Taking Back Eden
Eight Environmental Cases that Changed the World
256 pages
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Photos, maps, references, index
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6 x 9
Taking Back Eden is the gripping tale of an idea—that ordinary people have the right to go to court to defend their environment—told through the stories of lawsuits brought in eight countries around the world. Starting in the United States in the l960’s, this idea is now traveling the planet, with impacts not just on imperiled environments but on systems of justice and democracy. It has brought people back into the question of governing the quality of their lives. Author Oliver Houck describes the sites under contention in their place and time, the people who rose up, their lawyers, strategies, obstacles, setbacks and victories.
Written for general readers, students, and lawyers alike, Taking Back Eden tells the stories of a lone fisherman intent on protecting the Hudson River, a Philippine lawyer boarding illegal logging ships from the air, the Cree Indian Nation battling for its hunting grounds, and a civil rights attorney who set out to save the Taj Mahal. The cases turn on Shinto and Hindu religions, dictatorships in Greece and Chile, regime changes in Russia, and on a remarkable set of judges who saw a crisis and stepped up to meet it in similar ways. Spontaneously, without communication among each other, their protagonists created a new brand of law and hope for a more sustainable world.
“Oliver Houck is a most unusual law professor: he writes with wit and even humor but also great brilliance and compassion. Read him and learn.”
"This modest volume poisnantly reminds the reader that environmental policy change is achieved not merely by amassing scientific evidence or lobbying for new laws, but by protest that eventually finds its way into courts of law...very useful and readable volume... recommended."
"Worthwhile read."
"Interesting and well-written book."
"Taking Back Eden is a must read for any who want to best understand the world of law and nature."
Prologue
Introduction: The Awakening
Chapter One: Storm King
Chapter Two: Nikko Taro
Chapter Three: Minors Oposa
Chapter Four: Great Whale
Chapter Five: The Taj Mahal
Chapter Six: Lenin’s Trees
Chapter Seven: Acheloos
Chapter Eight: Trillium
Reflections
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Introduction: The Awakening
Chapter One: Storm King
Chapter Two: Nikko Taro
Chapter Three: Minors Oposa
Chapter Four: Great Whale
Chapter Five: The Taj Mahal
Chapter Six: Lenin’s Trees
Chapter Seven: Acheloos
Chapter Eight: Trillium
Reflections
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
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