[opiniojuris] Peter Spiro: The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law and the Rise of Reference Works

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Posted by Peter Spiro:
The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law and the Rise of Reference Works
http://www.opiniojuris.org/posts/1174930135.shtml


   Just out from Oxford University Press: [1]The Oxford Handbook of
   International Environmental Law, edited by my former University of
   Georgia colleague Dan Bodansky along with Jutta Brunnee and Ellen Hey.
   It's an impressive collection of 47 entries, with contributions from
   the likes of Christopher Stone, Peter Sand, Richard Stewart, Scott
   Barrett, Benedict Kingsbury, and Steve Ratner. I have a chapter on
   NGOs; my Temple Law colleague Jeff Dunoff has one on levels of
   environmental governance. I know this took a lot of energy on the part
   of the editors, and it has paid off with a rich, interdisciplinary
   volume.
   Has anyone else noticed the trend towards publications of this
   description? Other examples from Oxford include [2]this, [3]this, and
   [4]this. Edward Elgar has started up a "research handbook" series; if
   the latest volume, on [5]international economic law edited by Andrew
   Guzman and Alan Sykes, is representative, this is going to be a useful
   undertaking as well. So top scholars are signing up for these
   projects.
   Of course, these volumes are almost certainly profitable for the
   presses involved - they have high sticker prices (the IEL handbook
   lists at $160), but academic libraries are likely to consider these
   must-haves for their collections. But that doesn't explain why people
   are signing up to write for them (my experience is that as with almost
   all other academic writing, not even a token honorarium is involved).
   Perhaps it's a sort of retreat to quality, in the face of the
   explosion of scholarly legal writing. Even if you're a top name of the
   likes of Stewart and Stone, it may now make sense to have your
   thinking represented in a format that shortcuts Lexis searches and
   other time-consuming research exercises. Everyone's busy and there is
   so much out there to sift through. It's also a nice vehicle not just
   to digest developments but to suggest trendlines and other
   possibilities, with less of a commitment than is required by a
   full-blown law review article.

References

   1. http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199269709
   2. http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198298243
   3. http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199248179
   4. http://www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-927003-1
   5. http://www.e-elgar-law.com/Bookentry_main.lasso?id=3327