There is an increasing general interest in the environment and in environmental law, a trend which has been reflected in academic work. This reader considers a cross-section of socio-legal work on environmental law, tracing its development since the late 1970s. It includes work from a variety of disciplines, theoretical perspectives and from an international scholarship, and aims to give a taste of the breadth and development of socio-legal approaches to one of the most important regulatory regimes in the western industrialized world - the regulation of the environment. The readings encompass various legal approaches to environmental protection, alternatives to the law, and both domestic and supra-national issues. They also consider broader themes such as the interaction of law and science and the effects of criminalizing environmental offences, and indicate areas which future research could usefully address. The book is intended for students and teachers on a variety of courses, particularly environmental studies and law, sociology, economics, politics, and regulation. It should also appeal to practitioners in the field of environmental control.
