Fear and Ecological (in)Justice in Edvard Munch's The Scream of Nature

Abstract

Can art help us to think critically, creatively, ethically or politically about the concepts or ideologies within international environmental law? Scholars (e.g. Baudot 2010) have argued that art contributes to international politics in instrumental, extrinsic and intrinsic ways. Certainly, art is important – both symbolically and ideologically – in helping us to understand our relationship with nature by providing a richer and alternative ontological context. Art can singularly reflect ideas about matter and the natural environment by depicting these as vibrant (Bennett 2010a) and allowing us to be enchanted by them – not so much in a romantic sense, but rather through appreciating their ontological significance for our lives.