverse legal traditions and values that have been subjugated by Eurocentric and anthropocentric practices, institutions, and ideologies.
Research Interests:
Racial capitalism is a conceptual framework that illuminates the relationship between race and class in the global economy. Formulated initially by South African scholars and activists, the theory of racial capitalism has been invoked in... more
Racial capitalism is a conceptual framework that illuminates the relationship between race and class in the global economy. Formulated initially by South African scholars and activists, the theory of racial capitalism has been invoked in recent years by scholars in a variety of disciplines, including law, because it sheds light on seemingly unrelated phenomena, including rampant economic inequality; increasingly militarized policing and border control; the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous peoples and others racialized as inferior; the resurgence of right-wing authoritarian ethno-nationalism; the expulsion to the margins of society of growing numbers of humans (including persons who are unemployed, incarcerated, or homeless); and the unprecedented degradation of the ecological systems that support human and non-human life.
This article contributes to the theory of racial capitalism by describing its historical foundations and analyzing what we believe to be its two key structural features: profit-making and race-making, for the purpose of accumulating wealth and power. We understand profit-making as the extraction of surplus value or profits through processes of exploitation, expropriation, and expulsion, which are grounded in a politics of race-making. We understand race-making as including racial stratification, racial segregation, and the creation of sacrifice zones, which reflect the strategies and outcomes of profit-making. The structural features of racial capitalism thus are mutually constitutive: profit-making processes create and reinforce the making of racial meaning, while race-making, underwritten by white supremacy, structures and facilitates the economic processes of profit-making. Together, they constitute a global system dependent on the unbridled extraction of wealth from both humans and nature.
Law is deeply implicated in racial capitalism’s profit-making and race-making processes. The article highlights, with concrete examples, the ways that law and legal institutions shape, justify and naturalize the injustices that racial capitalism creates. For example, law defines, in part, what constitutes sovereignty, property, and citizenship; it delineates acceptable levels of environmental degradation; and it determines who is entitled to housing, health care, clean air and water, food, childcare, and a semblance of real freedom and choice (those who can pay). Among the areas of law discussed in the article are property, real estate, labor, immigration, housing, antitrust, trade, investment, environmental, and corporate law – as well as foundational principles of international law (such as sovereignty).
This article contributes to the theory of racial capitalism by describing its historical foundations and analyzing what we believe to be its two key structural features: profit-making and race-making, for the purpose of accumulating wealth and power. We understand profit-making as the extraction of surplus value or profits through processes of exploitation, expropriation, and expulsion, which are grounded in a politics of race-making. We understand race-making as including racial stratification, racial segregation, and the creation of sacrifice zones, which reflect the strategies and outcomes of profit-making. The structural features of racial capitalism thus are mutually constitutive: profit-making processes create and reinforce the making of racial meaning, while race-making, underwritten by white supremacy, structures and facilitates the economic processes of profit-making. Together, they constitute a global system dependent on the unbridled extraction of wealth from both humans and nature.
Law is deeply implicated in racial capitalism’s profit-making and race-making processes. The article highlights, with concrete examples, the ways that law and legal institutions shape, justify and naturalize the injustices that racial capitalism creates. For example, law defines, in part, what constitutes sovereignty, property, and citizenship; it delineates acceptable levels of environmental degradation; and it determines who is entitled to housing, health care, clean air and water, food, childcare, and a semblance of real freedom and choice (those who can pay). Among the areas of law discussed in the article are property, real estate, labor, immigration, housing, antitrust, trade, investment, environmental, and corporate law – as well as foundational principles of international law (such as sovereignty).
Research Interests: Environmental Law, Marxism, Segregation, Race and Racism, Marxism and Ecology, and 15 moreProperty Law, Immigration Law, Public International Law, Marxist theory, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Marxist Feminism, Environmental Justice, Racialization, Nature, Imperialism, Environmental Racism, Neocolonialism, State sovereignty, Crimmigration, and Racial capitalism
Racial capitalism is a conceptual framework that illuminates the relationship between race and class in the global economy. The concept of racial capitalism has spawned a vast interdisciplinary literature reflecting multiple theoretical... more
Racial capitalism is a conceptual framework that illuminates the relationship between race and class in the global economy. The concept of racial capitalism has spawned a vast interdisciplinary literature reflecting multiple theoretical perspectives on the various ways that race and class (along with gender, disability, and other markers of identity) are structurally imbricated and consign humans to different roles in the capitalist world economy in order to generate wealth and profit for a transnational capitalist class dominated by Euro-descendent elites. This article introduces a special issue on racial capitalism and the law published in the Journal of Law and Political Economy. Our goal as editors and contributors is to participate in the ongoing development of the theory of racial capitalism (including intersectional approaches that address gender inequality) and to highlight, with concrete examples, the ways that law and legal institutions shape, justify, and naturalize the injustices that racial capitalism creates. This introduction briefly describes the papers in this special issue and the contributions they make to our understanding of racial capitalism and the law, including property, real estate, labor, immigration, housing, antitrust, trade, investment, environmental, antidiscrimination, criminal, and corporate law – as well as foundational principles of international law (such as sovereignty). We believe that the concept of racial capitalism is a promising area for legal scholarship, and we hope that this special issue will inspire more legal scholars to engage with the interdisciplinary literature on this topic.
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Marxism, Segregation, Race and Racism, Marxism and Ecology, and 14 moreProperty Law, Gender and the Law, Public International Law, Marxist theory, Marxist Feminism, Environmental Justice, International Investment Law, Nature, Microcredit, Imperialism, Environmental Racism, Neocolonialism, State sovereignty, and Racial capitalism
The failure of international law and institutions to address global environmental degradation has significant implications for law and society as the planet’s ecosystems approach irreversible tipping points. According to a recent study... more
The failure of international law and institutions to address global environmental degradation has significant implications for law and society as the planet’s ecosystems approach irreversible tipping points. According to a recent study published in the journal Science, the global economy has transgressed four of the nine “planetary boundaries” critical to the planet’s self-regulating capacity. Climate change, deforestation, species extinction, and the runoff of phosphorus and nitrogen into regional watersheds and oceans have exceeded safe biophysical thresholds. Scientists refer to the current geologic era of human-induced environmental change as the Anthropocene. These environmental problems are inextricably intertwined with patterns of trade, finance, investment, and production that have created an enormous and growing economic gap between and within affluent and poor countries -- the global North and the global South. Grounded in colonialism, these North-South divisions have ofte...
Research Interests: International Relations, Development Studies, Human Rights Law, International Law, Sustainable Development, and 7 moreInternational Human Rights Law, Environmental Justice, International Environmental Law, International Relations and Human Rights, International Environmental Politics, Anthropocene, and International Environmental Law and Policy
In April 2020, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) launched an initiative to foster conversations within and beyond ASIL on the connections between climate change and virtually all other areas of international law. This essay... more
In April 2020, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) launched an initiative to foster conversations within and beyond ASIL on the connections between climate change and virtually all other areas of international law. This essay for the ASIL Proceedings is based on a presentation delivered at the April 2021 ASIL Annual Meeting.
The essay examines the link between climate change and racial subordination from the dawn of the fossil fuel-based world economy to the present and the complicity of international law in these converging injustices. It discusses the counterhegemonic uses of international law by environmental justice movements in the Global South and the Global North and argues that lawyers have a huge role to play in solidarity with these movements and in opposition to the reckless extraction of the planet’s resources.
As the climate crisis intensifies, many movement lawyers representing marginalized communities have unwittingly become climate lawyers, and many climate lawyers seeking to forestall climate catastrophe have already or will soon become movement lawyers.
The essay examines the link between climate change and racial subordination from the dawn of the fossil fuel-based world economy to the present and the complicity of international law in these converging injustices. It discusses the counterhegemonic uses of international law by environmental justice movements in the Global South and the Global North and argues that lawyers have a huge role to play in solidarity with these movements and in opposition to the reckless extraction of the planet’s resources.
As the climate crisis intensifies, many movement lawyers representing marginalized communities have unwittingly become climate lawyers, and many climate lawyers seeking to forestall climate catastrophe have already or will soon become movement lawyers.
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This chapter examines the relationship between SDG 2, Zero Hunger, and international law. It argues that SDG 2 is supported by international human rights law. However, international economic law (trade, investment, finance) impedes the... more
This chapter examines the relationship between SDG 2, Zero Hunger, and international law. It argues that SDG 2 is supported by international human rights law. However, international economic law (trade, investment, finance) impedes the achievement of SDG 2 by undermining the livelihoods of small farmers and restricting the ability of states to regulate in the public interest. When these bodies of law conflict, international economic law generally prevails as a consequence of the powerful mechanisms through which it is enforced, including the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system, investor-state arbitration under international investment agreements, and the loan conditionalities imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
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Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) is a movement encompassing scholars and practitioners of international law and policy who are concerned with issues related to the global South in its broad conception. In this... more
Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) is a movement encompassing scholars and practitioners of international law and policy who are concerned with issues related to the global South in its broad conception.
In this publication, three TWAIL-affiliated scholars (Julia Dehm, Carmen G. Gonzalez, and Usha Natarajan) respond to questions about international law praxis at a time of systemic social, economic, and ecological meltdown -- including explosive economic inequality, COVID-19, catastrophic climate change, unprecedented species extinction, toxic masculinity, resurgent white supremacy, and the threats to life and health posed by polluted air, contaminated water, and destruction of the planet's ecosystems.
This publication is based on a keynote event organized by Rose Parfitt, Luis Eslava & Marcus Gunneflo, co-directors of the International Law & Politics Collaborative Research Network, at the 2021 Law & Society Annual Meeting on 27 May 2021.
This dialogue was published in the TWAIL Review, https://twailr.com/
It is available at: https://twailr.com/meltdown-international-law-praxis-during-socio-ecological-crises/#
In this publication, three TWAIL-affiliated scholars (Julia Dehm, Carmen G. Gonzalez, and Usha Natarajan) respond to questions about international law praxis at a time of systemic social, economic, and ecological meltdown -- including explosive economic inequality, COVID-19, catastrophic climate change, unprecedented species extinction, toxic masculinity, resurgent white supremacy, and the threats to life and health posed by polluted air, contaminated water, and destruction of the planet's ecosystems.
This publication is based on a keynote event organized by Rose Parfitt, Luis Eslava & Marcus Gunneflo, co-directors of the International Law & Politics Collaborative Research Network, at the 2021 Law & Society Annual Meeting on 27 May 2021.
This dialogue was published in the TWAIL Review, https://twailr.com/
It is available at: https://twailr.com/meltdown-international-law-praxis-during-socio-ecological-crises/#
Research Interests: Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Climate Change, International Law, Sustainable Development, Environmental Justice, and 8 moreInternational Environmental Law, Critical Legal Studies and Empire, Ecocide, TWAIL - Third World Approaches to International Law, Racial capitalism, Extractivismo, Colonialism and Imperialism, and Anthropocene and law
This chapter examines the numerous forms of “loss and damage” experienced by poor and racialized communities who reside in the sacrifice zones of the fossil fuel-based world economy (carbon capitalism), including displacement,... more
This chapter examines the numerous forms of “loss and damage” experienced by poor and racialized communities who reside in the sacrifice zones of the fossil fuel-based world economy (carbon capitalism), including displacement, dispossession, and poisoning of land, air, and water. It argues that the Paris Agreement, despite its references to human rights and climate justice, contributes to the structural violence of carbon capitalism by failing to curtail fossil fuel extraction, promoting a variety of highly profitable false solutions to climate change (including the commodification of carbon), and neglecting to require high-emitting, affluent states to provide compensation for the climate change-induced disasters that continue to inflict disproportionate harm on racialized frontline communities all over the world. The Paris Agreement thereby eviscerates the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. It also perpetuates the climate crisis that displaces racialized, climate-vulnerable people, who are then demonized by right-wing authoritarian social movements in the name of national security. These right-wing “populists” deploy racism to create cross-class alliances in support of extractive industries and carbon-intensive models of economic development. The article offers an expansive interpretation of loss and damage that articulates the links among racism, extractivism, and economic inequality in order to promote solidarity among diverse social movements and collective opposition to carbon capitalism.
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This article examines the legal and moral basis for migration as a form of reparation for the harms inflicted on the states and peoples of the Global South through climate change and through centuries of predatory economic policies. Using... more
This article examines the legal and moral basis for migration as a form of reparation for the harms inflicted on the states and peoples of the Global South through climate change and through centuries of predatory economic policies. Using Central America migration to the United States as a case study, the article explains that susceptibility to climate change is a function of two variables: exposure and social and economic vulnerability. High-emitting affluent states are disproportionately responsible for Central America’s exposure to climate change due to their historic and current greenhouse gas emissions, their unwillingness to curb these emissions, and their failure to provide adequate adaptation assistance. The United States is responsible for Central America’s social and economic vulnerability due to its history of invasions, coups, military occupations, support for brutal dictatorships, and imposition of damaging economic policies. Climate law scholars have proposed that high-emitting states accept climate-displaced persons into their territory in proportion to each country’s historic contribution to climate change. Migration law scholars have advocated for the admission of so-called “economic migrants” as a form of compensation for the North’s exploitation and domination of the South from the colonial era to the present. This article combines the insights of both group of scholars and argues for migration as a form of reparation for the environmental, social, and economic harms inflicted on the Global South that have undermined its resilience to climate change and have disrupted the lives and livelihoods of its inhabitants. Re-conceptualizing migration as one form of reparation challenges traditional notions of bounded autonomous sovereign states by highlighting the political, ecological, and economic interconnectedness of states and peoples and by calling for policies that recognize this interdependence.
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This article examines the relationship among climate change, racial subordination, and the capitalist world economy through the framework of racial capitalism. It argues that climate change is a logical consequence of an economic system... more
This article examines the relationship among climate change, racial subordination, and the capitalist world economy through the framework of racial capitalism. It argues that climate change is a logical consequence of an economic system based on extraction, accumulation through dispossession, and white supremacy. Climate change imposes disproportionate burdens on racialized communities all over the world, many of whom will be expelled from their homes in record numbers as the climate emergency intensifies. International law has been deeply complicit in the project of racial capitalism, and is now being deployed to address climate change-induced displacement. This article evaluates the emerging legal and policy responses to climate displacement, and proposes alternative approaches based on the perspectives of states and peoples facing imminent displacement, including their demand for self-determination. Climate change is not an isolated crisis, but a symptom of an economic (dis)order that jeopardizes the future of life on this planet. Through a race-conscious analysis of climate change grounded in political economy, this article seeks to engage scholars in a variety of disciplines in order to develop more robust critiques of the laws, institutions, and ideologies that maintain racial capitalism and pose an existential threat to humanity.
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This article expands our understanding of climate justice by demonstrating how racial subordination, environmental degradation, and the fossil fuel-based capitalist world economy are interrelated. It uses these insights to critique the... more
This article expands our understanding of climate justice by demonstrating how racial subordination, environmental degradation, and the fossil fuel-based capitalist world economy are interrelated. It uses these insights to critique the emerging legal and policy responses to climate change-induced displacement and to examine alternative approaches emerging from climate-vulnerable states and peoples. The article argues that racialized communities all over the world have borne the brunt of carbon capitalism from cradle (extraction of fossil fuels) to grave (climate change) and that a race-conscious analysis of climate change and climate displacement can reveal the commonalities among seemingly distinct forms of oppression in order to forge the alliances necessary to achieve just and emancipatory outcomes.
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Sustainable development came of age with the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The SDGs represent a commitment by world leaders to achieve integrated and interdependent... more
Sustainable development came of age with the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The SDGs represent a commitment by world leaders to achieve integrated and interdependent economic, social, and environmental targets by 2030, with particular emphasis on the protection of vulnerable groups, including children, the elderly, indigenous peoples, refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons. The SDGs overcome the fragmentation of international law by recognizing that environmental law, economic law, and human rights law must not operate in silos or at cross-purposes. However, the SDGs contain a fatal flaw. They continue to envision economic growth as the primary engine of poverty reduction. By failing to recognize the impossibility of infinite growth on a finite planet, the SDGs perpetuate the contradiction between economic growth and ecological sustainability that has long bedeviled the concept of sustainable development.
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Research Interests:
Nearly 3 billion people lack access to modern energy for cooking, heating, lighting, sanitation, transportation and basic mechanical power. 1 Concentrated in the least developed countries of Africa and Asia, the energy poor constitute one... more
Nearly 3 billion people lack access to modern energy for cooking, heating, lighting, sanitation, transportation and basic mechanical power. 1 Concentrated in the least developed countries of Africa and Asia, the energy poor constitute one third of humanity, 2 but are largely forgotten in the international agreements that address climate change. 3 Global Energy Justice provides a comprehensive yet succinct introduction to the ways that law and policy can address the interlocking problems of energy access and poverty. Written by Lakshman Guruswamy, the book examines the plight of the energy poor and offers concrete proposals for promoting universal access to clean and affordable energy. The energy poor rely on biomass-generated fires (from the burning of wood, raw coal, animal dung, and crop residues) as their primary source of energy. 4 The inefficient combustion of biomass for cooking exposes women and children to hazardous levels of indoor air pollution, causing more than 3.5 million deaths per year due to pulmonary diseases. 5 Lack of access to modern energy also impedes the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their successor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty eradication, food security, education, health, and access to water and sanitation. 6 As Guruswamy explains:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Environmental Law, International Law, Race and Racism, Environmental Studies, Cold War, and 12 moreInternational Human Rights Law, Civil Rights, Environmental Justice, Civil Rights (History), Cold War International Relations, Cold War history, The Right to Health, Inter-American Human Rights System, International Law and Human Rights, Environmental Racism, American Exceptionalism, and Equality and Discrimination Law European Union Discrimination Law Human Rights Race Religious Discrimination Gender Discrimination
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: International Law, International Human Rights Law, Civil Rights Movement, Environmental Justice, Environmental Law and Human Rights, and 10 moreCold War International Relations, The Right to Health, Inter-American Human Rights System, Environmental Racism, Sistema Interamericano de Protección de Derechos Humanos, American Exceptionalism, Equality and Non Discrimination, Human Right to a Healthy Environment, Race-Based Discrimination, and International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Research Interests: Environmental Law, Human Rights Law, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, International Environmental Law, and 3 moreEnvironmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection, Energy justice, and The Rights of Nature
Analyses of the viability of biofuels as alternatives to fossil fuels have often adopted a technocratic approach that focuses on environmental consequences, but places less emphasis on the impact that biofuels may have on vulnerable... more
Analyses of the viability of biofuels as alternatives to fossil fuels have often adopted a technocratic approach that focuses on environmental consequences, but places less emphasis on the impact that biofuels may have on vulnerable populations. This Article fills the gap in the existing literature by evaluating biofuels through the lens of environmental justice – including climate justice and food justice. The Article examines the impact of biofuels on the global food system and on the planet's most food-insecure populations. It concludes that the laws and policies promoting the cultivation of biofuels have contributed to global malnourishment by raising food prices and accelerating the large-scale acquisition of arable lands in poor countries that deprive local communities of the land and water necessary to grow food (a phenomenon known as land-grabbing). Ironically, the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of many biofuels exceed those of the fossil fuels they replace. Instead of mitigating climate change, the promotion of biofuels threatens to intensify an industrial model of agricultural production that degrades local ecosystems, exacerbates climate change, and intensifies food insecurity. The Article concludes by discussing governance strategies to foster a more equitable and sustainable approach to bioenergy that respects, protects, and fulfills the human right to food.
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Environmental justice is an important framework for understanding the North–South divide in many areas of international law and policy, including energy, climate, hazardous wastes, and food. An environmental justice analysis makes visible... more
Environmental justice is an important framework for understanding the North–South divide in many areas of international law and policy, including energy, climate, hazardous wastes, and food. An environmental justice analysis makes visible the ways in which the global North benefits from unsustainable economic activity while imposing the environmental consequences on the global South and on the planet's most vulnerable human beings, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, and the poor. This chapter applies an environmental justice analysis to the global food system, analyzes the underlying causes of the inequities in food production and consumption, and outlines several strategies to create a more equitable and sustainable approach to global food governance.
Research Interests:
A common refrain in New Orleans is that water flows away from money. From the Crescent City down to the bayou, the communities most vulnerable to floodwaters suffer not simply because of geography and topography, but because of multiple... more
A common refrain in New Orleans is that water flows away from money. From the Crescent City down to the bayou, the communities most vulnerable to floodwaters suffer not simply because of geography and topography, but because of multiple social vulnerabilities. As policymakers in Louisiana and throughout the Gulf Coast region grapple with climate change adaptation, they must do so in a way that deliberately and effectively engages vulnerable communities in the planning process. This paper explores a number of community-level strategies for adaptation, with a special focus on ensuring the individuals and communities they are meant to protect have a say in their design and implementation. It identifies best practices for engaging individuals and their communities in initiatives like elevating structures, revising zoning laws, flood-proofing homes, and pre-disaster planning, to ensure policymakers understand and account for their needs. Co-authors Carmen Gonzalez, A common refrain in New Orleans is that water flows away from money. From the Crescent City down to the bayou, the communities most vulnerable to floodwaters suffer not simply because of geography and topography, but because of multiple social vulnerabilities. As policymakers in Louisiana and throughout the Gulf Coast region grapple with climate change adaptation, they must do so in a way that deliberately and effectively engages vulnerable communities in the planning process. This paper explores a number of community-level strategies for adaptation, with a special focus on ensuring the individuals and communities they are meant to protect have a say in their design and implementation. It identifies best practices for engaging individuals and their communities in initiatives like elevating structures, revising zoning laws, flood-proofing homes, and pre-disaster planning, to ensure policymakers understand and account for their needs. Co-authors Carmen Gonzalez, Alice Kaswan, Robert Verchick, Yee Huang, Shawn Bowen, and Nowal Jamhour explain that empowering communities, particularly ones that are already vulnerable for social and economic reasons, will ensure both environmental and social resilience.explain that empowering communities, particularly ones that are already vulnerable for social and economic reasons, will ensure both environmental and social resilience.
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From the Ogoni people devastated by oil drilling in Nigeria to the Inuit and other indigenous populations threatened by climate change, communities disparately burdened by environmental degradation are increasingly framing their demands... more
From the Ogoni people devastated by oil drilling in Nigeria to the Inuit and other indigenous populations threatened by climate change, communities disparately burdened by environmental degradation are increasingly framing their demands for environmental justice in the language of environmental human rights. However, some scholars have expressed scepticism about the environmental human rights project. First, they remind us that the human rights governance capacity of many states in the global South has been compromised by the neoliberal economic reforms imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as by trade and investment agreements. Second, they question the ability of human rights law to adequately articulate and advance the aspirations and resistance strategies of diverse grassroots social justice movements, and warn us about the susceptibility of human rights law to co-optation by powerful Northern states. This Chapter examines the promise and the peril of environmental human rights as a means of challenging environmental injustice within nations and the North-South dimension of environmental injustice.
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The failure of international law and institutions to address global environmental degradation has significant implications for law and society as the planet’s ecosystems approach irreversible tipping points. According to a recent study... more
The failure of international law and institutions to address global environmental degradation has significant implications for law and society as the planet’s ecosystems approach irreversible tipping points. According to a recent study published in the journal Science, the global economy has transgressed four of the nine “planetary boundaries” critical to the planet’s self-regulating capacity. Climate change, deforestation, species extinction, and the runoff of phosphorus and nitrogen into regional watersheds and oceans have exceeded safe biophysical thresholds. Scientists refer to the current geologic era of human-induced environmental change as the Anthropocene.
These environmental problems are inextricably intertwined with patterns of trade, finance, investment, and production that have created an enormous and growing economic gap between and within affluent and poor countries -- the global North and the global South. Grounded in colonialism, these North-South divisions have often paralyzed international law-making, resulting in deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and agreements characterized by ambiguity, lack of ambition, and inadequate compliance and enforcement mechanisms. International environmental law is a field in crisis because the problems it currently confronts are deeply embedded in the existing economic order and cannot be adequately addressed by simply tinkering on the margins.
This article examines the North-South divide in international environmental law and offers several strategies to bridge the divide and create a more just and sustainable economic order grounded in a robust conception of environmental justice.
These environmental problems are inextricably intertwined with patterns of trade, finance, investment, and production that have created an enormous and growing economic gap between and within affluent and poor countries -- the global North and the global South. Grounded in colonialism, these North-South divisions have often paralyzed international law-making, resulting in deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and agreements characterized by ambiguity, lack of ambition, and inadequate compliance and enforcement mechanisms. International environmental law is a field in crisis because the problems it currently confronts are deeply embedded in the existing economic order and cannot be adequately addressed by simply tinkering on the margins.
This article examines the North-South divide in international environmental law and offers several strategies to bridge the divide and create a more just and sustainable economic order grounded in a robust conception of environmental justice.
Research Interests: International Relations, Development Studies, Human Rights Law, International Law, Sustainable Development, and 9 moreInternational Human Rights Law, Environmental Justice, International Environmental Law, International Relations and Human Rights, International Environmental Politics, International law, international relations, human rights law, international humanitarian law, international organisations, law and politics, Anthropocene, International Environmental Law and Policy, and Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between... more
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, indigenous rights, trade, investment, extractive industries, human rights, land grabs, hazardous waste, and climate change. Born out of the recognition that global inequality and profligate consumerism present threats to a sustainable planet, this books makes a unique contribution to international environmental law by emphasizing the priorities and concerns of the global South.
The downloadable document contains the table of contents as well as the book introduction (co-authored by Sumudu Atapattu and Carmen G. Gonzalez)
The downloadable document contains the table of contents as well as the book introduction (co-authored by Sumudu Atapattu and Carmen G. Gonzalez)
Research Interests: International Relations, Development Studies, Environmental Law, Climate Change, International Studies, and 27 moreInternational Law, International Development, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Environmental History, Sustainable Development, International Human Rights Law, North-South relations, Public International Law, Environmental Policy and Governance, Environmental Politics, Energy and Environment, Environmental Justice, International Environmental Law, Water Rights Law, Small Island Developing States, Climate Justice, Water Justice, Food Justice, Political ecology, NGOs, sustainable development, biodiversity, agroecology, amazonia, brazil, global change, environmental actors, protect areas, nature conservation., Climate Change and Food Security, Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection, TWAIL - Third World Approaches to International Law, Extractive Industry, Natural Resources and Development in Africa, Environmental Justice, Indigenous Rights, Water Rights, Energy justice, and Global (North/South) Environmental Politics
Nearly 3 billion people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (the Energy Poor) face daily hardships due to lack of modern energy for cooking, heating, sanitation, lighting, transportation, and basic mechanical power. Despite their minimal... more
Nearly 3 billion people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (the Energy Poor) face daily hardships due to lack of modern energy for cooking, heating, sanitation, lighting, transportation, and basic mechanical power. Despite their minimal greenhouse gas emissions, the Energy Poor will be disproportionately burdened by the floods, droughts, rising sea levels, and other disturbances caused by climate change. Although climate change has been framed as an issue of climate debt and climate justice, the plight of the Energy Poor has received short shrift in the climate change negotiations. Will efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions consign the Energy Poor to perpetual deprivation?
This chapter argues that the climate change negotiations represent a unique opportunity for affluent countries to mitigate climate change, repay the climate debt, and foster climate justice and energy justice by financing the provision of clean renewable energy to the Energy Poor. The black carbon emitted in the burning of biomass by the Energy Poor results in millions of deaths per year due to indoor air pollution (primarily among women and children), and constitutes the second most significant contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. Dependence on biomass for energy also ravages local ecosystems and accelerates deforestation. The cost of reducing black carbon emissions is minimal relative to other greenhouse gases, and the benefits are enormous because black carbon is a highly potent greenhouse gas that dissipates in as little as one week if emissions cease. Financing the provision of clean, renewable energy to the world’s Energy Poor will enhance their well-being, fulfill their human rights, produce an immediate decline in black carbon, and promote low-emission alternatives to the dominant fossil-fuel based development paradigm.
A justice-centered approach to climate change and energy poverty should recognize the right to energy as an emerging human right and prioritize the provision of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs) to the Energy Poor, including decentralized electricity generating systems based on solar, wind, and local biodiesel; efficient cookstoves; and solar thermal heating. Decentralized renewable energy will enable the Energy Poor to bypass existing fossil fuel-based energy systems that are cumbersome, expensive, polluting, and vulnerable to capture by national elites. Financing the provision of ASETs to the Energy Poor can therefore foster democratic local control of energy production in addition to mitigating climate change, protecting local ecosystems, fulfilling human rights, and hastening the transition to sustainable energy.
This chapter argues that the climate change negotiations represent a unique opportunity for affluent countries to mitigate climate change, repay the climate debt, and foster climate justice and energy justice by financing the provision of clean renewable energy to the Energy Poor. The black carbon emitted in the burning of biomass by the Energy Poor results in millions of deaths per year due to indoor air pollution (primarily among women and children), and constitutes the second most significant contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. Dependence on biomass for energy also ravages local ecosystems and accelerates deforestation. The cost of reducing black carbon emissions is minimal relative to other greenhouse gases, and the benefits are enormous because black carbon is a highly potent greenhouse gas that dissipates in as little as one week if emissions cease. Financing the provision of clean, renewable energy to the world’s Energy Poor will enhance their well-being, fulfill their human rights, produce an immediate decline in black carbon, and promote low-emission alternatives to the dominant fossil-fuel based development paradigm.
A justice-centered approach to climate change and energy poverty should recognize the right to energy as an emerging human right and prioritize the provision of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs) to the Energy Poor, including decentralized electricity generating systems based on solar, wind, and local biodiesel; efficient cookstoves; and solar thermal heating. Decentralized renewable energy will enable the Energy Poor to bypass existing fossil fuel-based energy systems that are cumbersome, expensive, polluting, and vulnerable to capture by national elites. Financing the provision of ASETs to the Energy Poor can therefore foster democratic local control of energy production in addition to mitigating climate change, protecting local ecosystems, fulfilling human rights, and hastening the transition to sustainable energy.
Research Interests:
From the Ogoni people devastated by oil drilling in Nigeria to the Inuit and other indigenous populations threatened by climate change, communities disparately burdened by environmental degradation are increasingly framing their demands... more
From the Ogoni people devastated by oil drilling in Nigeria to the Inuit and other indigenous populations threatened by climate change, communities disparately burdened by environmental degradation are increasingly framing their demands for environmental justice in the language of environmental human rights. Domestic and international tribunals have concluded that failure to protect the environment violates a variety of human rights (including the rights to life, health, food, water, property, and privacy; the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and resources; and the right to a healthy environment).
Some scholars have questioned the utility of the human rights framework given the diminished governance capacity of many Third World states due to decades of intervention by international financial institutions and restrictions imposed by trade and investment agreements. Others have expressed doubts about the ability of human rights law to adequately articulate and advance the aspirations and resistance strategies of diverse grassroots social justice movements, and have warned about the susceptibility of human rights law and discourse to cooptation by powerful states to advance their own economic and political interests (for example, through “humanitarian intervention” in Third World states).
This article examines the promise and the peril of environmental human rights as a means of challenging environmental injustice within nations as well as the North-South dimension of environmental injustice. Drawing a distinction between human rights discourse as a tool of popular mobilization and human rights law as codified in legal instruments and enforced by international institutions, the article examines some of the limitations of human rights law as an instrument of resistance to environmental injustice and offers several strategies to enhance its emancipatory potential.
Some scholars have questioned the utility of the human rights framework given the diminished governance capacity of many Third World states due to decades of intervention by international financial institutions and restrictions imposed by trade and investment agreements. Others have expressed doubts about the ability of human rights law to adequately articulate and advance the aspirations and resistance strategies of diverse grassroots social justice movements, and have warned about the susceptibility of human rights law and discourse to cooptation by powerful states to advance their own economic and political interests (for example, through “humanitarian intervention” in Third World states).
This article examines the promise and the peril of environmental human rights as a means of challenging environmental injustice within nations as well as the North-South dimension of environmental injustice. Drawing a distinction between human rights discourse as a tool of popular mobilization and human rights law as codified in legal instruments and enforced by international institutions, the article examines some of the limitations of human rights law as an instrument of resistance to environmental injustice and offers several strategies to enhance its emancipatory potential.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Environmental Law, Human Rights Law, Human Rights, Environmental Studies, and 13 moreSustainable Development, International Human Rights Law, Human rights and environment, Human rights and the environment, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Law and Human Rights, International Environmental Politics, International Environmental Law and Policy, Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection, TWAIL - Third World Approaches to International Law, Global (North/South) Environmental Politics, and Human Rights Law and Environmental Law
The global food system is in a state of profound crisis. Decades of misguided aid, trade and production policies have resulted in an unprecedented erosion of agrobiodiversity that renders the world’s food supply vulnerable to catastrophic... more
The global food system is in a state of profound crisis. Decades of misguided aid, trade and production policies have resulted in an unprecedented erosion of agrobiodiversity that renders the world’s food supply vulnerable to catastrophic crop failure in the event of drought, heavy rains, and outbreaks of pests and disease. Climate change threatens to wreak additional havoc on food production by increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, depressing agricultural yields, reducing the productivity of the world’s fisheries, and placing pressure on scarce water resources. Furthermore, the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are occurring at a time of rising global food insecurity. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reports that the number of chronically undernourished people in the world reached a peak of 1.05 billion people in 2009 – a figure that represents one sixth of humanity.
This article examines the underlying causes of the crises in the global food system, and recommends specific measures that might be adopted to address the distinct but related problems of food insecurity, loss of agrobiodiversity, and climate change. The article concludes that the root cause of the crises confronting the global food system is corporate domination of the food supply and the systemic destruction of local food systems that are healthy, ecologically sustainable, and socially just. The article argues that small-scale sustainable agriculture has the potential to address the interrelated climate, food, and agrobiodiversity crises, and suggests specific measures that the international community might take through law and regulation to promote the transition to a more just, resilient, and sustainable food system.
This article examines the underlying causes of the crises in the global food system, and recommends specific measures that might be adopted to address the distinct but related problems of food insecurity, loss of agrobiodiversity, and climate change. The article concludes that the root cause of the crises confronting the global food system is corporate domination of the food supply and the systemic destruction of local food systems that are healthy, ecologically sustainable, and socially just. The article argues that small-scale sustainable agriculture has the potential to address the interrelated climate, food, and agrobiodiversity crises, and suggests specific measures that the international community might take through law and regulation to promote the transition to a more just, resilient, and sustainable food system.
Research Interests:
This chapter examines the historic and current policies and practices that have contributed to food insecurity in the global South. It analyzes the impact of international economic law on the patterns of trade and production that... more
This chapter examines the historic and current policies and practices that have contributed to food insecurity in the global South. It analyzes the impact of international economic law on the patterns of trade and production that perpetuate food insecurity, and recommends concrete measures that the international community might take through law and regulation to promote the fundamental human right to food. Part I provides a short introduction to the right to food framework and its implications for international trade, investment, and finance. Part II places the current food crisis in historical perspective by discussing the trade and aid policies that laid the foundation for food insecurity in the global South from colonialism until the early 1980s. Part III explains how food insecurity was exacerbated by the free market reforms implemented in the global South in the last three decades pursuant to structural adjustment programs mandated by international financial institutions and to multilateral and bilateral trade agreements. Part IV discusses the impact on food security of the financial crisis, the climate crisis, and the growing acquisition of agricultural lands in the global South by foreign investors. Part V describes concrete steps that states could take to respect, protect and fulfill the right to food, both nationally and globally. Part VI concludes with a variety of proposals to better integrate human rights law, environmental law, and international trade and investment law, so as to create a more enabling global environment for the realization of the right to food.
Research Interests:
Environmental justice lies at the heart of many environmental disputes between the global North and the global South as well as grassroots environmental struggles within nations. However, the discourse of international environmental law... more
Environmental justice lies at the heart of many environmental disputes between the global North and the global South as well as grassroots environmental struggles within nations. However, the discourse of international environmental law is often ahistorical and technocratic. It neither educates the North about its inordinate contribution to global environmental problems nor provides an adequate response to the concerns of nations and communities disproportionately burdened by poverty and environmental degradation. This article examines some of the root causes of environmental injustice among and within nations from the colonial period to the present, and discusses several strategies that can be used to integrate environmental justice into the broader corpus of international law so as to promote social and economic justice while protecting the planet’s natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.
Research Interests:
The article draws upon the insights of Yale philosopher Thomas Pogge to suggest a way that we might think about the structural inequities in the global economic order that produce food insecurity. The article argues that chronic... more
The article draws upon the insights of Yale philosopher Thomas Pogge to suggest a way that we might think about the structural inequities in the global economic order that produce food insecurity. The article argues that chronic undernourishment is not a function of food scarcity, bad weather, or simply bad luck. Rather, it is a function of international political and economic arrangements that systematically benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor. The article concludes with several legal and policy reforms that the United States and the European Union can adopt to reduce the burdens that our societies place on the world's most vulnerable populations.
Research Interests:
Female law professors of color have become the canaries in the academic mine whose plight is an early warning of the dangers that threaten legal education and the future of the legal profession. As legal education is restructured in... more
Female law professors of color have become the canaries in the academic mine whose plight is an early warning of the dangers that threaten legal education and the future of the legal profession. As legal education is restructured in response to declining enrollments, tenure itself is coming under fire, and downsizing and hiring freezes are becoming more common. Female law professors of color, who tend to be concentrated at middle- and lower-tier law schools, are particularly vulnerable. But this vulnerability may foreshadow the predicament of all but the most elite law faculty if academic employment becomes increasingly precarious. This article discusses the importance of faculty diversity to the health of the legal profession, and examines the barriers that female law professors of color encounter in the academic workplace. Drawing upon the author’s co-edited book, Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. González & Angela P. Harris eds., 2012), the article sets forth best practices that can be adopted by academic leaders to remove these barriers, to create an inclusive and equitable campus climate, and to ensure that the upheavals in legal education do not sabotage these efforts. The article includes recommendations for the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and US News & World Report.
Research Interests:
""The emergence of China as a significant economic force in Latin America has sparked both optimism and alarm. Recent books and articles depict China as a rising imperial power scouring the globe for natural resources and as a competitive... more
""The emergence of China as a significant economic force in Latin America has sparked both optimism and alarm. Recent books and articles depict China as a rising imperial power scouring the globe for natural resources and as a competitive threat to Latin America. Other studies applaud China’s pragmatic, unorthodox development strategies and portray China as a successful model for developing countries. The competing narratives about China’s rise do agree on one thing: China has become a formidable force in the developing world whose influence merits careful evaluation.
Will China's engagement with Latin America produce alternative paradigms of economic development that improve the quality of life while respecting ecological limits? Or will China replicate the trade and investment regimes that reinforced the economic and political subordination of developing countries, facilitated the exploitation of their natural resources, and brought the planet's ecosystems to the brink of collapse?
This chapter attempts to bridge the contentious debate over China’s role in Latin America by interrogating the dominant narratives that portray China as either a menace to Latin America’s development or as a model worthy of emulation. The chapter proceeds in five parts. Part I places China’s engagement with Latin America in historical context by providing an introduction to the economic history of Latin America. Part II examines the claim that China’s economic rise should be regarded as a model for Latin America. Part III evaluates the claim that China poses a threat to Latin America’s development. Parts IV and V discuss the implications of China’s rise for international economic law and for sustainable development, including China's role in the World Trade Organization, China's bilateral trade and investment agreements with Latin American nations, and China's potential contributions to sustainable development law. ""
Will China's engagement with Latin America produce alternative paradigms of economic development that improve the quality of life while respecting ecological limits? Or will China replicate the trade and investment regimes that reinforced the economic and political subordination of developing countries, facilitated the exploitation of their natural resources, and brought the planet's ecosystems to the brink of collapse?
This chapter attempts to bridge the contentious debate over China’s role in Latin America by interrogating the dominant narratives that portray China as either a menace to Latin America’s development or as a model worthy of emulation. The chapter proceeds in five parts. Part I places China’s engagement with Latin America in historical context by providing an introduction to the economic history of Latin America. Part II examines the claim that China’s economic rise should be regarded as a model for Latin America. Part III evaluates the claim that China poses a threat to Latin America’s development. Parts IV and V discuss the implications of China’s rise for international economic law and for sustainable development, including China's role in the World Trade Organization, China's bilateral trade and investment agreements with Latin American nations, and China's potential contributions to sustainable development law. ""
Research Interests: Climate Change, Natural Resources, Sustainable Development, Law and Development, Colonialism, and 10 morePost-Colonialism, Environmental Sustainability, International trade law, International Environmental Law, Imperialism, WTO, Washington consensus, Bilateral Investment Treaties, Beijing Consensus, and Natural resource curse
"Presumed Incompetent is a pathbreaking account of the intersecting roles of race, gender, and class in the working lives of women faculty of color. Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors... more
"Presumed Incompetent is a pathbreaking account of the intersecting roles of race, gender, and class in the working lives of women faculty of color. Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors expose the daunting challenges faced by academic women of color as they navigate the often hostile terrain of higher education, including hiring, promotion, tenure, and relations with students, colleagues, and administrators. One of the topics addressed is the importance of forging supportive networks to transform the workplace and create a more hospitable environment for traditionally subordinated groups. The narratives are filled with wit, wisdom, and concrete recommendations, and provide a window into the struggles of professional women in a racially stratified but increasingly multicultural America.
The downloadable document contains the Introduction to Presumed Incompetent co-authored by Angela P. Harris and Carmen G. Gonzalez.
The book may be ordered from the publisher at http://www.usu.edu/usupress/books/index.cfm?isbn=8695
The book is also available for pre-order at http://www.amazon.com/Presumed-Incompetent-Intersections-Class-Academia/dp/0874218691/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t"
The downloadable document contains the Introduction to Presumed Incompetent co-authored by Angela P. Harris and Carmen G. Gonzalez.
The book may be ordered from the publisher at http://www.usu.edu/usupress/books/index.cfm?isbn=8695
The book is also available for pre-order at http://www.amazon.com/Presumed-Incompetent-Intersections-Class-Academia/dp/0874218691/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t"
Research Interests:
The free market reforms adopted by Mexico in the wake of the debt crisis of the 1980s and in connection with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have jeopardized the physical and cultural survival of Mexico’s indigenous... more
The free market reforms adopted by Mexico in the wake of the debt crisis of the 1980s and in connection with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have jeopardized the physical and cultural survival of Mexico’s indigenous peoples, increased migration to the United States, threatened biological diversity in Mexico, and imposed additional stress on the environment in the United States. Despite these negative impacts, NAFTA continues to serve as a template for trade agreements in the Americas. Unless this template is fundamentally restructured, future trade agreements may replicate throughout the Western hemisphere many of the economic, ecological and social dislocations experienced under NAFTA.
Using Mexico as a case study, the article examines the impact of trade liberalization on indigenous peoples and on the environment. Critiquing Mexico's neoliberal economic reforms through the framework of environmental justice, the article highlights some of the theoretical and practical limitations of the theory of comparative advantage, which serves as the justification for the free market economic policies promoted by international trade and financial institutions. The article urges policy-makers to integrate trade, human rights, and environmental policy instead of criminalizing immigrants or militarizing the U.S.-Mexican border. The article concludes by using the paradigm of environmental justice to outline the elements of a more equitable and sustainable approach to international trade law and policy that supports the livelihoods of indigenous and rural communities and protects the planet's finite natural resources.
Using Mexico as a case study, the article examines the impact of trade liberalization on indigenous peoples and on the environment. Critiquing Mexico's neoliberal economic reforms through the framework of environmental justice, the article highlights some of the theoretical and practical limitations of the theory of comparative advantage, which serves as the justification for the free market economic policies promoted by international trade and financial institutions. The article urges policy-makers to integrate trade, human rights, and environmental policy instead of criminalizing immigrants or militarizing the U.S.-Mexican border. The article concludes by using the paradigm of environmental justice to outline the elements of a more equitable and sustainable approach to international trade law and policy that supports the livelihoods of indigenous and rural communities and protects the planet's finite natural resources.
Research Interests:
On March 8, 2013, the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice hosted an all-day symposium featuring more than forty speakers at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law to celebrate and invite responses to the book entitled,... more
On March 8, 2013, the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice hosted an all-day symposium featuring more than forty speakers at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law to celebrate and invite responses to the book entitled, Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. González & Angela P. Harris eds., 2012). Presumed Incompetent presents gripping first-hand accounts of the obstacles encountered by female faculty of color in the academic workplace, and provides specific recommendations to women of color, allies, and academic leaders on ways to eliminate these barriers. The symposium held at Berkeley continued the conversation begun in the book through a series of concurrent and plenary panels, poetry readings, and keynote addresses. Selected papers from the symposium were published in both the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice and the Seattle Journal for Social Justice (SJSJ). This introduction discusses and contextualizes the papers published in SJSJ. These papers, like their counterparts in the Berkeley Journal, enhance our understanding of the hierarchies of the academic workplace and offer additional tools to create a more equitable and inclusive campus environment. The SJSJ papers also break new ground by introducing a topic that was not explored in Presumed Incompetent, namely the intersection of disability with race, gender, and class subordination.
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Feminist Theory, Disability Studies, Higher Education, and 13 moreRace and Racism, Gender and Sexuality, Critical Race Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Gender Equality, Learning And Teaching In Higher Education, Higher Education Studies, Women of Color Feminism, Intersectionality, Critical Race Feminism, Affirmative Action, Women and Gender Studies, and Neoliberalism and Education
On March 8, 2013, the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice hosted an all-day symposium featuring more than forty speakers at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law to celebrate and invite responses to the book entitled,... more
On March 8, 2013, the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice hosted an all-day symposium featuring more than forty speakers at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law to celebrate and invite responses to the book entitled, Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. González & Angela P. Harris eds., 2012). Presumed Incompetent presents gripping first-hand accounts of the obstacles encountered by female faculty of color in the academic workplace, and provides specific recommendations to women of color, allies, and academic leaders on ways to eliminate these barriers. The symposium held at Berkeley continued the conversation begun in the book through a series of concurrent and plenary panels, poetry readings, and keynote addresses. Selected papers from the symposium were published in both the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice and the Seattle Journal for Social Justice (SJSJ). This introduction discusses and contextualizes the papers published in the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. These papers reflect the exhilarating breadth and depth of the discussions that took place during the symposium. Like the papers published in SJSJ, they enhance our understanding of the hierarchies of the academic workplace, and offer additional tools to promote a more equitable and inclusive campus environment.
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Feminist Theory, Disability Studies, Higher Education, Gender and Sexuality, and 11 moreCritical Race Theory, Class, Race and Ethnicity, Transformation of University Systems, Discrimination, Gender, Promotion & tenure resources/outreach for teaching faculty, Women of Color Feminism, Intersectionality, Critical Race Feminism, and Affirmative Action
The global food system is exceeding ecological limits while failing to meet the nutritional needs of a large segment of the world’s population. While law could play an important role in facilitating the transition to a more just and... more
The global food system is exceeding ecological limits while failing to meet the nutritional needs of a large segment of the world’s population. While law could play an important role in facilitating the transition to a more just and ecologically sustainable food system, the current legal framework fails to regulate food and agriculture in an integrated manner. The international legal framework governing food and agriculture is fragmented into three self-contained regimes that have historically operated in isolation from one another: international human rights law, international environmental law, and international trade law. International trade law has taken precedence over human rights and international environmental law to the detriment of small farmers and the environment. The article analyzes the international legal regime applicable to food and agriculture, explains the ways in which the current regime perpetuates food insecurity and unsustainable cultivation practices, and argues that agriculture should be removed from the purview of the World Trade Organization. The article concludes by sketching out some of the elements of an alternative approach to global goverance based on the concept of food sovereignty.
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This article reviews Environmental Protection and Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, New York 2011), a textbook co-authored authored by Donald K. Anton and Dinah L. Shelton. The book examines the growing recognition by scholars,... more
This article reviews Environmental Protection and Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, New York 2011), a textbook co-authored authored by Donald K. Anton and Dinah L. Shelton. The book examines the growing recognition by scholars, activists, governments, and international and domestic tribunals of the linkages between environmental protection and human rights. Although intended for use as a law school textbook and accompanied by five online problem-oriented case studies, this comprehensive volume will also serve as a valuable reference for scholars and practitioners as well as an excellent survey for newcomers to the field.
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En septiembre del 2006, un panel de resolución de controversias de la Organizacón Mundial del Comercio (OMC) emitió su fallo a favor de los Estados Unidos en la disputa entre EE.UU y la Unión Europea sobre los organismos genéticamente... more
En septiembre del 2006, un panel de resolución de controversias de la Organizacón Mundial del Comercio (OMC) emitió su fallo a favor de los Estados Unidos en la disputa entre EE.UU y la Unión Europea sobre los organismos genéticamente modificados (OGM). El fallo se basó en limitadas determinaciones procedimentales, y no abordó el tema de la seguridad de los OGM, el derecho de los países de reglamentar los productos genéticamente modificados más rigurosamente que sus equivalentes convencionales, ni la coherencia de la legislacion europea con las obligaciones del OMC. El continuo conflicto entre los Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea acerca de los OGM ha oscurecido la controversia que se da en los países en vías de desarrollo sobre las ventajas y los peligros de la biotecnología agrícola. Aunque la incertidumbre científica siga afectando los esfuerzos por llegar a un consenso sobre los peligros de los alimentos y los productos agrícolas OGM para la salud y el medio ambiente, sobre los riesgos socioeconómicos de la biotecnología hay más certidumbre. Este artículo reformula la controversia sobre los OGM en términos de justicia ambiental, y ubica esta controversia en el contexto de la disputa histórica y continua entre países desarrollados y en vías de desarrollo sobre las reglas que rigen el comercio de productos agrícolas convencionales. El artículo argumenta que los OGM no pueden ser evaluados aisladamente respecto a controversias más amplias sobre el comercio agrícola, y que la justicia ambiental es un marco util que integra las preocupaciones en materia de medio ambiente, derechos humanos y comercio suscitados por los OGM. Al basar su análisis en la justicia ambiental, el artículo busca resaltar los riesgos y beneficios únicos de la biotecnología para los países en vías de desarrollo, examinar las deficiencias en los acuerdos comerciales y ambientales aplicables a los OGM, y proponer un enfoque alternativo compatible con la justicia ambiental.
Note: This is a translation of an article that was originally published in 19 Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 583 (2007)
Note: This is a translation of an article that was originally published in 19 Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 583 (2007)
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China’s growing economic engagement with Latin America has sparked both popular and scholarly debate. Some scholars contend that China is a rising imperial power scouring the globe for natural resources, exploiting less powerful nations,... more
China’s growing economic engagement with Latin America has sparked both popular and scholarly debate. Some scholars contend that China is a rising imperial power scouring the globe for natural resources, exploiting less powerful nations, and rejecting international environmental agreements that would curb its profligate consumption of the world’s natural resources. Others applaud China’s unorthodox development strategies and portray China as a model worthy of emulation. This article interrogates both narratives and examines the environmental and developmental implications of China’s rise for Latin America. The article discusses China's bilateral trade and investment agreements with Latin American nations and China's potential contributions to sustainable development law.
The downloadable article is in Chinese. It draws upon earlier published scholarship available on SSRN at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2029417
The downloadable article is in Chinese. It draws upon earlier published scholarship available on SSRN at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2029417
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The corporate-dominated, fossil-fuel dependent model of agricultural production has produced chronic undernourishment, an epidemic of obesity and diet-related diseases, and unprecedented ecological devastation. In May 2010, the... more
The corporate-dominated, fossil-fuel dependent model of agricultural production has produced chronic undernourishment, an epidemic of obesity and diet-related diseases, and unprecedented ecological devastation. In May 2010, the Universidad Interamericana in Mexico City hosted an international conference on The Global Politics of Food: Sustainability and Subordination. Sponsored by Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc. and by Seattle University School of Law, the conference took place under the auspices of the South-North Exchange on Theory, Culture and Law (SNX), a yearly gathering of scholars in the Americas that seeks to foster transnational, cross-disciplinary and inter-cultural dialogue on current issues in law, theory and culture.
Published in the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review, the conference papers examine the complex ways in which the global food system reinforces hierarchies of power and privilege.
This Introduction situates the essays collected in the theoretical pespectives cluster within the parameters of LatCrit and outsider jurisprudence, and explains how these essays contribute to our understanding of the role of food policy in perpetuating the subordination of marginalized populations on a global scale. The Introduction also discusses the growing food sovereignty and food justice movements, and the importance of integrating the insights of these movements into the broader critique of neoliberal globalization.
Published in the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review, the conference papers examine the complex ways in which the global food system reinforces hierarchies of power and privilege.
This Introduction situates the essays collected in the theoretical pespectives cluster within the parameters of LatCrit and outsider jurisprudence, and explains how these essays contribute to our understanding of the role of food policy in perpetuating the subordination of marginalized populations on a global scale. The Introduction also discusses the growing food sovereignty and food justice movements, and the importance of integrating the insights of these movements into the broader critique of neoliberal globalization.
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The articles collected in this volume critically examine the hegemony of market fundamentalism in law, politics, and social theory. They question the underlying premises of market fundamentalism as well as the social, economic, cultural... more
The articles collected in this volume critically examine the hegemony of market fundamentalism in law, politics, and social theory. They question the underlying premises of market fundamentalism as well as the social, economic, cultural and environmental consequences of policies inspired by this ideology. The authors represent several disciplines (law, economics, anthropology) and various countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the United States, and Venezuela). The topics covered include free trade agreements, Argentina's financial crisis, deregulation in Brazil, the judicial enforcement of economic and social rights, climate change, and the impact of trade liberalization on violence against women. The articles were originally published in English in 5 Seattle Journal for Social Justice (2007) with a foreword by economist Ha-Joon Chang of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, and are available for the first time in Spanish in this volume.
The revised and expanded introduction to the articles situates market fundamentalism (or neoliberalism) within the broader philosophical debates over the meaning of liberalism. The introduction highlights the differences among several varieties of liberalism (including libertarian, egalitarian, and multicultural strands of liberalism), and describes the rise of neoliberal economic thought from the 1970s until the present. The authors argue that the richness of liberal political theory has been obscured by the dominance of neoliberalism in both public and scholarly debate and that market fundamentalism has impoverished the analytical tools available to analyze and evaluate contemporary social reality. Indeed, the hegemony of neoliberalism in both theory and practice has de-politicized public debate over the distribution of scarce resources, has circumscribed the role of the state in the economy, has undermined social solidarity, and has increased economic inequality. While recognizing that market fundamentalism is certainly not the only cause of current economic problems, the introduction notes that the neoliberal economic model nonetheless appears to be among the cruelest and most indifferent to the plight of society’s most vulnerable members.
The revised and expanded introduction to the articles situates market fundamentalism (or neoliberalism) within the broader philosophical debates over the meaning of liberalism. The introduction highlights the differences among several varieties of liberalism (including libertarian, egalitarian, and multicultural strands of liberalism), and describes the rise of neoliberal economic thought from the 1970s until the present. The authors argue that the richness of liberal political theory has been obscured by the dominance of neoliberalism in both public and scholarly debate and that market fundamentalism has impoverished the analytical tools available to analyze and evaluate contemporary social reality. Indeed, the hegemony of neoliberalism in both theory and practice has de-politicized public debate over the distribution of scarce resources, has circumscribed the role of the state in the economy, has undermined social solidarity, and has increased economic inequality. While recognizing that market fundamentalism is certainly not the only cause of current economic problems, the introduction notes that the neoliberal economic model nonetheless appears to be among the cruelest and most indifferent to the plight of society’s most vulnerable members.
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Beginning in the mid-1990s, Cuba embarked upon a transformation of the agricultural sector that has been hailed by some observers as a model of socially equitable and ecologically sustainable agriculture. Cuba shifted from an... more
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Cuba embarked upon a transformation of the agricultural sector that has been hailed by some observers as a model of socially equitable and ecologically sustainable agriculture. Cuba shifted from an export-oriented, chemical-intensive agricultural development strategy to one that promoted organic agriculture and encouraged production for the domestic market.
This article places Cuba's agricultural reforms in historical context by examining the evolution of Cuban agriculture from the colonial period until the present through the lens of food security and ecological sustainability. The article argues that Cuba, for most of its history, was food insecure and ecologically compromised as a consequence of its dependence on one agricultural commodity (sugar) to generate the bulk of foreign exchange revenues, its reliance on imports to satisfy domestic food needs, its dependence on one primary trading partner (initially Spain, subsequently the United States and the Soviet Union), and its adoption of capital-intensive, chemical-dependent agricultural production techniques. When the collapse of the socialist trading bloc in 1990 plunged the Cuba economy into a state of crisis, the Cuban government implemented as series of reforms that diversified Cuba's economic base, diversified the range of crops cultivated, prioritized domestic food production, and promoted organic and semi-organic farming techniques. The article concludes that these reforms enhanced food security and ecological sustainability, but questions whether they will survive the lifting of the U.S. economic embargo and the reintegration of Cuba into global trade and financial institutions.
This article places Cuba's agricultural reforms in historical context by examining the evolution of Cuban agriculture from the colonial period until the present through the lens of food security and ecological sustainability. The article argues that Cuba, for most of its history, was food insecure and ecologically compromised as a consequence of its dependence on one agricultural commodity (sugar) to generate the bulk of foreign exchange revenues, its reliance on imports to satisfy domestic food needs, its dependence on one primary trading partner (initially Spain, subsequently the United States and the Soviet Union), and its adoption of capital-intensive, chemical-dependent agricultural production techniques. When the collapse of the socialist trading bloc in 1990 plunged the Cuba economy into a state of crisis, the Cuban government implemented as series of reforms that diversified Cuba's economic base, diversified the range of crops cultivated, prioritized domestic food production, and promoted organic and semi-organic farming techniques. The article concludes that these reforms enhanced food security and ecological sustainability, but questions whether they will survive the lifting of the U.S. economic embargo and the reintegration of Cuba into global trade and financial institutions.
Research Interests:
Much of the literature on environmental justice struggles in the United States and in the Global South has highlighted the disproportionate concentration of environmental hazards in poor communities and communities of color. However, it... more
Much of the literature on environmental justice struggles in the United States and in the Global South has highlighted the disproportionate concentration of environmental hazards in poor communities and communities of color. However, it is equally important to evaluate how human societies distribute access to environmental necessities , such as food and water. Food is a quintessential environmental necessity that is critical human survival, and the right to food is recognized under under a vareity of international human rights law instruments.
This article examines the complex ways in which the rules governing international trade in agricultural products affect the fundamental human right to food. The article argues that colonialism and post-colonial trade, aid and development policies have created and institutionalized a double standard in the regulatory regime governing international agricultural trade: protectionism in wealthy, developed countries; trade liberalization in poor, developing countries. As a consequence of this double standard, agribusiness in the developed world is wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of poor farmers in the developing world by dumping agricultural products on world markets at depressed prices. "Leveling the playing field" by imposing the same free market reforms on rich and poor nations is not sufficient to address the underlying structural inequities that perpetuate poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation. The article proposes an asymmetrical set of trading rules that would require developed countries to eliminate agricultural protectionism while giving developing countries the policy flexibility to use certain protectionist instruments to promote economic development, enhance food security, and protect the environment. The article concludes with observations about the meaning of environmental justice at the international level.
This article examines the complex ways in which the rules governing international trade in agricultural products affect the fundamental human right to food. The article argues that colonialism and post-colonial trade, aid and development policies have created and institutionalized a double standard in the regulatory regime governing international agricultural trade: protectionism in wealthy, developed countries; trade liberalization in poor, developing countries. As a consequence of this double standard, agribusiness in the developed world is wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of poor farmers in the developing world by dumping agricultural products on world markets at depressed prices. "Leveling the playing field" by imposing the same free market reforms on rich and poor nations is not sufficient to address the underlying structural inequities that perpetuate poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation. The article proposes an asymmetrical set of trading rules that would require developed countries to eliminate agricultural protectionism while giving developing countries the policy flexibility to use certain protectionist instruments to promote economic development, enhance food security, and protect the environment. The article concludes with observations about the meaning of environmental justice at the international level.
Research Interests:
This document is a sample syllabus for International Environmental Law -- using the Carlson, Palmer & Weston textbook with supplemental readings from International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Research Interests: International Relations, International Law, International Environmental Law, International Environmental Politics, Global South, and 4 moreInternational Environmental Law and Policy, TWAIL - Third World Approaches to International Law, International Environmental Politics and Negotiations, and International Trade Law and Environment
This document is a sample syllabus for International Environmental Law -- using the Hunter & Salzman textbook with supplemental readings from International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Research Interests: International Relations, International Law, International Environmental Law, International Environmental Politics, International Environmental Law and Policy, and 3 moreTWAIL - Third World Approaches to International Law, International Environmental Politics and Negotiations, and International Trade Law and Environment
This document is a sample syllabus for International Environmental Law -- using the Carlson, Palmer & Weston textbook with supplemental readings from International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge University Press, 2016).