Table Of ContentGlobalization,Violence and World Governance
Studies in Critical
Social Sciences
Series Editor
David Fasenfest
Wayne State University
Editorial Board
Chris Chase-Dunn, University of California-Riverside
G. William Domhoff , University of California-Santa Cruz
Colette Fagan, Manchester University
Matha Gimenez, University of Colorado, Boulder
Heidi Gottfried, Wayne State University
Karin Gottschall, University of Bremen
Bob Jessop, Lancaster University
Rhonda Levine, Colgate University
Jacqueline O’Reilly, University of Brighton
Mary Romero, Arizona State University
Chizuko Ueno, University of Tokyo
VOLUME 30
Globalization,Violence and
World Governance
By
Laura Westra
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
On the cover: Portrait of a coal miner at work in a mine illuminated by a candle (Mawblang,
Meghalaya, India). Johnny Haglund / Lonely Planet Images.
Th is book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Westra, Laura.
Globalization, violence and world governance / by Laura Westra.
p. cm. -- (Studies in critical social sciences ; v. 30)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-20133-0 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. International law--Philosophy. 2. International law--Moral and ethical aspects.
3. International organization. 4. Social justice. 5. Globalization. 6. Civil rights. 7. Rule of law.
I. Title.
KZ1256.W47 2011
341--dc22
2010052747
ISSN 1573-4234
ISBN 978 90 04 20133 0
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill
NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Th e Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
To my son Richard Westra
CONTENTS
Foreword, by Upendra Baxi ................................................................... xi
Acknowledgments .................................................................................... xv
Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
Chapter One Globalization and World Governance:
A Preliminary Discussion ................................................................... 7
Introduction: Understanding the Impact of Globalization................. 7
A Preliminary Discussion of the Possibility of a World State ............. 9
Some Diffi culties with “World State Institutions” ................................15
Teleology and Causal Explanations: Th e Better Alternative ...............17
From Biological to Social Systems? ........................................................19
Complex Systems and the Problem of Surprises ..................................20
European Citizenship: A Blueprint for Cosmopolitanism?
Identity and Democracy ......................................................................22
A World State Reconsidered ...................................................................28
Chapter Two Globalization as “Plunder”, “Exploitation”
and “Ecoviolence”: A Causal Analysis ...............................................31
Introduction ..............................................................................................31
Chimni on a Marxist Course for International Law ............................34
Th e “Right to Development”? .................................................................36
Introduction to the History of Development and
International Law .................................................................................40
Chimni on Sen, Development and International Law.........................44
“Exploitation”: A Marxist Category? ......................................................46
“Plunder” and Covert Illegality ..............................................................48
From Economics to Biological Integrity: Th e Case for
Ecoviolence ...........................................................................................51
State Responsibility for Environmental Harms and its
Diffi culties .............................................................................................53
Ecoviolence and the Responsibility to Protect .....................................60
Sovereignty as Responsibility: Th e Report of the
International Commission on Intervention and
State Sovereignty ..................................................................................64
viii contents
Chapter Th ree Hazards, Ecoviolence and the Need
for World Law .......................................................................................67
Introduction to the Possibility of New Organizations
for Protection from Collective Hazards ................................................67
A World Environment Organization: A Better Approach
to the Protection of Collective Human Rights? ...............................70
Some Preliminary Considerations .........................................................73
UNEO: Another Proposal for Global Environmental
Governance ...........................................................................................76
“Employing Public Health for Global Justice”? ....................................79
Globalization and Public Health: Th e Disappearance of
State Responsibility in International Law .........................................81
A “Lawless World” and Global Warming: Environmental
Harms and Domestic Law ..................................................................84
Water as Danger and the Negative Consequences of
Climate Change ....................................................................................86
Th e Kivalina Complaint and “Civil Conspiracy Allegations” .............88
Connecticut et al. v. American Electric Power Company
et al.: New Hope in Old Doctrines .....................................................92
Th e Parens Patriae Doctrine: An Old Principle and a Novel
Application ............................................................................................93
Th e Public Trust Doctrine: A Discussion ..............................................98
Chapter Four Cosmopolitanism and Neoliberal Democracy
in Confl ict ...........................................................................................103
Introduction: Adopt World Governance or Modify Existing
Institutions? ........................................................................................103
State Sovereignty Revisited....................................................................105
Plan Colombia and the Indigenous Peoples of the
Colombia–Ecuador Border Region .................................................108
A Brief Overview of the Constitutional Protection Available
for the Environment in Colombia and Ecuador ............................111
Th e State and Neoliberal Globalization: Democracy v.
Principles and Jus Cogens Norms .....................................................113
Th e Limits of Legal Positivism for World Governance .....................115
Th e Content and Limits of Jus Cogens .................................................119
Attacks on the Human Person ..............................................................121
Ecocrimes as Forms of Genocide: A Possible Way to Link
Environmental Crimes and Jus Cogens ...........................................124
contents ix
Jus Cogens and Erga Omnes Obligations in Defence of the
Collective .............................................................................................129
Current Use of Jus Cogens: Advisory Opinion on Genocide
and Bosnia-Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia ...........................................131
Th e Reality of International Law v. Cosmopolitanism ......................133
Chapter Five Th e Right to Water: Israel v. Palestine
(A Case Study) ....................................................................................137
Introduction ............................................................................................137
Self-Determination, State-Making and Collective Rights:
Israel and Palestine ............................................................................138
Th e Role of the United Nations and Collective Human
Rights ...................................................................................................140
Th e Infl uence of the Early History of the United Nations ................141
National Protection and Religious Beliefs: Israeli Policies
and the Palestinians ...........................................................................143
“National Protection” and the Case of Operation Cast Lead ............149
“Water is a Human Right”: International Law v. Policies
of Denial ..............................................................................................152
International Law in Palestine and the Implications of the
Right to Water .....................................................................................159
Th e Politics of “Plunder” .......................................................................161
Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity? ............................................164
Ratner’s Approach: Comparing “Evils” ................................................165
Crimes Against Humanity Reconsidered ............................................167
Conclusion ..............................................................................................168
Chapter Six Th e United Nations and International Law:
Is World Governance the Way Forward? ........................................173
Introduction: Globalization and Legal Violence—A Review
of Some Problems ..............................................................................173
Neoliberal Democracies and Human Rights: Neglected
Customary Law Requirements .........................................................178
Th e Current Responsibility of States for Human Rights ...................180
“In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and
Human Rights for All” .......................................................................185
Aggression and Terrorism in International Law: Violence
Beyond Plunder ..................................................................................190
From 1972 to 2005: Working on an Impossible Defi nition ..............191
