Talk: “A Global Approach to Soundscapes: Reconsidering Environmental Human Rights”

Synopsis

Noise is a serious global problem that requires international cooperation.  Consequently the United Nations and many governments around the world are establishing new regulatory schemes to limit unwanted sound.  Despite this trend, few scholars have examined the phenomenon from a global perspective to observe problems with enforcement of these laws.  While regulating excessive levels of noise is ostensibly a legitimate governmental objective, environmental policies may at times be enforced in ways that appear discriminatory. This overview of noise regulations analyses government rationales to determine whether the policies reflect biases, considers whether selective application of laws indicates differing interpretations of what constitutes an acceptable soundscape, and ultimately reconsiders environmental human rights.  This preliminary consideration in the emerging field of acoustic jurisprudence suggests that the human right to quiet is a crucial aspect of environmental human rights.

Speaker

Alison Dundes Renteln is a Professor of Political Science and Anthropology at the University of Southern California where she teaches Law and Public Policy with an emphasis on international law and human rights. A graduate of Harvard (History and Literature), she has a Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from Berkeley Law, and a J.D. from the USC Gould School of Law. Renteln served as Director of the Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics and Vice-Chair of Political Science.