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Jaria-Manzano, Jordi --- "Law in the Anthropocene" [2019] ELECD 2840; in Jaria-Manzano, Jordi; Borras , Susana (eds), "Research Handbook on Global Climate Constitutionalism" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 31

Book Title: Research Handbook on Global Climate Constitutionalism

Editor(s): Jaria-Manzano, Jordi; Borrás , Susana

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Law in the Anthropocene

Author(s): Jaria-Manzano, Jordi

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

The social metabolism of the capitalist world economy has transformed the biophysical foundation of social reproduction. As we enter the Anthropocene era, hegemonic social processes at a global level are modifying the planet in a comprehensive, irreversible and uncertain way, causing disturbance and social unrest. The geological transition to an era defined by human transformation of the Earth has produced a civilizational crisis in terms of sustainability and justice. This demands a profound debate on the constitutional principles to govern the global socioecological processes that human evolution has arrived at. An exploration of a global constitutionalism to address this socioecological crisis should draw on current legal fundamentals and evolve from principles such as precaution, cooperation and responsibility, moving from the atomistic framework of modernity to an interdependence scheme informed by the holistic perspective required to confront the geological transition. By overcoming modern key political concepts, such as sovereignty and the political utopia that is embedded in the culture of human rights, new approaches to constitutionalism should develop interdependence into a fluent, intertextual and evolving constitutional discourse.