Rethinking Work and Legal Regulation for the Anthropocene

Event Description

Traditional theories of labour and environmental regulation are being challenged by our increasingly sophisticated understanding of the Anthropocene epoch, which demonstrates the relationship between human activities and non-human nature at a fundamental bio-ecological level. Humankind has gained a level of influence over the natural world that is totally unprecedented in history. No other species has ever reached the level of control and influence that humankind currently possesses over the natural world. This rise of human influence on nature has been catastrophic for the (human and non-human) natural world as evidenced by toxin-infected rivers, polluted skies, and increasing disasters, which now make regular headlines across the globe. In fact, without some kind of fundamental societal change, humankind will alter the chemistry of the atmosphere to such an extent that up to a million plant and animal species will be at risk of extinction. 

Since human activities – and their effects on nature – are the very reason for the destructive epochal change of the planet, a call to fundamentally rethink human activities and their regulation is unsurprising. Human livelihood activities are the most pervasive and diverse of all human activities. The work human beings perform varies greatly, ranging from working in formal workplaces like an office or factory, caring for children in the home, or, most commonly in much of the world, some form of informally organized work. Work is also foundational to the very human existence and the meaning of life. It is how livelihood activities – work – are structured and valued by means of regulation, that will decide how human relationship with nature, and by extension, the Anthropocene epoch, will unfold for future generations. Thus, the centrality of work to human society means that any attempt to address the Anthropocene crisis must involve a rethinking of the legal regulation of work (labour law), which determines normative behaviour at the intersection of human agency, human well-being, social justice, and environmental despoliation.

It is with these issues in mind that an international seminar on Rethinking Work and Legal Regulation for the Anthropocene will be organized at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. The objective of the proposed seminar will be to contemplate how existing and reformulated ideas of labour law could address the crisis we are currently faced with. This opportunity should be taken also to explore issues that are not centrally touched on above, including how the existing market-focused regulatory narratives might be useful in addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene. 
 

More information to follow.