Green Criminology & Ecocide Flashcards
(10 cards)
What is the difference between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism?
White
ECOCENTRISM: Valuing nature for its own sake, social practices should incorporate ecological sensitivites and the intrinsic value of nature. Entities are right holders and objects warranting a duty of care because their interest are significant
ANTHROPOCENTRISM: Privileges humans and their interests over and above non-human interests. We are ends in ourselves and other entities are only means of acheiving goals
What would an ecocentric approach to harm look like?
White
- Wild law, laws may be changed or reformed to better recognised non-human interests
- Te Awa Tupia, Whanganui River has been granted personhood and therefore is a protected body in New Zealand, which the native Maouri people speak for
- Acknowledgement of the intrinsic worth and value of nature is vital, but this does not men the instrumental value is unimportant
Leavey
- Lack of care for the envrionment stems from a young age: the pulling of grass or stomping on ants by children
- Perhaps it should be the case that we should not be focusing on what the law should do, but what we should do? How can we create a positive change and relationship in our attitude towards nature such that this can be better reflected by the law
Baseton: Should be an ecoology of the mind which sees human-nature relationships as interconnected systems
What are the problems with an ecocentric approach to harm?
- Law is a human creation based on the value of humans and placing us first. White recognises this, we should not ignore ontology but acknowledge the choices and values ingrained in how humans regulate behaviour
- The non-human entity cannot speak for itself, and therefore this requires someone to speak on their behalf and there may be different ways of doing this (Is this a limit? Could be useful to have different perspectives on a case to case basis)
- The Whanganui River is still diverted for hydroelectric power until 2039 which the native people regard as causing cultural and spiritual damage, may just be a way for governments to give back and recognise marginalised groups than actually caring about the envrionment
What recent news story provides a useful case study for an ecocentric approach to harm?
- Sycamore Gap Tree on Hadrians Wall cut down in 2023 causing international outrage
- Two men arrested and found guilty of criminal damages against the national trust, the owner of the tree
- The value of the tree, at over half-million, did not affect their sentences
- Econcentrism would have achieved a better outcome, recognising nature as the victim here would have allowed for a more reflective sentence to the act to be given, rather than simply labelling it as damage
What is green criminology and how does this differ to ecocentrism?
Beirne et al
- Provides a way for criminology to confront the harms that affect the planet as a whole
- Addresses issues such as animal abuse, biodiversity loss, deforestation and pollution
Goyes & Sollund
- It is not a new concept but one that had existed for many years through different methods and other concepts, such as feminist and marxist perspectives
- What matters is the substantive focus on harm, it is a symbol and not a fixed category
- It is an interdisciplinary study that better fits with existing legal frameworks. May be a useful step forward to econcentrism and changing attitudes
Rakowski demonstrates use of green criminology, using traditional theories of strain and network investigating to investigate and explain envrionmental crimes in Vietnam
What is ecocide?
Crook
- Large envrionmental destruction is often a precursor to genocide, especially for indigenous groups whose survival is tied to their land
- Colonialism and capitalism has done so for the extraction of resources
Term ecocide first used by Galston during the Vietnam war to describe the damage done by bombs and gas dropped by the US
- International lawyers proposed definition that includes ‘unlawful or wanton’ acts done with knowledhe that there is a likelihood of ‘severe’ and ‘widespread or long-term’ damage to the environment
- Standard for prosecution would be very high, but would be a landmark change in fight against the climate crisis
- Support from many levels across the world, countries like Vanuatu and Belgium asking the ICC to do something
What recent news stories could be used to show ecocide in action?
- Envrionmental Compact for Ukraine highlights how Russia has targeted large areas of envrionmentally sensitive areas and destroyed facilities releasing chemicals. Recognising Ecocide would be a useful tool for holding Russia responsible
- MSP Monica Lennon has introduced an Ecocide Bill in Scottish Parliament which would include prison sentences of up to 20 years (including senior company executives) and public orders, envrionmental remediation
- MacWhirter argues the bill risks being an exercise in legislative virtue signalling. Scotland still relies on gas for industry, would they be liable?
What are the problems with ecocide and criminalizing it through the International Criminal Court?
- Would face similar problems to genocide, would be a high threshold that may be difficult to prove
- Could only prosecute individuals, how can one be held be responsible for the acts of many?
- ‘Wanton’ requirement still includes some kind of cost benefit analysis, suggests that some wrongs could be justified by economic arguments
- Selective enforcement, ICC often faces critcism for being a Court of Africa, may face similar problems
- ICC relies on state co-operation which is often based on their own personal geopolitical relations and desires
- Could be argued that there is a chain: these countries committing ecocide, is it not being done for the benefit of western countries? E.g. deforestation for the purpose of Western businesses
What do Killean and Newton argue for?
- ICC should expand conception of victims to natural entities. This is a natural next step based on calls for ecocide, specialist courts and envrionmental restorative justice
- Criminalisation of ecocide is not a prerequisite, recognising the envrionment as its own entity offers a way to develop a more holistic understanding of harm and repair
- Recognises anthropocentric nature of the ICC and the challenges this would require but argue the shift is overdue in the escalating climate crisis
What is the difference between the anthropecene and the capitalocene?
Kunkel
* Anthropocene: Argues new geological period is based on the promenance of humans in the planet and our effect on the planets chemistry. Said to have started in 17-18th century, but arguments run as late as the 1940s
* Capitalocene: Proposed by Moore, says capitalism has marked a turning point in humanity’s relationship with the rest of nature
Issue with the first is it supposes the change is because of an innate human trait, this is not true and our historical development plays a greater role, but we could link this back, capitalism is a human invention only possible by such actors
