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The North-South Divide In International Environmental Law: Framing The Issues, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu
The North-South Divide In International Environmental Law: Framing The Issues, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …
International Environmental Law And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez
International Environmental Law And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …
World Poverty And Food Insecurity, Carmen G. Gonzalez
World Poverty And Food Insecurity, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The article draws upon the insights of Yale philosopher Thomas Pogge to suggest a way that we might think about the structural inequities in the global economic order that produce food insecurity. The article argues that chronic undernourishment is not a function of food scarcity, bad weather, or simply bad luck. Rather, it is a function of international political and economic arrangements that systematically benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor. The article concludes with several legal and policy reforms that the United States and the European Union can adopt to reduce the burdens that our societies place …
International Economic Law And The Right To Food, Carmen G. Gonzalez
International Economic Law And The Right To Food, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
This chapter examines the historic and current policies and practices that have contributed to food insecurity in the global South. It analyzes the impact of international economic law on the patterns of trade and production that perpetuate food insecurity, and recommends concrete measures that the international community might take through law and regulation to promote the fundamental human right to food. Part I provides a short introduction to the right to food framework and its implications for international trade, investment, and finance. Part II places the current food crisis in historical perspective by discussing the trade and aid policies that …
The Global Food System, Environmental Protection, And Human Rights, Carmen G. Gonzalez
The Global Food System, Environmental Protection, And Human Rights, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The global food system is exceeding ecological limits while failing to meet the nutritional needs of a large segment of the world’s population. While law could play an important role in facilitating the transition to a more just and ecologically sustainable food system, the current legal framework fails to regulate food and agriculture in an integrated manner. The international legal framework governing food and agriculture is fragmented into three self-contained regimes that have historically operated in isolation from one another: international human rights law, international environmental law, and international trade law. International trade law has taken precedence over human rights …
Organismos Genéticamente Modificados (Ogm) Y Justicia: Implicaciones De La Biotecnología Para La Justicia Ambiental Internacional, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Organismos Genéticamente Modificados (Ogm) Y Justicia: Implicaciones De La Biotecnología Para La Justicia Ambiental Internacional, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
En septiembre del 2006, un panel de resolución de controversias de la Organizacón Mundial del Comercio (OMC) emitió su fallo a favor de los Estados Unidos en la disputa entre EE.UU y la Unión Europea sobre los organismos genéticamente modificados (OGM). El fallo se basó en limitadas determinaciones procedimentales, y no abordó el tema de la seguridad de los OGM, el derecho de los países de reglamentar los productos genéticamente modificados más rigurosamente que sus equivalentes convencionales, ni la coherencia de la legislacion europea con las obligaciones del OMC. El continuo conflicto entre los Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea …
The Global Politics Of Food: Introduction To The Theoretical Perspectives Cluster, Carmen G. Gonzalez
The Global Politics Of Food: Introduction To The Theoretical Perspectives Cluster, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The corporate-dominated, fossil-fuel dependent model of agricultural production has produced chronic undernourishment, an epidemic of obesity and diet-related diseases, and unprecedented ecological devastation. In May 2010, the Universidad Interamericana in Mexico City hosted an international conference on The Global Politics of Food: Sustainability and Subordination. Sponsored by Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc. and by Seattle University School of Law, the conference took place under the auspices of the South-North Exchange on Theory, Culture and Law (SNX), a yearly gathering of scholars in the Americas that seeks to foster transnational, cross-disciplinary and inter-cultural dialogue on current issues in law, …
The Global Food Crisis: Law, Policy, And The Elusive Quest For Justice, Carmen G. Gonzalez
The Global Food Crisis: Law, Policy, And The Elusive Quest For Justice, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The food crisis of 2008, the subsequent financial crisis, and the ongoing climate crisis have created new challenges to the attainment of global food security. This essay examines the historic and current practices that have contributed to food insecurity in developing countries, and recommends several steps that the international community might take to promote the fundamental human right to food. The essay begins by outlining the trade and aid policies that laid the foundation for food insecurity in the global South from colonialism until the early twenty-first century. It then examines the impact of the financial crisis and the climate …
Genetically Modified Organisms And Justice: The International Environmental Justice Implications Of Biotechnology, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Genetically Modified Organisms And Justice: The International Environmental Justice Implications Of Biotechnology, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
In September 2006, a WTO dispute settlement panel issued its long-awaited decision in favor of the United States in the dispute between the U.S. and the European Union over genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The ruling was based on narrow procedural grounds, and did not resolve the controversy over the safety of GMOs, over the right of countries to regulate GMOs more stringently than conventional products, or over the consistency of the EU's GMO regulatory regime with WTO requirements. The debate over GMOs continues unabated. Unfortunately, the high profile dispute between the U.S. and the EU has eclipsed the important debate …
Markets, Monocultures, And Malnurition: Agricultural Trade Policy Through An Environmental Justice Lens, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Markets, Monocultures, And Malnurition: Agricultural Trade Policy Through An Environmental Justice Lens, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
Much of the literature on environmental justice struggles in the United States and in the Global South has highlighted the disproportionate concentration of environmental hazards in poor communities and communities of color. However, it is equally important to evaluate how human societies distribute access to environmental necessities , such as food and water. Food is a quintessential environmental necessity that is critical human survival, and the right to food is recognized under under a vareity of international human rights law instruments. This article examines the complex ways in which the rules governing international trade in agricultural products affect the fundamental …
Deconstructing The Mythology Of Free Trade: Critical Reflections On Comparative Advantage, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Deconstructing The Mythology Of Free Trade: Critical Reflections On Comparative Advantage, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The theory of comparative advantage serves as the theoretical justification for the neoliberal economic reforms promoted by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and multilateral and regional free trade agreements. This article employs insights from both neoclassical and heterodox economics in order to critique the theory of comparative advantage as applied to the agricultural sector. In particular, the article takes aim at the illusory notion that eliminating distortions in international agricultural trade caused by the lavish agricultural subsidies of wealthy nations will be sufficient to “level the playing field” and promote prosperity in both developed and developing countries. The …
Trade Liberalization, Food Security, And The Environment: The Neoliberal Threat To Sustainable Rural Development, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Trade Liberalization, Food Security, And The Environment: The Neoliberal Threat To Sustainable Rural Development, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
Even though food production has exceeded population growth in recent decades, world hunger continues to be a daunting problem. Progress in hunger reduction has slowed in recent years, and the number of undernourished people is growing in most of the developing world. Rampant hunger and malnutrition impair the economic performance of individuals, households, and entire nations, and can lead to political instability and social conflict. Food insecurity is often exacerbated by environmentally destructive farming practices that ultimately depress agricultural productivity. Environmental degradation is increasingly recognized as a major factor contributing to both food insecurity and civil strife. This article examines …
Seasons Of Resistance: Sustainable Agriculture And Food Security In Cuba, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Seasons Of Resistance: Sustainable Agriculture And Food Security In Cuba, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Cuba embarked upon a transformation of the agricultural sector that has been hailed by some observers as a model of socially equitable and ecologically sustainable agriculture. Cuba shifted from an export-oriented, chemical-intensive agricultural development strategy to one that promoted organic agriculture and encouraged production for the domestic market. This article places Cuba's agricultural reforms in historical context by examining the evolution of Cuban agriculture from the colonial period until the present through the lens of food security and ecological sustainability. The article argues that Cuba, for most of its history, was food insecure and ecologically compromised …
Institutionalizing Inequality: The Wto Agreement On Agriculture, Food Security, And Developing Countries, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Institutionalizing Inequality: The Wto Agreement On Agriculture, Food Security, And Developing Countries, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The article examines the food security implications of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. It places the Agreement in historical context, examines its key provisions, and argues that the Agreement systematically favors industrialized country agricultural producers at the expense of farmers in developing countries. The Agreement enables industrialized countries to continue to subsidize agricultural production and to protect domestic producers from foreign competition while requiring market openness in developing countries. The article evaluates the effect of this imbalance on food security in developing countries, and proposes reforms to provide developing countries with the tools to promote access by all people at …