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Journal of Environmental Law Advance Access originally published online on May 13, 2009
Journal of Environmental Law 2009 21(2):213-250; doi:10.1093/jel/eqp012
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© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Maturity and Methodology: Starting a Debate about Environmental Law Scholarship{dagger}

Elizabeth Fisher*, Bettina Lange**, Eloise Scotford*** and Cinnamon Carlarne****

*Reader in Environmental Law, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, (liz.fisher{at}law.ox.ac.uk).
**University Lecturer in Law and Regulation, Centre for Socio Legal Studies, University of Oxford.
***Career Development Fellow in Environmental Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford.
****Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of South Carolina.


  Abstract

Many environmental law scholars perceive environmental law scholarship as immature. We discuss why this self-perception has arisen and argue that a common theme is methodology. We argue that the subject can only mature when we face its methodological challenges head on, and we identify four particular issues that have given rise to these challenges: the speed and scale of legal/regulatory change, the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, the heavy reliance in environmental law on a diverse range of governance arrangements and the multi-jurisdictional nature of the subject. We argue that there is a need for debate in the face of these challenges and identify some starting points for that debate.

Key Words: environmental law scholarship • methodology • interdisciplinarity • environmental governance

{dagger}We thank Chris Hilson, Judith Jones, Maria Lee, Jenny Steele, two anonymous reviewers and the participants at the Environmental Law Section of the 2008 SLS Conference for comments on previous drafts of this article. Any errors or omissions remain our own.


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