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When Environmental Protection and Human Rights Collide: The Politics of Conflict Management by Regional Courts, by Marie-Catherine Petersmann Cambridge University Press, 2022, 316 pp, £85 hb, £80.75 ebk ISBN 9781316515808 hb, 9781009026659 ebk
The fate of Medina Spirit emblemizes modern relations between humans and non-human living beings.1 Medina Spirit was an American racehorse, which was sold twice, first for a mere US$1,000 and then again for US$35,000, before finishing first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Though Medina finished first, he did not win, as he was later disqualified from the race for failing a doping test. The horse did not live to see his championship revoked. Several months after the Kentucky Derby, Medina collapsed and died shortly after finishing a training session. Medina Spirit was an animal, but he was also human property – an investment, and a cheap one at that. It is likely that his fate was not a freak incident; nor was it the result of a particularly cruel training team. Strict rules on the breeding of thoroughbred horses protect the exclusivity of the breed and thereby also the economic value of the horses. To protect the appeal of the sport to the betting industry, equally strict rules regulate their racing, including regulating the types of substance that can be in their bloodstream on a race day. Their medication and treatment during training, however, is barely regulated, which means that horses can lawfully be subjected to treatment that is devastating, even disastrous for their health and well-being. Medina's fate was therefore a calculated casualty resulting from a legal balancing act between corporate and human interests, on the one hand, and the interests of a non-human animal, on the other.
In her first monograph, Marie-Catherine Petersmann sets out to better understand how this balancing act between human and non-human interests is reasoned. When Environmental Protection and Human Rights Collide presents a comprehensive study of the international and regional rules that govern the relations between humans and their natural environment. The book is based on Petersmann's doctoral dissertation, which she completed at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) under the supervision of Nehal Bhuta. The book is a timely contribution to a rapidly growing body of scholarship on...