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A man, Santiago Gorostiza. Photo.

Santiago Gorostiza

Researcher

A man, Santiago Gorostiza. Photo.

El crimen de ecocidio en tiempos de guerra y de paz. De Arthur W. Galston (1920-2008) a Polly Higgins (1968-2019)

The crime of ecocide in times of war and peace. From Arthur W. Galston (1920–2008) to Polly Higgins (1968–2019)

Author

  • Santiago Gorostiza

Summary, in English

The article examines the contributions of Arthur W. Galston (1920–2008) and Polly Higgins (1968–2019) to the concept of ecocide, from its origins in the Vietnam War to its revival in the twenty-first century. Biologist Arthur W. Galston, whose doctoral research was used to investigate defoliating agents, led a scientific campaign in the late 1960s against the massive use of herbicides by the United States in Vietnam. In 1970, Galston proposed the term ecocide to describe the deliberate destruction of the environment as a crime against humanity. Decades later, lawyer Polly Higgins revived the concept and promoted its inclusion as a fifth international crime in the Rome Statute, applicable both in wartime and in peacetime. Although her proposal has not yet been adopted, Higgins’s initiative contributed to put ecocide at the center of international legal debate.

Department/s

  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)

Publishing year

2025

Language

Spanish

Pages

116-120

Publication/Series

Ecología Política: Cuadernos de Debate Internacional

Volume

70

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

FUHEM Ecosocial

Topic

  • History of Science and Ideas
  • Technology and Environmental History

Keywords

  • Ecocide
  • Vietnam War
  • Rights of nature
  • Environmental history
  • History of science

Status

Published

Project

  • From military to civil crime: an environmental history of ecocide (FORMAS career grant)

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1130-6378