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Chapter IV: Diversity of Practice

Year: 2022
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: Chapter IV: Diversity of Practice 1Both in theory and in practice, a dominant, orthodox view of the rights of nature has developed.I have shown how it has been built through the advocacy of a transnational policy network, drawing on an ecotheological tradition steeped in liberal rights advocacy.The coherence of a potential movement for rights of nature is, however, questioned by the appearance of cases that diverge significantly from the conceptual contours explored thus far.Several cases in Aotearoa 2 New Zealand are markedly different from the ones already seen, also in the sense that they do not share the same intellectual history.It is worth looking at these carefully.I want to start with what I find to be the most extraordinary case of rights of nature so far, namely the passage of Te Urewera 3 from a national park to the status of self-owning legal entity.The 2014 law that accomplished this passage deserves detailed examination, for several reasons.Despite the fact that Te Urewera precedes the Whanganui river Act (2017), the latter has become 1 This chapter draws in part on a previously published article: Rights of Nature, Legal Personality, and Indigenous Philosophies, Transnational Environmental Law. 2 Māori name for New Zealand.3 This is the name of a part of the North Island that is home to Tūhoe, a Māori group that has had the most conflictual history with the settler state.Until well into the 20 th century, lands were confiscated and Tūhoe leaders and political activists persecuted.Today, this part of New Zealand is still seen as a mysterious place.Te Urewera is a vast area of mountainous forested landscapes, often shrouded in mist.Tūhoe call themselves the children of the mist.
DOI: 10.14361/9783839454312-005
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4206969726
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