Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent field
This paper interrogates the vision and purpose of the nascent and developing field of ‘Earth System Law’ (ESL) with a view to asking how best to describe what ESL is and how it can contribute to scholarship on law in the ‘Anthropocene.’ Drawing on Luhmann’s autopoetic systems theory of law and compl...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | Earth System Governance |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811622000313 |
| _version_ | 1797903491171090432 |
|---|---|
| author | Michael C. Leach |
| author_facet | Michael C. Leach |
| author_sort | Michael C. Leach |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper interrogates the vision and purpose of the nascent and developing field of ‘Earth System Law’ (ESL) with a view to asking how best to describe what ESL is and how it can contribute to scholarship on law in the ‘Anthropocene.’ Drawing on Luhmann’s autopoetic systems theory of law and complex adaptive systems theory, the paper reflects on ESL’s identity, boundaries, and role as a scholarly movement and seeks to draw out both the prospects and limits of its transformational purposes. Such questions are seen as inescapably tied to pragmatic considerations of how law and legal systems change, meaning that ESL would be best served if its scholars embraced a kind of ‘translating’ role to facilitate linkages between law and other domains in search of ways for earth systems considerations to be made relevant to law, rather than becoming vanguards of a normative legal revolution for the Anthropocene. (149 words) |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:33:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-089d901be04b4744bbdd5bec842c259e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2589-8116 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:33:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Earth System Governance |
| spelling | doaj.art-089d901be04b4744bbdd5bec842c259e2023-02-18T04:17:28ZengElsevierEarth System Governance2589-81162023-01-0115100162Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent fieldMichael C. Leach0Department of Public Law & Governance, Warandelaan 2, 5037 AB, Tilburg, the Netherlands.; Tilburg Law School, Tilburg University, the NetherlandsThis paper interrogates the vision and purpose of the nascent and developing field of ‘Earth System Law’ (ESL) with a view to asking how best to describe what ESL is and how it can contribute to scholarship on law in the ‘Anthropocene.’ Drawing on Luhmann’s autopoetic systems theory of law and complex adaptive systems theory, the paper reflects on ESL’s identity, boundaries, and role as a scholarly movement and seeks to draw out both the prospects and limits of its transformational purposes. Such questions are seen as inescapably tied to pragmatic considerations of how law and legal systems change, meaning that ESL would be best served if its scholars embraced a kind of ‘translating’ role to facilitate linkages between law and other domains in search of ways for earth systems considerations to be made relevant to law, rather than becoming vanguards of a normative legal revolution for the Anthropocene. (149 words)http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811622000313Earth System LawSystems theoryComplex adaptive systems |
| spellingShingle | Michael C. Leach Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent field Earth System Governance Earth System Law Systems theory Complex adaptive systems |
| title | Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent field |
| title_full | Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent field |
| title_fullStr | Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent field |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent field |
| title_short | Seeking ‘Systems’ in Earth System Law: Boundaries, identity, and purpose in an emergent field |
| title_sort | seeking systems in earth system law boundaries identity and purpose in an emergent field |
| topic | Earth System Law Systems theory Complex adaptive systems |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811622000313 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelcleach seekingsystemsinearthsystemlawboundariesidentityandpurposeinanemergentfield |