Article by Robert R.M. Verchick
Recently, legal scholars have begun to explore the meaning and significance of geographic space in law, a project highlighted in a 1996 Stanford Law Review symposium. Much of this discussion draws implicitly and explicitly on critical legal theory in approaching geographic themes—suggesting the beginning of what the author calls “Critical Space Theory.”
This Article uses Critical Space Theory to address the legal significance of geography in relation to two environmental issues in the United States and the European Union: (1) transborder waste transportation and (2) judicial standing. Each issue raises questions of separation of powers and citizen influence in government within the context of environmental protection. Professor Verchick briefly describes his notion of Critical Space Theory, then applies it to the two environmental issues above in the contexts of the United States and the European Union. He finds surprising contradictions in American and European policy regarding the role of local participation and argues for a more consistent approach that values more strongly the views of people who are geographically close to environmental problems.
About the Author
Robert R.M. Verchick. Assistant Professor of Law, University of Missouri, Kansas City; A.B. 1986, Stanford University; J.D. 1989, Harvard Law School.
Citation
73 Tul. L. Rev. 739 (1999)