Humans Matter Too!

Humans matter too: a misanthropic misunderstanding of ecocentrism is derailing the ecocide debate!  

The last in the series of new articles from our upcoming Special Issue of the International Journal for Human Rights on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice, is certainly not the least. In his article, Darryl Robinson, Professor of Law at Queen’s University, challenges a fundamental misunderstanding that has taken hold in Ecocide scholarship. 

Much of the academic literature has treated any consideration of human well-being as inherently "anthropocentric" and therefore suspect. Robinson argues this is simply wrong:  

“In this article I unpack the extremely widespread misuse of the terms ‘anthropocentric’ and ‘ecocentric’ that has spread like a virus throughout the current ecocide literature. Numerous scholars denounce any consideration of human interests as ‘anthropocentric’. Scholars repeatedly echo the claim that an ‘ecocentric’ provision must feature an absolute prohibition, with no allowance for human impacts. These are demonstrable misunderstandings of both terms, which are drawn from environmental ethics. Ecocentrism is concerned for all living things, including humans.”  

Robinson aims to move the ecocide debate to a ‘second phase’: a more mature discussion conversant with environmental ethics, science, and the limits of criminal law. 

Read the full article here.