David Schlosberg
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256419
- eISBN:
- 9780191600203
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256411.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
An exploration is made of how the environmental justice movement in the United States has taken on some of the communicative and participatory demands and practices of critical pluralism. The ...
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An exploration is made of how the environmental justice movement in the United States has taken on some of the communicative and participatory demands and practices of critical pluralism. The movement has been critical of the communicative methods of the mainstream – the top-down organizational structure and its one-way nature of communication, and the lack of attention to issues of public participation in policy-making – and issues of communication have been a central focus in the development and demands of environmental justice. Accepting the diversity and the situated experiences of individuals and cultures has fostered the use of, and demand for, a variety of innovative communicative processes. Internally, the movement has attempted to employ more open discursive processes, paying particular attention to communication within and across diverse groups. Externally, the movement has made demands with regard to issues of communication and more discursive and participatory policy-making on government agencies, particularly the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Less
An exploration is made of how the environmental justice movement in the United States has taken on some of the communicative and participatory demands and practices of critical pluralism. The movement has been critical of the communicative methods of the mainstream – the top-down organizational structure and its one-way nature of communication, and the lack of attention to issues of public participation in policy-making – and issues of communication have been a central focus in the development and demands of environmental justice. Accepting the diversity and the situated experiences of individuals and cultures has fostered the use of, and demand for, a variety of innovative communicative processes. Internally, the movement has attempted to employ more open discursive processes, paying particular attention to communication within and across diverse groups. Externally, the movement has made demands with regard to issues of communication and more discursive and participatory policy-making on government agencies, particularly the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Luc Bodiguel and Michael Cardwell
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199542482
- eISBN:
- 9780191594342
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542482.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
There has been a high level of public engagement in the regulation of GMOs and this chapter seeks to explore this engagement, whether conducted through formal or informal channels. In the case of ...
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There has been a high level of public engagement in the regulation of GMOs and this chapter seeks to explore this engagement, whether conducted through formal or informal channels. In the case of formal channels, it examines the opportunities for public participation under measures enacted at international, European Union, and national levels, addressing, inter alia, the detailed provisions of the Cartagena Protocol and Aarhus Convention. In the case of informal channels, attention is directed to consumer preferences and public protest, and a salient feature identified is the reluctance of United Kingdom juries to convict anti-GM activists, as compared with the willingness of (non-jury) courts in France to convict Faucheurs Volontaires.Less
There has been a high level of public engagement in the regulation of GMOs and this chapter seeks to explore this engagement, whether conducted through formal or informal channels. In the case of formal channels, it examines the opportunities for public participation under measures enacted at international, European Union, and national levels, addressing, inter alia, the detailed provisions of the Cartagena Protocol and Aarhus Convention. In the case of informal channels, attention is directed to consumer preferences and public protest, and a salient feature identified is the reluctance of United Kingdom juries to convict anti-GM activists, as compared with the willingness of (non-jury) courts in France to convict Faucheurs Volontaires.
David Schlosberg
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256419
- eISBN:
- 9780191600203
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256411.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
The main issues addressed in the book are introduced, starting with discussion of the great diversity in the environmental movement, and making the point that the major groups of the movement in the ...
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The main issues addressed in the book are introduced, starting with discussion of the great diversity in the environmental movement, and making the point that the major groups of the movement in the United States, in taking on the role of interest groups in the liberal pluralist model, have excluded and marginalized many positions. The study to be made is described as focusing on two key concerns: how to acknowledge and recognize, rather than deny, diversity in environmentalism; and how to organize that diversity politically in a manner more inclusive than the liberal, or mainstream, environmental model. Different sections of the chapter discuss: the problems with conventional (liberal) pluralism; the democratic potential of the recognition by grassroots environmentalism of different experiences of the same event; the notion of justice embodied in the environmental justice movement – distributional equity (which can be achieved through procedural equity), recognition of the diversity of participants and experiences, and political participation (the demand for more public participation in the development, implementation, and oversight of environmental policy); and pluralism in theory and practice. The final section of the chapter provides a preview and plan of the book.Less
The main issues addressed in the book are introduced, starting with discussion of the great diversity in the environmental movement, and making the point that the major groups of the movement in the United States, in taking on the role of interest groups in the liberal pluralist model, have excluded and marginalized many positions. The study to be made is described as focusing on two key concerns: how to acknowledge and recognize, rather than deny, diversity in environmentalism; and how to organize that diversity politically in a manner more inclusive than the liberal, or mainstream, environmental model. Different sections of the chapter discuss: the problems with conventional (liberal) pluralism; the democratic potential of the recognition by grassroots environmentalism of different experiences of the same event; the notion of justice embodied in the environmental justice movement – distributional equity (which can be achieved through procedural equity), recognition of the diversity of participants and experiences, and political participation (the demand for more public participation in the development, implementation, and oversight of environmental policy); and pluralism in theory and practice. The final section of the chapter provides a preview and plan of the book.
George (Rock) Pring and Susan Y. Noé
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199253784
- eISBN:
- 9780191698163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199253784.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter emphasises the rich set of international legal agreements that addressed aspects of public participation prior to the Aarhus Convention. It also examines the interest in public ...
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This chapter emphasises the rich set of international legal agreements that addressed aspects of public participation prior to the Aarhus Convention. It also examines the interest in public participation expressed by such diverse groups as international financial organisations, indigenous peoples, and NGOs. It provides an overview of the growing number of public-participation requirements in international environmental laws and legal authorities affecting mining, energy, and resources development. It concludes with a predictive look at how the international law of public participation may evolve in the near future.Less
This chapter emphasises the rich set of international legal agreements that addressed aspects of public participation prior to the Aarhus Convention. It also examines the interest in public participation expressed by such diverse groups as international financial organisations, indigenous peoples, and NGOs. It provides an overview of the growing number of public-participation requirements in international environmental laws and legal authorities affecting mining, energy, and resources development. It concludes with a predictive look at how the international law of public participation may evolve in the near future.
Alice Donald
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265376
- eISBN:
- 9780191760426
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265376.003.0012
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The right to participate in choosing or changing a constitution is becoming established in law and theory. The means of realising that right in the formation of Bills of Rights, and the consequences ...
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The right to participate in choosing or changing a constitution is becoming established in law and theory. The means of realising that right in the formation of Bills of Rights, and the consequences for democratic legitimacy, are matters of debate and experimentation. This chapter explores the processes used to develop Bills of Rights (or proposed Bills) in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and analyses key aspects of the design of those processes. It examines the context for creating a new UK Bill of Rights, including the work of the Commission on a Bill of Rights established in 2011. It reflects on the challenges facing the Commission in the light of experience overseas. It concludes that, on present evidence, the Commission is highly unlikely to achieve an outcome which might enjoy democratic legitimacy, in the sense of having been subject to inclusive and informed public deliberation.Less
The right to participate in choosing or changing a constitution is becoming established in law and theory. The means of realising that right in the formation of Bills of Rights, and the consequences for democratic legitimacy, are matters of debate and experimentation. This chapter explores the processes used to develop Bills of Rights (or proposed Bills) in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and analyses key aspects of the design of those processes. It examines the context for creating a new UK Bill of Rights, including the work of the Commission on a Bill of Rights established in 2011. It reflects on the challenges facing the Commission in the light of experience overseas. It concludes that, on present evidence, the Commission is highly unlikely to achieve an outcome which might enjoy democratic legitimacy, in the sense of having been subject to inclusive and informed public deliberation.
Kevin C. Elliott
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199755622
- eISBN:
- 9780199827121
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755622.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter explores the last of the options considered in chapter 4 for preventing interest groups' questionable influences on scientific research. It argues that there are normative, substantive, ...
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This chapter explores the last of the options considered in chapter 4 for preventing interest groups' questionable influences on scientific research. It argues that there are normative, substantive, and instrumental reasons for pursuing formal mechanisms for broadly based deliberation to guide the value judgments associated with policy‐relevant science. Nevertheless, because these forums can involve a wide range of mechanisms and strategies for representing affected parties, and because deliberative proceedings have weaknesses as well as strengths, the chapter calls for more careful “diagnosis” of the mechanisms appropriate in response to particular areas of research. It develops a three‐step diagnostic model inspired by the account proposed in the NRC volume Understanding Risk. Applying this diagnostic procedure to the hormesis case, the chapter calls for a mixed deliberative approach. In the near term, it recommends that policy makers examine the hormesis phenomenon in either an existing scientific advisory committee or a special advisory council created to represent the range of important stakeholder perspectives on hormesis. This council could address some of the major judgments identified in Chapter 2, such as prioritizing future areas of research, proposing definitions of key terms under debate, and evaluating the evidence for the generalizability and regulatory implications of hormesis. If the advisory council were to conclude, now or in the future, that the evidence warranted considering regulatory changes in response to hormesis, then a more intensive deliberative proceeding such as a consensus conference might be justified. These formal exercises could serve as a valuable starting point for informal political action by concerned citizens' groups.Less
This chapter explores the last of the options considered in chapter 4 for preventing interest groups' questionable influences on scientific research. It argues that there are normative, substantive, and instrumental reasons for pursuing formal mechanisms for broadly based deliberation to guide the value judgments associated with policy‐relevant science. Nevertheless, because these forums can involve a wide range of mechanisms and strategies for representing affected parties, and because deliberative proceedings have weaknesses as well as strengths, the chapter calls for more careful “diagnosis” of the mechanisms appropriate in response to particular areas of research. It develops a three‐step diagnostic model inspired by the account proposed in the NRC volume Understanding Risk. Applying this diagnostic procedure to the hormesis case, the chapter calls for a mixed deliberative approach. In the near term, it recommends that policy makers examine the hormesis phenomenon in either an existing scientific advisory committee or a special advisory council created to represent the range of important stakeholder perspectives on hormesis. This council could address some of the major judgments identified in Chapter 2, such as prioritizing future areas of research, proposing definitions of key terms under debate, and evaluating the evidence for the generalizability and regulatory implications of hormesis. If the advisory council were to conclude, now or in the future, that the evidence warranted considering regulatory changes in response to hormesis, then a more intensive deliberative proceeding such as a consensus conference might be justified. These formal exercises could serve as a valuable starting point for informal political action by concerned citizens' groups.
Barry Barton
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199253784
- eISBN:
- 9780191698163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199253784.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter presents a study of the intellectual framework of public participation. It makes clear that scholars have grappled with the objectives of public participation for decades, but that they ...
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This chapter presents a study of the intellectual framework of public participation. It makes clear that scholars have grappled with the objectives of public participation for decades, but that they appreciate the impact of the ‘public participation revolution’ of the 1990s. It also explores theoretical and conceptual questions about the way that public participation fits into different views of law, politics, the state, and society. Writers on philosophy, legal theory, politics, and sociology have struggled at length with public participation, or issues directly related to it. Their thinking can help in the efforts to make sense of what people see, and to work out what they would like to see.Less
This chapter presents a study of the intellectual framework of public participation. It makes clear that scholars have grappled with the objectives of public participation for decades, but that they appreciate the impact of the ‘public participation revolution’ of the 1990s. It also explores theoretical and conceptual questions about the way that public participation fits into different views of law, politics, the state, and society. Writers on philosophy, legal theory, politics, and sociology have struggled at length with public participation, or issues directly related to it. Their thinking can help in the efforts to make sense of what people see, and to work out what they would like to see.
Karen Morrow
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199542482
- eISBN:
- 9780191594342
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542482.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter considers the concept of risk as it applies to the regulation of GMOs. In so doing, it examines the oftentimes problematic, yet still dominant, hybrid scientific and political ...
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This chapter considers the concept of risk as it applies to the regulation of GMOs. In so doing, it examines the oftentimes problematic, yet still dominant, hybrid scientific and political character of risk regulation in the arena of agricultural biotechnology and its legal ramifications. The dominance of technocracy and difficulties of constructing viable inter-disciplinary dialogue are also discussed. Further, the chapter considers the problems experienced in attempting to invoke greater public participation as a regulatory response to engaging with and determining acceptable levels of risk, something that is increasingly viewed as a contested concept. A central point of discussion is the role of law in dealing with the disputes that inevitably arise in so controversial a field.Less
This chapter considers the concept of risk as it applies to the regulation of GMOs. In so doing, it examines the oftentimes problematic, yet still dominant, hybrid scientific and political character of risk regulation in the arena of agricultural biotechnology and its legal ramifications. The dominance of technocracy and difficulties of constructing viable inter-disciplinary dialogue are also discussed. Further, the chapter considers the problems experienced in attempting to invoke greater public participation as a regulatory response to engaging with and determining acceptable levels of risk, something that is increasingly viewed as a contested concept. A central point of discussion is the role of law in dealing with the disputes that inevitably arise in so controversial a field.
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562572
- eISBN:
- 9780191705328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562572.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter examines how international law has responded to the risks presented by new technologies. It focuses, first, on the definition of the notion of precaution and its constitutive elements, ...
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This chapter examines how international law has responded to the risks presented by new technologies. It focuses, first, on the definition of the notion of precaution and its constitutive elements, and examines how the precautionary approach brings new concerns and new paradigms into the international legal order. It then looks at precaution's links with public participation. Finally, it examines the societal dimension of precaution.Less
This chapter examines how international law has responded to the risks presented by new technologies. It focuses, first, on the definition of the notion of precaution and its constitutive elements, and examines how the precautionary approach brings new concerns and new paradigms into the international legal order. It then looks at precaution's links with public participation. Finally, it examines the societal dimension of precaution.
Maria Lee
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565177
- eISBN:
- 9780191705359
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565177.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law, Environmental and Energy Law
The Water Framework Directive takes an ambitious approach to environmental protection, albeit characterized by flexibility in both language and environmental objectives. This flexibility is ...
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The Water Framework Directive takes an ambitious approach to environmental protection, albeit characterized by flexibility in both language and environmental objectives. This flexibility is constrained by the explicit terms of the Directive, which without commanding particular results, demand that particular tools, approaches, and considerations be used in decision making. The flexibility is further constrained beyond the terms of the legislation through the Common Implementation Strategy, which provides for cooperation between the member states, the Commission and others in the detailed implementation of the Directive. The novel approaches in the Water Framework Directive inevitably raise concerns around both legal and political accountability. However, the combination of these ambitious objectives with mechanisms of new governance is no coincidence — flexibility recognises social and ecological realities, and without it the ambition of the Directive would not be possible. The constraints within and beyond the wording of the legislation keep that flexibility within certain bounds.Less
The Water Framework Directive takes an ambitious approach to environmental protection, albeit characterized by flexibility in both language and environmental objectives. This flexibility is constrained by the explicit terms of the Directive, which without commanding particular results, demand that particular tools, approaches, and considerations be used in decision making. The flexibility is further constrained beyond the terms of the legislation through the Common Implementation Strategy, which provides for cooperation between the member states, the Commission and others in the detailed implementation of the Directive. The novel approaches in the Water Framework Directive inevitably raise concerns around both legal and political accountability. However, the combination of these ambitious objectives with mechanisms of new governance is no coincidence — flexibility recognises social and ecological realities, and without it the ambition of the Directive would not be possible. The constraints within and beyond the wording of the legislation keep that flexibility within certain bounds.
