Buen Vivir and the Rights of Nature in National and International Law

2022 ◽  
pp. 57-86
Author(s):  
Linda Etchart
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Buen Vivir ◽  
Rights Of Nature

scholarly journals The materialization of the Buen Vivir and the Rights of Nature: Rhetoric and Realities of Guayaquil Ecológico urban regeneration project

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Fernanda Ordóñez ◽  
Kelly Shannon ◽  
Viviana d’Auria
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Context ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Buen Vivir ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
The World ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
Good Living ◽  
Natural Dynamics ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractIn 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to declare nature as a subject of rights based on the ‘Buen Vivir’ (Good Living) philosophy which is premised on an indigenous principle that envisions a world where humans are part-and-parcel of a larger natural and social environment. Although Ecuador’s constitution is groundbreaking from a legal standpoint, the question arises of how the rights of nature is spatially manifested beyond the designation of protected areas? To shed light on such interrogation, this article, based on qualitative research, focuses on the linear park component of the mega-project Guayaquil Ecológico heralded as a first materialization which champions the “Rights of Nature” under the vision of the Buen Vivir. It unravels the contested rhetoric and realities of the Guayaquil Ecológico linear park in a critical review of the as-built project in relation to the larger objectives of Buen Vivir. The Guayaquil Ecologico linear park promised to simultaneously upgrade both social and environmental dimensions. However, it did not fully address the complexity of Guayaquil’s socio-ecological context and some of the structural injustices of the estuarine territory. Buen Vivir was rhetorically mobilised to implement a project where aesthetic dimensions dominated, further perpetuating socio-ecological vulnerabilities through relocation and evictions. Furthermore, its implementation was dependent on a specific political moment, leaving it in a state of abandonment and neglect. The Buen Vivir philosophy—as a decolonial stance that challenges western forms of development—can offer a fundamental base to question current modes of territorial occupation based on extractivist planning and design strategies. It holds significant potential to serve as base to re-think the relationship between forms of settlement, natural dynamics, and worldviews.

Challenges for the Implementation of the Rights of Nature: Ecuador and Bolivia as the First Instances of an Expanding Movement

2021 ◽  
pp. 0094582X2110048
Author(s):  
María Valeria Berros
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Global Capitalism ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
Buen Vivir ◽  
Indigenous Worldviews ◽  
The World ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Mother Earth

The recognition of the rights of nature is currently being debated in the juridical, sociological, and ethical fields. In Ecuador and Bolivia the recognition of the rights of Pachamama (Mother Earth) began in the context of constitutional and legal amendments more than a decade ago. This process was articulated with proposals presented as alternatives to global capitalism related to the indigenous worldviews known as buen vivir or vivir bien. An exploration of these processes identifies a number of challenges to socio-legal research and points to the increasing acknowledgment of the rights of nature in various countries in Latin America and other parts of the world. Actualmente se debate el reconocimiento de los derechos de la naturaleza en los ámbitos jurídico, sociológico y ético. En Ecuador y Bolivia el reconocimiento de los derechos de la Pachamama (Madre Tierra) comenzó en el contexto de las enmiendas constitucionales y legales hace más de una década. Este proceso se articuló con propuestas presentadas como alternativas al capitalismo global y relacionadas con las cosmovisiones indígenas conocidas como buen vivir o vivir bien. Una exploración de estos procesos identifica una serie de desafíos a la investigación socio-legal y apunta al creciente reconocimiento de los derechos de la naturaleza en varios países de América Latina, así como otras partes del mundo.

Part II Analytical Approaches, Ch.14 Earth Jurisprudence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cullinan Cormac
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Philosophical Approach ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
Healthy Functioning ◽  
Mother Earth ◽  
Analytical Approaches

This chapter assesses Earth jurisprudence, which is a philosophical approach to legal and governance systems at every level, rather than a theory of international environmental law. It refers to philosophies of law and governance which seek to guide humans to behave in ways that contribute to the integrity, healthy functioning, beauty, and ongoing evolution of the community of life known as ‘Earth’. This approach seeks to promote the flourishing of the Earth community and a ‘mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship’, rather than its subjugation and exploitation by humankind. The chapter explains the worldview that informs Earth jurisprudence, before looking at the essential concepts and principles that make this approach so distinctive. It then tracks the emergence of Earth jurisprudence and the rights of Nature/Mother Earth within the international sphere, and evaluates how this approach may affect the development of international law.

Buen vivir and the rights of nature

2018 ◽  
pp. 234-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes M. Waldmueller ◽  
Laura Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Buen Vivir ◽  
Rights Of Nature

Posthuman international law and the rights of nature

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (0) ◽  
pp. 76-101
Author(s):  
Emily Jones
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
Domestic Law

Both posthuman theory and the rights of nature (RoN) movement have the potential to challenge the anthropocentrism of international environmental law (IEL). Scholars have begun to document the transformative shifts that could occur through the application of posthuman legal theory to IEL, but these theories have yet to be applied to law in practice. On the other hand, RoN have been applied in domestic law but hardly in international law, while the question of what RoN includes and excludes remains contested. This article brings posthuman theory and RoN together, reflecting on how posthuman legal theory can contribute to the framing of RoN, with a focus on challenging the anthropocentrism of IEL. The article argues, first, that the next step for posthuman legal theory will be its application to existing law. Noting convergences between posthuman legal theory and the rights of nature (RoN), the article contends that those seeking to apply posthuman legal theory might find some interesting alliances by turning to RoN. Second, it is argued that using posthuman theory to frame RoN could help to ensure that RoN live up to their transformative potential.

scholarly journals Pachamama als Ökosystemintegrität – Die Rechte der Natur in der Verfassung von Ecuador und ihre umweltethische Rechtfertigung

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-244
Author(s):  
Stefan Knauß
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Buen Vivir ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
Per Se

Die Verfassung von Ecuador (2008) enthält als weltweit erste Rechte der Natur (engl. Rights of Nature, „RoN“). Natur wird neben Menschen und Körperschaften als Rechtsträger benannt (Art. 10). Ihr wird ein Recht auf Existenz und Regeneration (Art. 71) zugesprochen, das unabhängig von menschlichen Rechten gilt (Art. 72) und von allen Menschen weltweit eingeklagt werden darf (Art. 73). Die Verfassung stützt sich auf den indigenen Naturbegriff Pachamama und erläutert deren Schutzanspruch durch das andine Konzept des Guten Lebens (span. buen vivir). Die Umweltethik (Environmental Ethics) bezeichnet ein holisitisches Naturverständnis als „Ökozentrismus“, wenn der Natur als überindividueller Ganzheit ein irreduzibler Schutzstatus zugesprochen wird. Der umweltethische Ökozentrismus der Verfassung von Ecuador lässt sich erfolgreich gegen drei Kritiken verteidigen. Ökozentrische Positionen seien, 1) unvereinbar mit dem methodischen Individualismus der Menschenrechte. Ökosysteme selbst seien 2) „bloß“ vom menschlichen Beobachter abhängige Entitäten, die 3) über kein inhärentes Kriterium für Schädigungen verfügten. Die Konkretisierung des Ökozentrismus in Bezug auf die Verfassung von Ecuador erlaubt drei Thesen: 1) Der Schutz der Natur als überindividueller Ganzheit darf nicht als alleiniges ethisches Prinzip (monistischer Holismus) missverstanden werden. Innerhalb eines pluralistischen Holismus besitzt der Ökozentrismus nicht per se Vorrang gegenüber den Interessen individueller Naturwesen und juristischer Personen. 2) Da Ökosysteme im Gegensatz zu individuellen Naturwesen keine ontologisch selbstständigen Entitäten sind, lassen sich deren Rechte nicht analog zu denen natürlicher Personen begründen. Die Environmental Personhood (Gordon 2018) ist gemäß der Association Theory der Rechtspersönlichkeit als ein menschliches Konstrukt zu verstehen (Miller 2019). 3) Der Maßstab für die Schädigung von Ökosystemen kann nicht als ein der Natur inhärentes, objektives Kriterium „aufgefunden“ werden. Ökologische Schäden an der „Integrität, Stabilität und Schönheit“ (Leopold 1949) der Natur sind vielmehr Schäden an menschlichen Werten. Als solche entspringen sie im Falle der ecuadorianischen Verfassung vor allem nichtinstrumentellen menschlichen Bezugnahmen auf die Natur. Der Natur wird hierbei eudaimonistischer Wert und moralischer Selbstwert zugeschrieben (Potthast et al. 2007).

scholarly journals RIGHTS OF NATURE: THE “BIOCENTRIC SPIN” IN THE 2008 CONSTITUTION OF ECUADOR

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (25) ◽  
pp. 111-131
Author(s):  
Joaquim Shiraishi Neto ◽  
Rosirene Martins Lima
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
World View ◽  
Environment Protection ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Buen Vivir ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Rights Of Nature ◽  
Ways Of Life ◽  
Dominant Paradigm

The 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution built a particular system for environment protection, breaking the dominant paradigm characterized by an anthropocentric and utilitarian relation with nature. The Ecuadorian Constitution raised the nature of the condition "subject of rights". Such a conception is associated to "buen vivir" (Sumak Kawsay in Kichwa), which relates to the ways of life and world view of native peoples. Therefore, this article aims at understanding the social construction of this understanding of nature in the context of the processes experienced in Ecuador and called "New Latin American Constitutionalism". To meet the proposed objective, the methodology used was based on the survey and review of references related to the rights of nature, held in university libraries and at the Supreme Court of Ecuador, as well as on interviews with indigenous leaders, which served to guide reflections. As a result, the analysis of recent legal changes experienced in Ecuador invite us to a comparative reflection on the Brazilian environmental policy.

Police Use of Force under International Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Casey-Maslen ◽  
Sean Connolly
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Police Use Of Force
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document