POLI 232 - International Law and The Anthropocene

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

The course examines the history of international law and its relationship to nature and the legal mechanisms that continue to shape extraction globally. We unpack the role of international law in responding to the challenges of the Anthropocene epoch. We explore the understanding of the Anthropocene epoch through the writings of scholars like Donna Haraway, Anna Tsing, and others who have conceptualized this epoch as the capitalocene and plantationocene. Students are exposed to areas of international investment law, human rights law, environment, and climate law to situate international law in the context of the climate crisis. Students delve into the connections between international law and the Anthropocene through the works of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholars Usha Natarajan, Ntina Tzouvla, Julia Dehm, and Katharina Pistor among others. The course highlights alternative legal possibilities being devised by climate justice movements emerging from climate litigation to remaking international law to be able to contrast the colonial and extractive legacy of international law with the reparative legal frameworks being proposed for the future. Arpitha Kodiveri.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS