Moira L. McConnell
Law Reform Commission of Nova Scotia
8th Floor, Garrison Place
1526 Dresden Row
Halifax, Nova Scotia,
CANADA B35 2K2
TEL: 902/423-2633
FAX: 902/423-0222
This paper argues that we are in a transitional period in which new approaches to understanding and responding to the fact of common resources are evolving. These approaches, which are coincidental with the gradual recognition and participation of women in decisionmaking, acknowledge our position of subordination and powerlessness with respect to our environment, and operate on the basis of connection and responsibility rather than separation and ownership.
The author uses the example of international commons and points to the recent use of the term stewardship and the relinquishment of the terminology of common heritage is indicative of this change. Environmental stewardship as it is evolving implies a rejection of any ownership claim and embraces a notion of caretaking and accountability, presumably to ourselves and future generations. In denying ownership it also reflects a gradual shift away from the idea of territoriality and discrete contractual or consent-based activities. This isperhaps forced by the fact that the environment both internationally and nationally does not recognize these artificial political and commercial jurisdictional boundaries that have traditionally governed our practices. In her opinion a shift has occurred in perceptions of the environment, both at the individual and global level. On the local or individual level there has been a movement from seeing the environment as inexhaustible, unchangeable and essentially separate from humanity, to one which envisages humans an an inseparable element of the environment. We no longer see the environment as "exploitable" for if so we are exploiting ourselves. This rejection of alienation encourages a relationship on the basis of a more holistic understanding of interdependence and responsibility. This has been intensified at the level of international politics and law making as technology increases the ability of established global participants (states) to drastically affect others and the environment. The author suggests that this concept of relationship as evidenced internationally can be extended to more localized relationships between land/environment and people. In so doing it challenges the hegemony of the legal and economic systems based on individual ownership and control of people and property. The problems posed by our unacknowledged commonality may be overcome if the discussion is reframed as one of common responsibility rather than ownership. This distinction, while seemingly slight, is a significant step in terms of state and personal responsibility and allocation of resources. The responsible person no longer has the latitude of an owner to exploit or abuse his or her property since the relationship is premised on obligation to others in the present and future.
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