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240520 SE MM3 Rights of Nature: Anthropological Perspectives (2026S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Participation at first session is obligatory!The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Mo 02.02.2026 17:00 to Mo 23.02.2026 23:59
- Registration is open from We 25.02.2026 00:01 to Th 26.02.2026 23:59
- Deregistration possible until Fr 01.05.2026 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
UPDATE 13.05.2026: changed dates
- Wednesday 29.04. 13:15 - 16:30 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
- Wednesday 20.05. 13:15 - 16:30 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
- Wednesday 03.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
- Wednesday 10.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
- Wednesday 17.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
- Wednesday 24.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
Coursework:
Seminar participation (attendance, participation, presentation): 60%
Essay: 40%Attendance is mandatory in the first session.The course instructor may invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about completed partial assessments. Plagiarised or fraudulently obtained partial assessments will result in the course not being graded (entry of an "X" on the transcript). The plagiarism detection software Turnitin will be used.The use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) to complete partial assessments is permitted only if explicitly required by the course instructor.
Seminar participation (attendance, participation, presentation): 60%
Essay: 40%Attendance is mandatory in the first session.The course instructor may invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about completed partial assessments. Plagiarised or fraudulently obtained partial assessments will result in the course not being graded (entry of an "X" on the transcript). The plagiarism detection software Turnitin will be used.The use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) to complete partial assessments is permitted only if explicitly required by the course instructor.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Grading:
To successfully complete the course, at least 50 out of 100 possible points must be achieved. All partial assessments must be completed. If a partial assessment is not completed at all, this will be considered a withdrawal from the course.
If there is no valid excuse (such as a documented prolonged period of illness), the course will be graded as Fail(5).Attendance and active participation in all seminars is mandatory. In order to pass the course, students cannot miss more than one session.Grading scale:
= 92: very good (1)
= 80: good (2)
= 65: satisfactory (3)
= 50: sufficient (4)
< 50: insufficient / fail (5)
To successfully complete the course, at least 50 out of 100 possible points must be achieved. All partial assessments must be completed. If a partial assessment is not completed at all, this will be considered a withdrawal from the course.
If there is no valid excuse (such as a documented prolonged period of illness), the course will be graded as Fail(5).Attendance and active participation in all seminars is mandatory. In order to pass the course, students cannot miss more than one session.Grading scale:
= 92: very good (1)
= 80: good (2)
= 65: satisfactory (3)
= 50: sufficient (4)
< 50: insufficient / fail (5)
Examination topics
Reading list
Affolter, L. 2024. Humans as Those Who Must Care and Act: The Mobilizing Rights of Nature in Anti-Mining Struggles in Ecuador. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie/Journal of Social and Cultural Anthropology, 149(2): 297312.
Boyd, David R. 2017 The Rights of Nature: A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World, ECW Press. (esp. pages 102-158).
Dietrich, M.C., Affolter, L., Gutmann, A. and Ruales, J.G., 2024. Stories of Systemic Failure?: Landscaping the Rights of Nature in Europe.Journal of Legal Anthropology,8(1), pp.46-76.
Fitz-Henry, Erin 2022. Multi-species justice: a view from the rights of nature movement. Environmental Politics 31(2): 338359.
González-Serrano, and María Ximena 2024: Rights of nature, an ornamental legal framework: water extractivism and backbone rivers with rights in Colombia. The Journal of Peasant Studies 0(0):121.
Kauffman and P. Martin. 2001. The Politics of Rights of Nature. Strategies for Building a More Sustainable Future. The MIT Press.
Knauß, Stefan 2018: Conceptualizing Human Stewardship in the Anthropocene: The Rights of Nature in Ecuador, New Zealand and India. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 31(6):703722.
Lyons, K., 2023. "Nature" and territories as victims: Decolonizing Colombia's transitional justice process.American Anthropologist,125(1), pp.63-76.
Marshall, V. 2019. Removing the veil from the 'Rights of Nature': The dichotomy between First Nations customary rights and environmental legal personhood. Australian Feminist Law Journal, 45(2): 233248.
Martin, Keir. 2020: Subaltern Perspectives in Post-Human Theory. Anthropological Theory 20(3):357382.
Nakazora, M., 2023. Environmental Law With Non-Human Features in India: Giving Legal Personhood to the Ganges.South Asia Research,43(2), pp.172-191.
O'Donnell, E.L. and Talbot-Jones, J., 2018. Creating legal rights for rivers. Ecology and Society, 23(1): 7-14.
Salmond, A. 2014. Tears of Rangi: Water, power, and people in New Zealand. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 4(3): 285309.
Stone, Christopher 2010. Should Trees Have Standing? Law, Morality, and the Environment. Oxford UP.
Tanasescu, Mihnea. (2022) Understanding the Rights of Nature. Transcript Verlag.
Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth.
Boyd, David R. 2017 The Rights of Nature: A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World, ECW Press. (esp. pages 102-158).
Dietrich, M.C., Affolter, L., Gutmann, A. and Ruales, J.G., 2024. Stories of Systemic Failure?: Landscaping the Rights of Nature in Europe.Journal of Legal Anthropology,8(1), pp.46-76.
Fitz-Henry, Erin 2022. Multi-species justice: a view from the rights of nature movement. Environmental Politics 31(2): 338359.
González-Serrano, and María Ximena 2024: Rights of nature, an ornamental legal framework: water extractivism and backbone rivers with rights in Colombia. The Journal of Peasant Studies 0(0):121.
Kauffman and P. Martin. 2001. The Politics of Rights of Nature. Strategies for Building a More Sustainable Future. The MIT Press.
Knauß, Stefan 2018: Conceptualizing Human Stewardship in the Anthropocene: The Rights of Nature in Ecuador, New Zealand and India. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 31(6):703722.
Lyons, K., 2023. "Nature" and territories as victims: Decolonizing Colombia's transitional justice process.American Anthropologist,125(1), pp.63-76.
Marshall, V. 2019. Removing the veil from the 'Rights of Nature': The dichotomy between First Nations customary rights and environmental legal personhood. Australian Feminist Law Journal, 45(2): 233248.
Martin, Keir. 2020: Subaltern Perspectives in Post-Human Theory. Anthropological Theory 20(3):357382.
Nakazora, M., 2023. Environmental Law With Non-Human Features in India: Giving Legal Personhood to the Ganges.South Asia Research,43(2), pp.172-191.
O'Donnell, E.L. and Talbot-Jones, J., 2018. Creating legal rights for rivers. Ecology and Society, 23(1): 7-14.
Salmond, A. 2014. Tears of Rangi: Water, power, and people in New Zealand. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 4(3): 285309.
Stone, Christopher 2010. Should Trees Have Standing? Law, Morality, and the Environment. Oxford UP.
Tanasescu, Mihnea. (2022) Understanding the Rights of Nature. Transcript Verlag.
Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth.
Association in the course directory
Last modified: Tu 26.05.2026 08:27
We will consider cases where rights of nature frameworks have been enacted, as well as current applications and speculative cases that challenge existing legal and ontological boundaries. Drawing on recursive approaches to law, we will explore how some forms of legal recognitionrather than simply protecting rightshave historically functioned as a means of dispossession. Do ‘rights of nature’ risk a similar fate? To what extent might rights of nature frameworks, even when mobilised for environmental protection, remain entangled with the same liberal logics that facilitate the free movement of capital and resource extraction? How might legal status be reimagined to acknowledge the complex and shifting relationships between humans and more-than-human beings?
We will be discussing these questions from social anthropological perspectives. More concretely , we will examine: (1) the history of ‘rights of nature’, (2) the diverse ways in which rights of nature frameworks are implemented in different countries, (3) the possibilities and limitations of this framework, (4) the misunderstandings, transformations and equivocations these frameworks produce, and (5) what rights of nature frameworks do in different contexts.Course objective: An in-depth engagement and understanding of key scholarly debates about the ‘rights of nature’, especially in relation to anthropological perspectives and discussions about the relationship between nature and culture and the liberal traditions of the law. Ability to critically discuss diverse theoretical approaches drawing on specific case studies and ethnographic examples from different parts of the world.