Law Commons^™

May Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

"China's Olympic Delusion" by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom. Nation. March 19, 2008.

Sport And Politics, Christine Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

I found the reflection interesting, but unsurprising. Protestors use the Olympic spotlight (or should we say torch?) to shine on China’s flaws, and China tries to re-direct or extinguish its beams.

"Instant Karma": How Globalization Contests China's Abuses, Alison Brysk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

China’s rise from impoverished backwater to prospective superpower has been accompanied by the repression of tens of millions of its own people, at the hands of a nationalist, developmentalist government. Under contemporary conditions of globalization, suppression of civil liberties, domination of ethnic minorities, and unholy alliances with resource-rich dictatorships are no longer plausible requisites of this model—if they ever were. The broadening and deepening of economic globalization towards a more sustainable complex of political influence involves “soft power,” including international reputation and norms. Thus, China’s Olympian reach for true hegemony provides the best chance for human rights advocates to weave …

Beijing's Olympics: Pride, Appearance And Human Rights, Thomas Beal

Human Rights & Human Welfare

One lazy summer evening in Beijing, about fifteen years ago, my wife and I were strolling down Jianguomenwai, the bustling street adjacent to our flat in the Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound. The day had been sweltering, and as the sun began to set the sidewalks filled with pedestrians who, like us, had escaped their stuffy apartments to take in a cool, soothing breeze.

The Olympic Spotlight: The Beijing Games And China As A Future World Leader, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

According to Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s article, if the Chinese think they can censor the Olympics, and the political showcasing that will almost certainly accompany them, they are sorely mistaken. I am persuaded by the thrust of this argument. I just hope that as China vies for global leadership and influence, whatever truths the Olympic spotlight reveals about its potential in this regard are more farcical than tragic.

Seductions Of Imperialism: Incapacitating Life, Fetishizing Death And Catastrophizing Ecologies, Anna M. Agathangelou

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“China’s Olympic Delusion” is a great piece which gestures to the ironies and/or contradictions of political systems in bed with imperialist-capitalism as we know it at this time: the tensions between a dominant idea that liberal democracy is the best political system to pay attention to and address human rights, and capitalism with no limits, can go hand-in-hand. This is merely the delusion, and also the fantasy, that keeps “us” (i.e., citizens, intellectuals etc) put, and from thinking critically.

Adolescents Under International Law: Autonomy As The Key To Reproductive Health, Aliya Haider

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

As a matter of policy, the reproductive and sexual health of adolescents matter because they comprise almost one half of the world's population. As a matter of international human rights law, adolescents have reproductive and sexual health rights. This article outlines how the international community must ensure adolescents' access to and exercise of those reproductive health rights. Governments must enable informed decision-making while also offering state protections for this vulnerable population. Without laws and policies that uphold adolescent health worldwide, future generations will needlessly suffer.

Slavery And "Abuse Regeneration", Christine Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Skinner’s depiction of modern day slavery is graphic and challenging. Anyone viewing prohibitions on slavery, or abolition, as historical anachronism, or requiring reinterpretation for modern-day practices, must think again. Skinner persuades us that slavery in its most old fashioned sense is alive and well and, worse than that–on the rise.

Slavery: From Public Crime To Private Wrong, Alison Brysk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The fight against slavery was the first international human rights movement, and the elimination of legalized bondage represented a hallmark of Western civilization. But the persistence and revival of this ancient evil shows that in an era of globalization, a prohibited public crime has morphed into a massive private wrong.

April Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“A World Enslaved" by E. Benjamin Skinner. Foreign Policy (March/April) 2008.

Forget Me Not: Bodies As Last Colonies Of Capitalism?, Anna M. Agathangelou

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Slavery is one technology of imperialism that serves to generate more profits worldwide. Skinner brings this issue to our attention, arguing that many people think that slavery ended in the 19th century, but the current turning of peoples into slaves proves otherwise. Skinner points out that since 1817, there have been more than a dozen international conventions signed banning the slave trade and yet, the number of people sold as slaves is in the millions. He calls modern day slavery a “monstrous crime” and proceeds to provide us with insights from his research. He begins making his point through what …

Combating The Slave Trade: Why Governments Are Not Good At Governing, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

It is difficult to read Benjamin Skinner’s revealing piece on the international slave trade and not feel revolted that we still live in a world where so many people live in bondage. What is particularly disturbing is that much of the modern-day slave trade takes place with the full knowledge, and even acquiescence of, state governments.

Rational Choice, Reputation, And Human Rights Treaties, Alex Geisinger, Michael Ashley Stein

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this Review sets forth Guzman's general theory of international law with specific consideration of the way reputation influences state behavior. Part II then tests Guzman's overarching thesis by applying it to human rights treaties and concludes that explaining states' entry into human rights treaties requires a broader conception of reputation than Rational Choice allows.

The Trafficking In Victims Protection Act: A Feasibility Assessment, Kristina Cummings, M.A.

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Popular Authorship And Constitution Making: Comparing And Contrasting The Drc And Kenya, James Thuo Gathii

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Dominican Republic And The Un Human Rights Treaty System, Luis Pomares

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Australia's Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act: Addressing Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Inequities At The Expense Of International Human Rights?, Jenna Gruenstein

Washington International Law Journal

In 2007, Australia passed the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act (“NT Emergency Response Act”), ostensibly reacting to a recent report detailing exceedingly high levels of sexual abuse of Aboriginal children. This Comment argues that the NT Emergency Response Act likely violates Australia’s obligations under the United Nations’ (“U.N.”) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“Racial Discrimination Convention”). The NT Emergency Response Act provides an opportunity for the Racial Discrimination Convention’s enforcement body, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”), to extend its application of the specialized guidelines for indigenous peoples beyond the …

March Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Waving Goodbye to Hegemony” by Parag Khanna. New York Times Magazine. January 27, 2008.

People Not Equal: A Glimpse Into The Use Of Profiling And The Effect A Pending U.N. Human Rights Committee Case May Have On United States' Policy, Lindsay N. Wise

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Post-Conflict Rule Of Law Building: The Need For A Multi-Layered, Synergistic Approach, Jane Stromseth

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Invoking The Rule Of Law In Post-Conflict Rebuilding: A Critical Examination, Balakrishnan Rajagopal

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Richard Burchill On Contemporary Human Rights Ideas By Bertrand G. Ramcharan. New York, Ny : Routledge, 2008. 192 Pp., Richard Burchill

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Contemporary Human Rights Ideas by Bertrand G. Ramcharan. New York, NY : Routledge, 2008. 192 pp.

A Growing Concern: Modern Slavery And Agricultural Production In Brazil And South Asia, Justin Campbell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The modern use of slave labor in the production of agriculture takes many forms. In Brazil, the ability of powerful landowners to repress poor workers is an important element of large-scale agricultural production. In South Asia, cultural norms and traditions are used to exploit the most vulnerable communities. In both examples, inequity and poverty are implicit, and debt is a tool used to legitimize bondage.

The Dark Side Of Labor In China, Karine Lepillez

Human Rights & Human Welfare

With a population of 1.3 billion and a gross domestic product growing at an impressive rate of 10 percent per year, China has quickly become one of the largest contributors to the global market. Deng Xiaoping’s reforms of the late 1970s and early 1980s vastly improved the country’s standard of living and made economic development possible; unfortunately, China’s remarkable growth has a dark side: the forced labor of men, women and children. The country’s unique combination of Communist ideology and decentralized economic power has contributed to the use of both state-sanctioned and unsanctioned forced labor, the latter of which is …

Carlos Cisneros: His Life, Career, & Contributions, Susan Kelly, Jerold Widdison

Water Matters!

State Senator Carlos Cisneros links New Mexico’s past, present and future.

Rape At Rome: Feminist Interventions In The Criminalization Of Sex-Related Violence In Positive International Criminal Law, Janet Halley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article examines the work of organized feminism in the formation of new international criminal tribunals over the course of the 1990s. It focuses on the statutes establishing the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the International Criminal Court (ICC). It offers a description of the evolving organizational style of feminists involved in the legislative processes leading to the establishment of these courts, and a description of their reform agenda read against the outcomes in each court-establishing statute. At each stage, the Article counts up the feminist victories and defeats, …

The Bush Regime From Elections To Detentions: A Moral Economy Of Carl Schmitt And Human Rights, David Abraham

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Note From The Editors, Blau, Alberto Moncada

Societies Without Borders

The article introduces a series of articles including one by Patrick Bond on the preliminary planning of the World Social Forum (WSF) and another by Michael Guerrero on the 2007 U.S. Social Forum.

Reformist Reforms, Non-Reformist Reforms And Global Justice: Activist, Ngo And Intellectual Challenges In The World Social Forum, Bond

Societies Without Borders

The author reflects on his involvement with the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, held in Nairobi, Kenya because he participated in the preliminary planning. As a social scientist, he reflects on the forum's significance in global society and vis-a-vis global capitalism. He also explores the debate in South Africa over the merits of WSF.

In Defense Of World Social Forum Vii, Karides, Ponniah Thomas

Societies Without Borders

The article argues that the overall World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, process embodies an uneven, often contradictory, but evolving democratization with WSF advancing this agenda thru its presence in Nairobi, Kenya. It focuses on the WSF held in Nairobi, which is described as one of the most peripheralized countries. It begins by presenting the roots of the WSF and eventually concludes with the achievements of the addition of the WSF held in Nairobi.