The Anthropocene: New Trajectories in Law

The book explores the concept of the Anthropocene and its importance for environmental legal thinking, research, and practice. It argues that much of the scholarship in environmental law does not respond to Earth systems science or the difference in scale from local to global systems. It also argues that idealism in environmental legal scholarship involves an abstraction from material reality and a refusal to directly engage those forces that have given rise rise to the Anthropocene. The book uses a method of critique to uncover the presumptions and presuppositions that underlie environmental scholarship and sketches out a framework for materialism in the Anthropocene.

Format: Hardback
Length: 110 pages
Publication date: 10 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The concept of the Anthropocene is introduced in this book, and its significance for environmental legal thinking, research, and practice is examined. Two main arguments are explored. The first argument is that much of the scholarship in environmental law that addresses the Anthropocene does not respond to Earth systems science or the difference in scale as we move from local to global systems. Key examples include a focus on anthropocentrism, attempts to constitutionalize environmental protections, the prevalence of legal rights, and the idea of ecological integrity. The second argument is that these points of focus derive from the prevalence of idealism in environmental legal scholarship. Idealism in this context does not refer to naivety or the presentation of unrealistic goals. Rather, this book is concerned with idealism as a philosophical commitment to the power of ideas to determine reality and drive future change. As expressed in legal scholarship, this book also argues that idealism involves an abstraction from material reality and a refusal to directly engage those forces that have given rise to the Anthropocene. In response, this book uses a method of critique to uncover the presumptions and presuppositions that underlie environmental scholarship. As a counter to idealism, it also sketches out a framework for materialism in the Anthropocene.

This book's engagement with these questions will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students in law, politics, philosophy, or the ecological humanities. It will also be of interest to academics in these disciplines and libraries around the world.

Weight: 371g
Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367486655