Burdon, Peter; Martel, James --- "Environmentalism and an anarchist research method" [2017] ELECD 1454; in Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, Andreas; Brooks, Victoria (eds), "Research Methods in Environmental Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 316

Book Title: Research Methods in Environmental Law

Editor(s): Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, Andreas; Brooks, Victoria

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784712563

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: Environmentalism and an anarchist research method

Author(s): Burdon, Peter; Martel, James

Number of pages: 22

Abstract/Description:

The dominant method in environmental law is reductionist, doctrinal, solution focused and betrays an unacknowledged belief in the ‘end of history’. Moreover, it is open to a very narrow and highly privileged range of perspectives. By contrast, this chapter draws predominately on traditional and contemporary anarchist literature to advance an alternative legal method. We begin by recovering key insights from the social ecologist Murray Bookchin. Of particular relevance to this paper is Bookchin’s materialist understanding of the environmental crisis and the conditions for social change. Following this, we draw on writers from Peter Kropotkin to Max Haiven to describe the role of ‘activist research’ in environmental law. This involves collaboration between researchers and people involved in environmental movements under study, and by hybrid activist/academic identities on the part of researchers.