Law and Capitalism : The Climate Under Fire

Engaging with current concerns about the influence of international corporate law on climate politics and climate justice, this book will be of interest to academics, practitioners, and students of international environmental politics and law, environmental policy and political economy at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

What is the relationship between law and capitalism - and what happens when their foundations collide with the climate crisis? In this groundbreaking work, A. Claire Cutler reveals how transnational corporations and the laws that shield them perpetuate environmental destruction while evading accountability. Developing a critical political economy analysis, Cutler traces the origins of corporate privilege in international law and shows how today's investment and value chain regimes reinforce this protected status, contrasting starkly with the precarious legal position of climate-displaced individuals. Challenging dominant theories that treat the crisis as abstract, Cutler argues for a transformative praxis of transnational law that confronts corporate responsibility head-on. In search of a utopian possibility for a better world order, this book examines the contradictions at the heart of law and capitalism and asks whether a just, sustainable future is still possible.