Eradicating Ecocide

Eradicating Ecocide Wanton destruction of the planet is criminal, and Polly Higgins shows readers how, why, and what to do about it. Using varied but tight arguments the author advocates swift and rapid legal action, policy change, and legislation. The author argues that ecocide must be reframed as a legal as well as ethical infraction. Although told primarily from a British perspective, Higgins' (2010) core arguments and cases can be adopted to suit the legal climates of other nations.

The specific case law references might change, but the overall concepts are similar, allowing for a truly global, synchronous response to the ecocide crisis. Current legal climates protect and foster business. Higgins (2010) points out how laws are constructed to protect, for example, "the right to emit, the right to be inequitable, the freedom to destroy the planet," (p. 4). Higgins' (2010) tone is justifiably angry given the essentially amoral values inherent in a profit-driven ethic that prevails.

The author traces the history of ecocide practices, and the legal codes that protect them, from the Industrial Revolution onward. The resulting contextual analysis is rich, and provides the means by which to construct well-educated arguments that can be used inside or out of a courtroom. Therefore, Higgins's (2010) book proves useful from a variety of disciplinary standpoints. Ecocide is, in fact, a multidisciplinary issue in which science, the law, ethics, economics, and politics converge.

It is helpful to offer readers legal explanations for why the commodification of the planet has gone unchecked. The underlying social norms and values are also discussed in Eradicating Ecocide. There are no glaring weaknesses in the Higgins (2010) text. The author's writing style is straightforward, even during parts heavy with legalese. Most of the issues are discussed in plain language. One main question is who Higgins's (2010) target audience might be.

At times, the angry tone of the book makes it seem too much like it is preaching to the choir, rather than written to change minds. The author wavers between a nerdy, scholastic pitch to one that is idealistic and politically charged: "It is your rally too if you choose it to be. I ask you to join me," (Higgins, 2010, p. 171). Yet even if this is so, the practical advice that Higgins (2010) offers does have the potential to eradicate ecocide in a meaningful, proactive way.

For example, the author suggests to readers that they re-examine their investment portfolios, "taking stock," so to speak, of the ways money flows into the channels that either eradicate or perpetuate ecocide. Businesses committed to organizational change can gain much from the Higgins assessment, as she offers concrete objectives and strategies for cleaning up dirty sectors. Of course, all of what Higgins advises is contingent upon radical mind changing.

Any businessperson settled comfortably into a profit-driven mentality that does not have room for an ecological ethic will ignore the advice in Higgins's (2010) book. Moreover, Higgins (2010) outright ignores some of the most significant.