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The Law of the Sea’s Fluid Anthropocentrism

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Godwin Dzah explores and critiques the relationship between the law of the sea and anthropocentrism.

Image courtesy of interviewee. July 23, 2024

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The chapter discusses the complex relationship between humanity and the law of the sea, emphasizing a protective framework for ocean governance that has become dominated by human interests. The author critiques the Law of the Sea Convention, arguing that it facilitates human exploitation rather than ocean conservation. Historically, the development of maritime law emerged from European powers, particularly Portugal and Spain, which influenced current international legal frameworks.

The author points out that human activity, such as fishing and deep seabed mining, exemplifies the dominance of human interests over ecological considerations. They advocate for a shift toward recognizing the ecological integrity of the ocean, suggesting a more ethical and post-human relationship with the sea that acknowledges its personhood and the need for its protection.

The work intersects international law, environmental concerns, and indigenous perspectives, revealing how historical concepts like the "doctrine of discovery" influence contemporary legal practices and treatises. The author also addresses the challenges posed by deep-sea mining and seeks to highlight the ecological impacts on less developed nations. Overall, the text calls for a re-evaluation of ocean governance to prioritize ecological health over human-centered uses.

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The context of this chapter is essentially that

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the way we engage with the law of the sea

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presumably starts from a protective regime for the law

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of this, of the oceans itself.

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But it becomes quite clear that when we look at the law

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of the Sea convention

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and our engagement with human uses of the ocean,

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what is clear or what is quite obvious, is

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that we are doing this largely

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by extending human domination over the ocean

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as another frontier of human engagement.

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And so my research tries to

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take a critical look at how the law

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of the sea can be walked away,

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or we can walk away from that excessive human domination

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and begin to look at how ecological integrity takes central,

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central place in the way we engage

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with this phenomenon called Law of the Sea.

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The law of the sea is a body of rules,

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largely imaginating from treaties

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and other agreements which set in place or in motion.

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They put a regulatory regime for state

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to state engagement in the international context as to how

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to use the oceans.

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And so we take topics like navigation,

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we take topics like fishing,

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and even more recent issues of deep seabed or ocean mining.

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There is an international regime

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that regulates all these aspects of the uses of the ocean.

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So the law of the sea, as we know it today,

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is largely a construction

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of European politics and European law.

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Now, at the time, sometime in the 14

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and 15 hundreds, the

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most powerful ocean fairing states in Europe were

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Portugal and Spain.

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And so these two countries supported by the

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Roman Catholic Church, that's the Pope

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largely divided the world into two.

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So half of the world eastward

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or westward in the European context was controlled

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by other Spain or Portugal.

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And so you begin to see a lot of European countries,

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including the Netherlands, trying to push back on this

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Iberian domination of the, of the oceans.

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And we look at that history four or 500 years ago

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and its context today, you see very much how

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that European context influences what we even know today

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as international laws.

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So that is a bit of the context now in trying

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to understand why human fixation becomes a problem

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for the law of the sea, it's really important to engage

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with this concept of anthrop that is this centrality

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of human activity, either in the political

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or the social in the universe, broadly construed.

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And where this problem becomes, more evident in the law,

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they, the sea, is that even though we agreed

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to produce a document called the 1982 Law

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of the Sea Convention, that is a, an agreement amongst,

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the global states to, to regulate the sea, we begin

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to see clearly that it was just an arrangement to,

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and those human extensions into the sea, human control,

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including fishing, including even mining, in the,

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on the, on the ocean floor laying of cables,

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navigation purposes.

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So these are clearly human activities that are extensions

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of human domination into the sea or seaward.

03:40.935 --> 03:45.495
But we see clearly that the law of the sea presumably

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operates as a framework for protecting the oceans.

03:49.555 --> 03:53.255
But in clear terms, as we begin to peel away at these layers

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of human engagement with the sea, we see clearly

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that what's happening here is human domination of the oceans

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and not really about the protection of the oceans.

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The real challenge is that it's almost inevitable

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that human beings would use the sea.

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So I just want to lay that premise, first.

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But we see clearly that due to the European orientation

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of the law of the sea,

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or the Eurocentric domination of the law of the sea,

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where human uses predominate any of the,

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ecological considerations that go

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with protecting the oceans, it's important for us to sort

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of walk ourselves away from this overt

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and excessive human domination of the ocean.

04:39.435 --> 04:44.425
And we see examples in the indigenous

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or non-Western concepts of engagements with the ocean,

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where people are a lot more attentive to the ecological,

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even spiritual dimensions of the oceans.

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And these are important ways of reengaging with the oceans

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beyond just a question of regulating the oceans

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for human uses, but beginning to engage in a post-human

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and more ethical, relationship with the sea,

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where the sea assumes the character as a person

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or a legal person in, in, in, in a more,

05:19.625 --> 05:22.945
precise expression where the sea has its own embodiment.

05:23.245 --> 05:26.265
The sea enjoys a special place of recognition

05:26.265 --> 05:29.385
and protection where ecological integrity

05:29.485 --> 05:31.185
and ecological,

05:31.555 --> 05:34.625
centrality remains the focus of our engagement.

05:34.625 --> 05:38.585
So even if we are fishing, or we are laying cables,

05:38.605 --> 05:42.145
or we are doing new things like deep seabed mining,

05:42.595 --> 05:45.865
these activities take into consideration the

05:46.425 --> 05:48.745
ecological integrity of the ocean itself

05:48.965 --> 05:51.465
and not just about human uses taking

05:51.465 --> 05:52.825
precedence over the ocean.

05:53.245 --> 05:56.545
My work is broadly at the intersection of international law,

05:57.225 --> 06:00.045
Law of the sea environment, energy,

06:00.665 --> 06:04.405
and increasingly looking at indigenous perspectives of law.

06:05.105 --> 06:09.405
And so I have just concluding the, a recent work on,

06:10.175 --> 06:14.745
international laws vestiges of vestigial, you know,

06:15.385 --> 06:17.305
remnants in domestic law.

06:17.365 --> 06:20.185
So I look at the concept of what we call aqua,

06:20.795 --> 06:24.225
which is a variant of the doctrine of discovery,

06:24.835 --> 06:29.105
which focuses on the idea that no man's water

06:29.245 --> 06:30.345
or no presence water.

06:30.565 --> 06:33.665
And this idea also emanates from the European context

06:34.525 --> 06:36.625
of dominating lands beyond Europe.

06:37.005 --> 06:39.905
So that work looks at how the concept of a

06:40.855 --> 06:43.825
entered into the Canadian jurisprudence

06:44.365 --> 06:47.745
and continues to flourish in ways that are, you know,

06:47.805 --> 06:50.865
not quite detected or detectable by law.

06:50.885 --> 06:52.385
So that's one of my projects.

06:52.525 --> 06:54.985
And the second project looks at,

06:56.195 --> 06:59.295
global activities in relation to deep sea bed mining

06:59.715 --> 07:04.695
and how that impacts the ecological, aspirations

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of third ball states or the global south in general.

"Rethinking Maritime Law: From Human Domination to Ecological Integrity"

00:00:00 - The context of this chapter is essentially that the way we engage with the law of the sea presumably starts from a protective regime for the law of this, of the oceans itself. But it becomes quite clear that when we look at the law of the Sea convention and our engagement with human uses of the ocean, what is clear or what is quite obvious, is that we are doing this largely by extending human domination over the ocean as another frontier of human engagement. And so my research tries to take a critical look at how the law of the sea can be walked away,
00:00:44 - and begin to look at how ecological integrity takes central, central place in the way we engage with this phenomenon called Law of the Sea. The law of the sea is a body of rules, largely imaginating from treaties and other agreements which set in place or in motion. They put a regulatory regime for state to state engagement in the international context as to how to use the oceans. And so we take topics like navigation, we take topics like fishing, and even more recent issues of deep seabed or ocean mining.
00:01:24 - that regulates all these aspects of the uses of the ocean. So the law of the sea, as we know it today, is largely a construction of European politics and European law. Now, at the time, sometime in the 14 and 15 hundreds, the most powerful ocean fairing states in Europe were Portugal and Spain. And so these two countries supported by the Roman Catholic Church, that's the Pope largely divided the world into two. So half of the world eastward or westward in the European context was controlled
00:02:07 - And so you begin to see a lot of European countries, including the Netherlands, trying to push back on this Iberian domination of the, of the oceans. And we look at that history four or 500 years ago and its context today, you see very much how that European context influences what we even know today as international laws. So that is a bit of the context now in trying to understand why human fixation becomes a problem for the law of the sea, it's really important to engage with this concept of anthrop that is this centrality
00:02:49 - or the social in the universe, broadly construed. And where this problem becomes, more evident in the law, they, the sea, is that even though we agreed to produce a document called the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, that is a, an agreement amongst, the global states to, to regulate the sea, we begin to see clearly that it was just an arrangement to, and those human extensions into the sea, human control, including fishing, including even mining, in the,
00:03:31 - navigation purposes. So these are clearly human activities that are extensions of human domination into the sea or seaward. But we see clearly that the law of the sea presumably operates as a framework for protecting the oceans. But in clear terms, as we begin to peel away at these layers of human engagement with the sea, we see clearly that what's happening here is human domination of the oceans and not really about the protection of the oceans. The real challenge is that it's almost inevitable that human beings would use the sea.

"Reassessing Human Engagement with the Oceans: Moving Beyond Eurocentric Dominance to Embrace Ecological Integrity"

00:04:12 - But we see clearly that due to the European orientation of the law of the sea, or the Eurocentric domination of the law of the sea, where human uses predominate any of the, ecological considerations that go with protecting the oceans, it's important for us to sort of walk ourselves away from this overt and excessive human domination of the ocean. And we see examples in the indigenous or non-Western concepts of engagements with the ocean, where people are a lot more attentive to the ecological,
00:04:56 - And these are important ways of reengaging with the oceans beyond just a question of regulating the oceans for human uses, but beginning to engage in a post-human and more ethical, relationship with the sea, where the sea assumes the character as a person or a legal person in, in, in, in a more, precise expression where the sea has its own embodiment. The sea enjoys a special place of recognition and protection where ecological integrity and ecological, centrality remains the focus of our engagement.
00:05:38 - or we are doing new things like deep seabed mining, these activities take into consideration the ecological integrity of the ocean itself and not just about human uses taking precedence over the ocean. My work is broadly at the intersection of international law, Law of the sea environment, energy, and increasingly looking at indigenous perspectives of law. And so I have just concluding the, a recent work on, international laws vestiges of vestigial, you know,
00:06:17 - So I look at the concept of what we call aqua, which is a variant of the doctrine of discovery, which focuses on the idea that no man's water or no presence water. And this idea also emanates from the European context of dominating lands beyond Europe. So that work looks at how the concept of a entered into the Canadian jurisprudence and continues to flourish in ways that are, you know, not quite detected or detectable by law. So that's one of my projects. And the second project looks at,
00:07:04 - and how that impacts the ecological, aspirations of third ball states or the global south in general.

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