The Small Matter of Suing ChevronVortrag von Prof. Suzana Sawyer (UC Davis, Buchpreisträgerin der American Ethnological Society)

19. Juni 2025

Foto: Liburkina

Vortrag von Prof. Suzana Sawyer (UC Davis, Buchpreisträgerin der American Ethnological Society)

Suzana Sawyer’s talk takes on a legal trilogy. In 2011, an Ecuadorian court issued the world’s largest environmental contamination liability: a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron. Within years, a US federal court and an international tribunal determined that the Ecuadorian judgment had been procured through fraud and was unenforceable. Sawyer delves into how these distinct legal truths were composed through chemical, scientific, and legal technique—precipitating a metamorphic transformation that transmuted a contamination claim into an environmental liability, then a racketeering scheme, and ultimately a breach of treaty.

Hier geht's zum Gesamtprogramm des Institutskolloquiums.