Rules Rule
The argument for biking, reusable grocery bags, and priuses that often fills conversations of what can be done to stop climate change is rooted in the idea that individual actions are the key to controlling our earth. Paul Steinberg, however, exposes and discredits this notion in his work, Who Rules the Earth? How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives, claiming that institutions are in fact the leaders of this planet. Steinberg bases his work on the idea that Institutions “are the machinery that makes coordinated social activity possible” (11) and uses the example of property rights (Steinberg 2015, 66), ideology shifts (Steinberg 2015, 229), and successful market based solutions (Steinberg 2015, 98) among others to show the importance, strength, and true power of institutions and social rules. Since Steinberg credits institutions with the main source of power in the fight to save the earth, and therefore argues against the widespread idea that we must “think globally and act locally” (Steinberg 2015, 163). He believes that the issues and respective solutions not quite that simple. Instead he argues that we “need to think and act at multiple levels if we are to make progress on vexing social and environmental problems”, because we must also work with institutions that show to have more power than individual actions (Steinberg 2015, 163). This idea is summed up with his proposal to “think vertically”, a phrase that will underscore some of my future academic and personal endeavors (Steinberg 2015, 163).
Bridging the Individual-Institutional Divide
In my scholarly life thinking “vertically” and the core idea that rules hold significant power for change will bring me to critically evaluate policy plans and how we approach issues in our world (Steinberg 2015, 163). I came in with an appreciation for governance, as I knew it could be responsible for tangible global change. However, I now know that the establishment is not only helpful in creating change, it is critical. When looking at proposed policy solutions, laws, and communal agreements I now understand that the ideology of the proposed rules must have some public support as well as realistic institutional implementations. I will no longer seek out solutions or blindly credit strategies that are purely institutional or individual in scale, as the most effective proposals take into account institutional action that represents ideologies of the individual, the public, and the government, government stability and history, and the power of individual actions. It is no longer an argument of institutional vs. individual, but rather the marriage of the two.
Stronger Together
I came into ENVS 160 thinking about environmental law or policy as a potential education and career path. I understood that institutions were important and that Environmental Studies had connections to everything under the sun. This work, however, clarified what a truly effective way of understanding policy and its power looks like. I have a deeper appreciation for the cooperation between the institutions and people that is needed to make laws and policies invoke change. For institutional power to be the ruler of the earth that Steinberg envisions, I have learned that strategies must be grounded or “anchored” in rules, but must also appeal to some public support, as people rebel if there is absolutely no ideology shift in a community (Steinberg 2015, 223). This idea that institutions need people power, just as people need establishments will move with me as I go through the Environmental Studies program here at Lewis & Clark and as I work to grasp what I can do to make a difference or more deeply inform myself on important environmental concepts. Before, I was often was disheartened by the idea that personal actions and local movements may not be the solution to our issues. Now, I am motivated and encouraged to look more into policy and law because Steinberg makes it known that while they may not be enough on their own, they can be the answer when used in conjunction with critical institutional actions.
Bibliography
Steinberg, Paul. 2015. Who Rules the Earth? How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.