INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEGAL
DISCOURSE SPECIAL ISSUE – SEMIOTIC PERSPECTIVES ON ENVIRONMENT, FORESTRY,
FISHERY, HUNTING AND LAW
Guest Editors: Dariusz GWIAZDOWICZ,
Aleksandra MATULEWSKA & Anne WAGNER
Environmental issues have bothered
people for the last several decades. In some countries, legislation devoted to
the protection of endangered species dates back to 15th and 16th century. The
modern world is highly urbanized and people get more and more distanced from
nature. At the same time, they are more and more aware of the need to protect
the natural resources of the Earth. That however, is not always done in
accordance with the suggestions of scientists but lobbying groups either
pursuing their own goals or simply their vision of the world. The recent case
of Greta Thunberg’s popularity is one of the examples of such actions. The
child got more attention of politicians and media than any scientist well
versed in the field. Celebrities create their image using environmental issues
as a popularity stimulator, just to mention one of the first ones who was
Bridgit Bardot. The animal rights’ movements take various forms. In some
countries farmed animals were released to the wild which affects the
environment negatively as invasive species start exerting pressure on local
species, depriving them of habitats. The Animal Liberation Front considers such
acts legal, whereas they frequently constitute a breach of property law. In the
urbanized world we observe that inhabitants of cities lack the knowledge about
the tasks of sustainable environment protection and its role in sustainable
management of natural resources (frequently leading to stereotyping,
cyberbullying); they have specific social expectations which do not take into
account the laws of nature but rely on fake news or over-idealized concept of
environment; eco-hypocrisy. Another factor affecting our perception of
environment is the ubiquitous antropomorphisation of animals as a result of
which the wild world is deprived of its real features and becomes humanized
(there are even movements propagating giving animals civic rights). In general,
contemporary people lack inquisitiveness, are exposed to ubiquitous fake news
and media infostrategy striving for scandalous news (Gwiazdowicz 2017,
Gwiazdowicz and Matulewska 2020). As a result, two types of ecology have
emerged recently: one which is based on scientific foundations and research
results and the other one which is the media affected and based on
stereotypical, idealized vision of the world. As it turns out, legislators
change labels to gain support of eco-hypocrites but the problem of the conflict
existing between human expectations and needs and environment remains and must
be solved. In the Netherlands the government under the pressure of ecologists banned
bird hunting. Though not many people realize that the problem of agricultural
damage inflicted by the birds is solved through different means that is to say
baby geese are killed by putting them into specially designed gas chambers. The
meat of geese is no longer fit for human or animal consumption and must be
liquidated. The question may be posed about the semiotic aspect of such
actions. In the urbanized world there is and there will be a constant fight
between humans who want highways, nice homes with fenced gardens, nice-looking
vegetables and fruit, comfortable, healthy lifestyles and environment.
Vegetarianism and similar lifestyles are becoming more and more popular as
environment- and especially animal-friendly though little attention is placed
on the effect of production of plants rich in protein and other valuable
nutrients on environment (contamination of groundwaters with pesticides,
herbicides, deforestations, deprivation of animals of their habitats). All
activities and lifestyles affect the environment but we rarely find reliable
sources of information providing a deeper insight into both pros and
cons.
To sum up, all those problems affect
legislation regulating environment, forestry, fishery and hunting. The issue
opens a new sphere of semiotic analysis of communication in legal settings and
adopted solutions. This Special Issue hopes to construe presentations of
environment, forestry, fishery and hunting to orientate our vision of legal
solutions and their environmental consequences. The aim of this Special issue
is to offer broader perspectives for understanding the roles of scientists,
lobbyists and legislators in the debate of preserving the nature for future
generations from both theoretical and practical angles. Therefore, the papers
devoted to the following topics and presenting both advantages and
disadvantages are welcome:
1. Animal
rights and legislation
2. Animal
owners’ rights
3. Environment
and law
4. Forestry
and law
5. Law
and exploitation of nature
6. Consequences
of releasing wild animals and plants into the wild and consequential
legislation on invasive species
7. Ecology
and law
8. Hunting
and law
9. Fishery
and law
10. Social
expectations in the field of environment versus law
11. Poaching
12. Legal
and illegal environment protection
13. Cyberbullying
of foresters, hunters, fishermen
14. Repealed
laws and their replacements
The Special Issue can comprise only
14 papers of no more than 30 pages.
Send your proposal to the three of
us: dariusz.gwiazdowicz@up.poznan.pl,
aleksandra.matulewska@gmail.com,
valwagnerfr@yahoo.com
Deadline for abstract: 10 February
2021
Decision for inclusion: 30 March
2021
Deadline for full paper: 15 January
2022 (instructions will be sent after decision to include papers in the special
issue)
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