Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

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

Gorostiza, Santiago LU orcid (2025) In Ecología Política: Cuadernos de Debate Internacional 70. p.116-120
Abstract
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... (More)
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. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
alternative title
The crime of ecocide in times of war and peace. From Arthur W. Galston (1920–2008) to Polly Higgins (1968–2019)
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Ecocide, Vietnam War, Rights of nature, Environmental history, History of science
in
Ecología Política: Cuadernos de Debate Internacional
volume
70
pages
116 - 120
publisher
FUHEM Ecosocial
ISSN
1130-6378
project
From military to civil crime: an environmental history of ecocide (FORMAS career grant)
language
Spanish
LU publication?
yes
id
9b4844c0-1a2f-42ce-a3ca-1dc9d6b9b04b
date added to LUP
2026-02-07 22:52:14
date last changed
2026-02-09 10:36:09
@article{9b4844c0-1a2f-42ce-a3ca-1dc9d6b9b04b,
  abstract     = {{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.}},
  author       = {{Gorostiza, Santiago}},
  issn         = {{1130-6378}},
  keywords     = {{Ecocide; Vietnam War; Rights of nature; Environmental history; History of science}},
  language     = {{spa}},
  pages        = {{116--120}},
  publisher    = {{FUHEM Ecosocial}},
  series       = {{Ecología Política: Cuadernos de Debate Internacional}},
  title        = {{El crimen de ecocidio en tiempos de guerra y de paz. De Arthur W. Galston (1920-2008) a Polly Higgins (1968-2019)}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/241698928/Gorostiza_2025_Ecocidio.pdf}},
  volume       = {{70}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}