Nicholas Robinson Analysis

Robinson, Nicholas A. “Fundamental Principles of Law for the Anthropocene?”

Environmental Policy and Law 44.1-2 (2014): 13-27. (Rebecca Poon)

In the article “Fundamental Principles of Law for the Anthropocene?” Nicholas A. Robinson, a scholar in environmental law, guides the audience towards a set of social and legal principles which will likely spark debate among those involved in attempting to create a solid foundation for sustainability in the Anthropocene. This new age calls for a change in the environmental law as old assumptions no longer apply, and current “innovations are now out of date because of the pervasive change that the Anthropocene represents” (Robinson, 13). Robinson outlines events and issues which exemplify the effects

Since the boundary between the natural and human realms no longer exist, the old missions for environmentalists must be redefined under the absence of understanding the new hybrid world, as well as the orientations of environmentalism’s future. Wapner makes his points clear by separating the whole chapter into two parts. First, he describes the concept of political ambiguity, which explains how environmentalists should now see old standards as conflicts to what they will now be working on. The second part argues for a middle path of future environmental policy by which he points out a clear orientation to explore. Wapner provides examples of how “the bright green policy” should be attached with an attraction to technological progress, in addition to suggesting that both human experience and the non-human world should not be completely controlled by sustainable development. Overall, Wapner argues that environmentalism should turn to a middle way between mastery and naturalism where both the well-being of humans and nature should be preserved by sensitizing to wildness. In my research paper, I would further elaborate on this idea with the understanding that this idea is mostly restricted to American