Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 2008
Rights
Abstract
Most sociolegal studies of the urban street focus on the human element. By focusing on the tree, my Article offers a unique perspective on the interrelations between various actors within the public spaces of modern North American cities. Situated at the intersection of legal geography, anthropology, and Science and Technology Studies, this Article demonstrates how natural artifacts function as technologies of governance, thereby masking crucial political interventions behind a natural facade. The tensions between nature and the city, as embedded in both the construction and the regulation of street trees, provide an unusual perspective on the management of urban populations and on the intricate relationship between law, space, and technology.
Publication Title
Tulane Environmental Law Journal
First Page
35
Last Page
60
Recommended Citation
Irus Braverman,
Governing Certain Things: The Regulation of Street Trees in Four North American Cities,
22
Tul. Envtl. L.J.
35
(2008).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles/325