Law’s quick fix? Ecocide, social transformation and the pitfalls of criminalisation

Abstract

Calls to criminalise ‘ecocide’ are, it seems, everywhere. What unites these calls is both a sense of urgency and a need for international action. The need for a quick and plausible fix makes international law assume a very specific allure to those who seek to combat. We argue that the proposed crime of ecocide is unable to tackle the social reality of ecocide and may indeed compromise further our ability to do so. At the same time, it argues that it is neither desirable nor possible for us to simply ‘abandon’ the law; until the system of production is transformed, environmental struggles will necessarily be forced to reckon with law and to demand regulatory outcomes.

Topics & Concepts