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Carmen Gonzalez

Professor Emerita

 Sullivan Hall 430

 206-398-4067

Email Carmen

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Administrative Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Hazardous Waste and Toxics Regulation
  • International Environmental Law
  • International Trade
  • Torts

EDUCATION

  • B.A., magna cum laude, Yale University, 1985
  • J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1988
  • Clerk to Judge Thelton E. Henderson, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

Biography

Professor Gonzalez teaches torts, environmental law fundamentals, international environmental law, and international trade law. She has published widely in the areas of international environmental law, environmental justice, human rights and the environment, and food security. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, she clerked for Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, practiced law at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, and served as assistant regional counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco, California.

Professor Gonzalez was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina, a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, a Visiting Professor at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in Nanjing, China, and a U.S. Supreme Court Fellow. She has taught in Seattle University's summer abroad programs in Brazil and Guatemala (in consortium with other law schools), worked on environmental law capacity-building projects in Latin America, Asia, and the former Soviet Union, and represented non-governmental organizations in multilateral environmental treaty negotiations.

Professor Gonzalez is past chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Earthjustice, and a member scholar of the Center for Progressive Reform, an organization of university-affiliated academics that seeks to inform policy debates regarding environmental regulation. She has served as member and deputy chair of the Governing Board of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Academy of Environmental Law (IUCNAEL), co-chaired the IUCNAEL Research Committee, and served as member and vice-chair of the International Subcommittee of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (an advisory body to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on environmental justice issues).

Professor Gonzalez has published four books and more than thirty law review articles and book chapters. She is co- editor of the critically acclaimed books, Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Utah State University Press, 2012) and International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Her most recent book, Energy Justice: US and International Perspectives, was published by Edward Elgar in 2018. Professor Gonzalez served as the George Soros Visiting Chair at the Central European University School of Public Policy in Budapest, Hungary in Spring 2017, and as the Norton Rose Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Houston Law Center in Fall 2017. She was selected as Vermont Law School’s Distinguished International Environmental Law Scholar for Summer 2019.

Publications

Books

Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class Power, and Resistance for Women of Color in Academia(with Yolanda Flores Niemann and Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs, eds). University Press of Colorado, forthcoming 2020

Energy Justice: US and International Perspectives (with Raya Salter and Elizabeth Kronk Warner, eds). Edward Elgar, 2018

International Environmental Law and the Global South (with Shawkat Alam, Sumudu Atapattu, and Jona Razzaque, eds). Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Presumed Incompetent: the Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia(with Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs, Angela P. Harris, and Yolanda Flores-Niemann, eds.). Utah State University Press, 2012.

Democracia, derecho y economía de mercado (with Colin Crawford and Daniel Bonilla, coordinators.) Bogotá, Colombia: Editorial Temis, 2010.

Articles and Book Chapters

Climate Justice and Climate Displacement: Evaluating the Emerging Legal and Policy Responses, 36 Wis. Int'l L. J. 366 (2019), available here

Environmental Justice, the Cold War, and U.S. Human Rights Exceptionalism, in INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE COLD WAR Law (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2019) (Matthew Craven, Sundhya Pahuja, and Gerry J. Simpson, eds.), available here

An Environmental Justice Critique of Biofuels, in ENERGY JUSTICE: U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) (Raya Salter, Carmen G. Gonzalez, and Elizabeth Kronk Warner, eds.), available here

Environmental Racism, American Exceptionalism, and Cold War Human Rights, 26 Transnat'l L. & Contemp. Problems 281 (2017), available here

Global Justice in the Anthropocene, in INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND GOVERNANCE FOR THE ANTHROPOCENE (Louis Kotze, ed., Hart Publishing, 2017), available here

The Environmental Justice Implications of Biofuels, 20 UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs 229 (2016), available on SSRN here

Energy Poverty and the Environment in INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AND POVERTY: THE EMERGING CONTOURS (Lakshman Guruswamy, ed.) Routledge, 2016, available on SSRN here

Food Justice: An Environmental Justice Critique of the Global Food System in INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH (Shawkat Alam, Sumudu Atapattu, Carmen G. Gonzalez, and Jona Razzaque, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2015), available here

Human Rights, Environmental Justice, and the North-South Divide in RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT (Anna Grear and Louis Kotzé, eds) Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015, available on SSRN here

Bridging the North-South Divide: International Environmental Law in the Anthropocene, 32 Pace Envtl L. Rev. 407 (2015), available on SSRN here

World Poverty and Food Insecurity, 3 Penn. State Journal of Law & International Affairs 56 (2015), available on SSRN here

Environmental Justice, Human Rights, and the Global South, 13 Santa Clara J. Int’l L. 151 (2015), available on SSRN here

International Economic Law and the Right to Food in Rethinking Food Systems: Structural Challenges, New Strategies, and the Law (Nadia Lambek, Priscilla Claeys, Adrienna Wong, and Lea Brilmayer, eds.) Springer, 2014, available on SSRN here

Women of Color in Legal Education: Challenging the Presumption of Incompetence,61 Federal Lawyer 48 (July 2014), available on SSRN here

Environmental Justice and International Environmental Law in Routledge Handbook of International Environmental Law (Shawkat Alam, et al, eds.) Routledge, 2013, available on SSRN here

China's Engagement with Latin America: Partnership or Plunder? in Natural Resources and the Green Economy: Redefining the Challenges for People, States, and Corporations (Elena Merino-Blanco & Jona Razzaque, eds.) Brill Academic Publishers, 2012, available on SSRN here

Organismos Genéticamente Modificados y Justicia: Implicaciones de la Biotecnología para la Justicia Ambiental, 1 Revista Jurídica Grado Cero 13 (2012) (law journal published by the Mexican National Autonomous University), available on SSRN here

China and Sustainable Development in Latin America, 4 Jiangxi Social Sciences 247 (2012) (peer-reviewed social science journal published by the Jiangxi Province Academy of Social Sciences, Peoples Republic of China) (published in Chinese), available on SSRN here

The Global Food System, Environmental Protection, and Human Rights, 26 (3) Natural Resources & Environment (Winter 2012), reprinted in CSR-Academy (Summer 2012), http://www.macondo-group.com/en/agenda/Dossiers/Spotlight-Food-Crisis.php (CSR-Academy is the website of the United Nations Global Compact International Yearbook, which reports on global achievements in corporate social responsibility); excerpted in GP Solo Magazine (November/December 2012) as the best publication in 2012 of the American Bar Association Environment, Resources & Energy Section; available on SSRN here

Climate Change, Food Security, and Agrobiodiversity: Toward a Just, Resilient, and Sustainable Food System, 22 Fordham Envtl. L. Rev. 493 (2011), reprinted in Terry Halbert & Elaine Ingulli, Law and Ethics in the Business Environment (8thed.), Cengage Learning, 2014, available on SSRN here

An Environmental Justice Critique of Comparative Advantage: Indigenous Peoples, Trade Policy, and the Mexican Neoliberal Economic Reforms, 32 U. Penn. J. Int'l L. 723 (2011), available on SSRN here

The Global Food Crisis: Law, Policy, and the Elusive Quest for Justice, 13 Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal 462 (2010), available at SSRN here

China in Latin America: Law, Economics, and Sustainable Development, 40 Environmental Law Reporter 10171 (2010), available at SSRN here

China en América Latina: Derecho, economía y desarrollo sostenible, 44 Revista de Derecho Privado (2010), available on SSRN here

Squatters, Pirates, and Entrepreneurs: Is Informality the Solution to the Urban Housing Crisis? 40 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev. 239 (2009), available at SSRN here

Is NAFTA a Good Model for China?: Lessons from Mexico and the United States, 5 Jiangxi Social Sciences 244 (2009), available on SSRN here

Environmental Impact Assessment in Post-Colonial Societies: Reflections on the Proposed Expansion of the Panama Canal, 4 Tenn. J. Law & Pol'y 303 (2008), available at SSRN here

Genetically Modified Organisms and Justice: the International Environmental Justice Implications of Biotechnology, 19 Geo. Int'l Envtl. L. Rev. 580 (2007), excerpted in Jonathan Carlson, Geoffrey W.R. Palmer & Burns H. Weston, International Environmental Law and World Order: A Problem-Oriented Coursebook, 3rd Edition, West Publishing Company, 2012); excerpted in Stephen McCaffrey & Rachael Salcido, Global Issues in Environmental Law (West Group 2009), available at SSRN here

Deconstructing the Mythology of Free Trade: Critical Reflections on Comparative Advantage, 17 Berkeley La Raza L.J. 65 (2006), available at SSRN here

Markets, Monocultures and Malnutrition: Agricultural Trade Policy through an Environmental Justice Lens, 14 Mich. St. J. Int'l L. 345 (2006), reprinted in L. Lakshmi, Environment and Health: Issues and Implications (Amicus Books, ICFAI University Press, 2008), available at SSRN here

Trade Liberalization, Food Security and the Environment: the Neoliberal Threat to Sustainable Rural Development 14 J. Transnat'l L. and Contemp. Problems 419 (2004), available at SSRN here

Seasons of Resistance: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Cuba16 Tul. Envtl L.J. 685 (2003), reprinted at http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/bibarticles/gonzalez_seasons.pdf, available at SSRN here

Institutionalizing Inequality: The WTO Agreement on Agriculture, Food Security, and Developing Countries27 Colum. J. Envtl L. 433 (2002), available at SSRN here

Beyond Eco-imperialism: An Environmental Justice Critique of Free Trade78 Denv. U. L. Rev. 979 (2001), excerpted in James Kushner, Comparative Urban Planning Law: An Introduction to Urban Land Development in the United States through the Lens of Comparing the Experience of Other Nations (Carolina Academic Press, 2003), available at SSRN here

Book Reviews and Introductions

Book Review: Global Energy Justice: Law and Policy, 9 Journal of Human Rights and the Environment 222 (2018) (reviewing the energy justice book authored by Lakshman Guruswamy), available here

Energy Justice: Frameworks for Energy Law and Policy (with Raya Salter and Elizabeth Kronk Warner) in ENERGY JUSTICE: U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) (Raya Salter, Carmen G. Gonzalez, and Elizabeth Kronk Warner, eds.) (book introduction), available here

International Environmental Law, Environmental Justice, and the Global South (with Sumudu Atapattu), 26 Transnat'l L. & Contemp. Problems 229 (2017) (symposium introduction), available here

International Environmental Law and the North-South Divide: Framing the Issues (with Sumudu Atapattu) in International Environmental Law and the Global South (Shawkat Alam, Sumudu Atapattu, Carmen G. Gonzalez, and Jona Razzaque, eds). Cambridge University Press, 2015, available on SSRN here

Presumed Incompetent: Continuing the Conversation (Part I) (with Angela P. Harris), 29 Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice 183 (2014) (symposium introduction), available on SSRN here

Introduction: Presumed Incompetent: Continuing the Conversation (Part II)(with Angela P. Harris), 12 Seattle Journal for Social Justice 285 (2013) (symposium introduction), available on SSRN here

Book Review: Environmental Protection and Human Rights,3(2) Journal of Human Rights and the Environment (forthcoming 2012) (reviewing the environmental human rights textbook authored by Donald K. Anton and Dinah L. Shelton), available on SSRN here

Presumed Incompetent: Introduction (with Angela P. Harris) in Presumed Incompetent: the Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Utah State University Press, 2012), available on SSRN here

The Global Politics of Food: Introduction to the Theoretical Perspectives Cluster,42 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev. 77 (2011) (symposium introduction), available on SSRN here

El Liberalismo neoclásico, el libre mercado y sus críticos (with Daniel Bonilla Maldonado and Colin Crawford) in Democracia, derecho y economía de mercado (Bogotá, Colombia: Editorial Temis S.A., 2010) (book introduction),available on SSRN here

Reality, Theory and a Make-Believe World: the Fundamentalism of the "Free" Market (with Daniel Bonilla Maldonado and Colin Crawford), 5 Seattle J. for Social Justice 499 (2007) (symposium introduction).

Book Review: Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries, 5 World Trade Review 308 (2006). (reviewing the edited volume by economists M. Ataman Aksoy and John C. Beghin on the impacts in developing countries of domestic and international agricultural policy reforms), available on SSRN here

Other Publications

Bringing Human Rights Home: Reflections on the Treaty Supremacy Rule, in Opinio Juris' book symposium (2017) on The Death of Treaty Supremacy: An Invisible Constitutional Change (Oxford University Press, 2016) by David L. Sloss, available here

Climate Change, Resilience, and Fairness: How Nonstructural Adaptation Can Protect and Empower Socially Vulnerable Communities on the Gulf Coast (2016), available here (with CPR Member Scholars Alice Kaswan, Rob Verchick, Yee Huang, Shawn Bowen, and Nowal Jamhour).

Op-ed, Sustainable Development Goals Fall Short of Francis' Vision, National Catholic Reporter, September 24, 2015, available here

Op-ed, Setting the Record Straight about Latino Immigrants (with Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic), Seattle Times, May 20, 2011, available here

Markets, Monocultures and Malnutrition: Agricultural Trade Policy through an Environmental Justice Lens (2007) (Center for Progressive Reform White Paper), available here

Environmental Justice (with Member Scholars of the Center for Progressive Reform) (2006) (Center for Progressive Reform Perspectives Series).

An Unnatural Disaster: The Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (2005). White paper co-authored with Member Scholars of the Center for Progressive Reform. Contributed to the section of the white paper entitled "The Two Americas," discussing issues of race, class and justice.