The Global Emergence of Constitutional Environmental Rights

In his superbly-written new book, Professor Josh Gellers offers us an exciting, radically different and ground-breaking transdisciplinary perspective on the emergence of constitutional environmental rights through an innovative application of social science methods and empirical inquiries. As a leading political scientist and legal scholar, Professor Gellers is perfectly placed to pry open restrictive methodological approaches, providing as he does, fresh insights for lawyers to appreciate why countries actually adopt constitutional environmental rights. Professor Louis J. Kotzé Research Professor, North-West University, South Africa In this exciting comparative environmental travelogue, Gellers maintains with wealth of impressive empirical evidence that international environmental norms make and mould ‘state identities’ and shape the design of national constitutions. All those especially interested in green governance and Anthropocene justice should find this rich work very rewarding. Upendra Baxi Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Warwick and Delhi The author’s novel interdisciplinary analytical device called "a world cultural framework of constitutional environmental rights" incorporating theories from international relations, sociology and law, seeks to improve our understanding of the emergence of environmental rights. He does so by skillfully drawing upon quantitative and qualitative analyses involving Nepal and Sri Lanka. Sumudu Atapattu Director of Research Centers at University of Wisconsin Law School In his superbly-written new book, Professor Josh Gellers offers us an exciting, radically different and ground-breaking transdisciplinary perspective on the emergence of constitutional environmental rights through an innovative application of social science methods and empirical inquiries. As a leading political scientist and legal scholar, Professor Gellers is perfectly placed to pry open restrictive methodological approaches, providing as he does, fresh insights for lawyers to appreciate why countries actually adopt constitutional environmental rights. Professor Louis J. Kotzé Research Professor, North-West University, South Africa In this exciting comparative environmental travelogue, Gellers maintains with wealth of impressive empirical evidence that international environmental norms make and mould ‘state identities’ and shape the design of national constitutions. All those especially interested in green governance and Anthropocene justice should find this rich work very rewarding. Upendra Baxi Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Warwick and Delhi The author’s novel interdisciplinary analytical device called "a world cultural framework of constitutional environmental rights" incorporating theories from international relations, sociology and law, seeks to improve our understanding of the emergence of environmental rights. He does so by skillfully drawing upon quantitative and qualitative analyses involving Nepal and Sri Lanka. Sumudu Atapattu Director of Research Centers at University of Wisconsin Law School Overall, this book is a significant contribution to the growing literature on constitutional environmental rights. Gellers’ empirical, mixed-methods approach sets the bar high for other scholars seeking to tackle the many remaining questions in this field. David Boyd, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment