The Ecology of Law ─ Toward a Legal System in Tune With Nature and Community

At the root of many of the environmental, economic, and social crises we face today is a legal system based on an outdated and ultimately destructive worldview. In this groundbreaking book, bestselling author, physicist, and systems theorist Fritjof Capra and distinguished legal scholar Ugo Mattei show how, by incorporating concepts from modern science, the law can be updated to reflect a more accurate view of how the world works and become a progressive force.

Capra and Mattei trace the fascinating parallel history of law and science to show how the two disciplines have always influenced each other—until recently. Science now sees the world as being made up of interconnected networks. But law is stuck in a mechanistic, 17th century paradigm that views the world as discrete individual parts. This has led to a disregard for the health of the whole—for example, elevating the rights of individual property owners over the good of the community. But Capra and Mattei outline the basic concepts and structures of a legal order consistent with the ecological principles that sustain life on this planet.

Fritjof Capra, PhD, is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California. He is a fellow of Schumacher College in England and serves on the council of Earth Charter International. He frequently gives management seminars for top executives. Capra is the author or coauthor of over ten books, including The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life.

Ugo Mattei is the Alfred and Hanna Fromm Professor of International and Comparative Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law and a professor of civil law at the University of Turin, Italy. He is active in the European Commons movement and has written academic articles and media commentary translated into many languages.