The Rationality Behind the Destruction of Nature: a Decolonial Critique of Modern Legal Thought
Year: 2026
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: : This article investigates the foundations of modern legal rationality from a decolonial perspective, with the central problem on the identification of the structuring aspects of modern anthropocentric logic that legitimize the exploitation of nature even in the face of the global climate crisis. The research is based on the understanding that the ontological separation between human beings and nature, constructed within the framework of modernity/coloniality, structures both scientific thought and the legal system. The objective of the investigation is to critically analyze this anthropocentric legal rationality and to demonstrate its connection with the historical processes of colonialism and capitalist expansion, pointing out its limits in addressing contemporary socio-environmental issues and the need for its overcoming. The methodology adopted is based on the dialectical-deductive method, with a qualitative approach, monographic and historical-critical procedure, and bibliographic research technique. As its main conclusions, the study argues that Environmental Law, although it has promoted advances, remains embedded in a colonial, capitalist, utilitarian, and anthropocentric logic, in which human value operates as a condition for environmental protection. It is necessary to reinforce a new legal-environmental rationality with an ecocentric quality, guided by complex thought, environmental epistemology, and legal pluralism, capable of recognizing nature as a subject of rights and promoting an effective transformation in the foundations of contemporary Brazilian law.
Author: Iris Pereira Engelmann
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7172029620