Judicialization as contestation
Ecocide, the small island states, and the international politics of environmental justice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8250926 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ulrike Zeigermann (0000-0003-3247-5767, University of Würzburg, corresponding author), Philipp Gieg (0000-0001-5237-0159, University of Würzburg) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environment and Planning E Nature and Space (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2514-8486 • E-ISSN: 2514-8494 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/25148486251404317 |
| OpenAlex | W4417246912 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
Over the past decade, the reemerging debate about the introduction of ecocide as an international crime has brought about increasing scholarly and public debate. Small Island States have played a major role in this debate arguing for sanctioning and codifying widespread and long-term environmental harm in international criminal law. Recognizing the diversity among the Small Island States, five countries that have adhered to the Rome Statute are of particular interest: Belize, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Maldives, Samoa, and the Republic of Vanuatu. We explore which role these states have played in the debate on the judicialization of ecocide and ask how and to what extent they have contested prevailing norms in global environmental governance regarding the criminalization of grave environmental harm. With a qualitative document analysis, we scrutinize the agency of the Small Island States involved in global power dynamics around the judicialization of ecocide. Based on our empirical analysis, we argue that these processes can be conceptualized as norm contestation, revealing an ‘agency of the governed’. By discursively disapproving international norms – either regarding their validity per se, or regarding their general or situational application –, these actors formerly perceived as mere ‘norm takers’ have become norm entrepreneurs, actively shaping the international normative fabric of global environmental governance
Corporate governance · Criminalization · Environmental governance · Global commons · Global governance · Harm · International relations · Norm (philosophy · Normative · Politics · Environmental law and policy · International Law and Human Rights · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses
Contestation and Constitution of Norms in Global International Relations
Ipcc, 2023
Protecting the planet
Conceptions of ecocide and challenges for social transformation
The potential for combining indigenous and western knowledge in reducing vulnerability to environmental hazards in small island developing states
On ecocide
"Some Aspects of the Principle of "Common butDifferentiated Responsibilities
Small island developing states and international climate change negotiations
Equity Norms in Global Environmental Governance
Ecocide — Puzzles and Possibilities
Re-theorising the genocide–ecocide nexus
Resiliency dynamics of norm clusters
Role of Small Islands in UN Climate Negotiations
A Theory of Contestation—A Concise Summary of Its Argument and Concepts
Borrowing’ Power to Influence International Negotiations
Theorizing the Judicialization of International Relations
International Norm Dynamics and Political Change
Developmentalism and the Genocide–Ecocide Nexus
Critical Criminology and the Struggle Against Climate Change Ecocide
Global International Relations (IR) and Regional Worlds
Agency of the governed in global international relations
Unlocking the agency of the governed
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |