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Global Law And Plunder: The Dark Side Of The Rule Of Law, Ugo Mattei, Marco De Morpurgo Jan 2009

Global Law And Plunder: The Dark Side Of The Rule Of Law, Ugo Mattei, Marco De Morpurgo

Bocconi Legal Papers

The ‘rule of law’ has traditionally been conceived as an intrinsically positive and politically neutral ‘tool’, universally valid and capable of being ‘exported’ everywhere. This paper—which represents a synthetic exposition of the ideas expressed in Ugo Mattei and Laura Nader, Plunder: When the Rule of Law is Illegal (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford 2008)—asserts that such an ambiguous concept has a bright and a dark side, the latter being excluded from any public discussion. The rhetoric of the ‘rule of law’ has been used by Western powers in order to justify interventions (mainly) into the ‘developing’ world, that ultimately turned into practices …


Diabolical Frivolity Of Neoliberal Fundamentalism, Sefik Tatlic Jan 2009

Diabolical Frivolity Of Neoliberal Fundamentalism, Sefik Tatlic

Sefik Tatlic

Today, we cannot talk just about plain control, but we must talk about the nature of the interaction of the one who is being controlled and the one who controls, an interaction where the one that is “controlled” is asking for more control over himself/herself while expecting to be compensated by a surplus of freedom to satisfy trivial needs and wishes. Such a liberty for the fulfillment of trivial needs is being declared as freedom. But this implies as well the freedom to choose not to be engaged in any kind of socially sensible or politically articulated struggle.


Squatters, Pirates, And Entrepreneurs: Is Informality The Solution To The Urban Housing Crisis?, Carmen G. Gonzalez Dec 2008

Squatters, Pirates, And Entrepreneurs: Is Informality The Solution To The Urban Housing Crisis?, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

Giving the poor legal title to the lands they occupy extra-legally (informally) has been widely promoted by the World Bank and by best-selling author Hernando de Soto as a means of addressing both poverty and the scarcity of affordable housing in the urban centers of the global South. Using Bogotá, Colombia, as a case study, this article interrogates de Soto’s claims about the causes of informality and the benefits of formal title. The article concludes that de Soto’s analysis is problematic in three distinct respects. First, de Soto exaggerates the benefits of formal title and fails to consider its risks. …


Is Nafta A Good Model For China?: Lessons From Mexico And The United States, Carmen G. Gonzalez Dec 2008

Is Nafta A Good Model For China?: Lessons From Mexico And The United States, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

In response to skyrocketing food prices, the global financial crisis, and the degradation of farm lands due to urbanization and industrialization, China has placed rural development at the top of its political agenda. China’s renewed emphasis on rural development is taking place against a backdrop of global efforts to reduce trade barriers in the agricultural sector. This article uses the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a case study on the complex ways that trade policy affects domestic efforts to protect the environment and promote rural development. The objective is to draw lessons from the experiences of the United …


Is Nafta A Good Model For China? Lessons From Mexico And The United States, Carmen G. Gonzalez Dec 2008

Is Nafta A Good Model For China? Lessons From Mexico And The United States, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

In response to skyrocketing food prices, the global financial crisis, and the degradation of farm lands due to urbanization and industrialization, China has placed rural development at the top of its political agenda. China’s renewed emphasis on rural development is taking place against a backdrop of global efforts to reduce trade barriers in the agricultural sector. This article uses the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a case study on the complex ways that trade policy affects domestic efforts to protect the environment and promote rural development. The objective is to draw lessons from the experiences of the United …