西部自然资源开发利用管理制度及其创新

自然资源的开发利用和管理在西部大开发中占重要地位,是保障大开发战略正常进行并实现预期效果的关键。我国现有相关自然资源管理制度不能完全满足西部大开发的现实需要,制度创新是必然选择。应在坚持完善现有制度的前提下建立资源存量和使用量公示制度、西部资源评估预警制度、自然资源产权制度、使用者资质审查制度、资源区域监督管理目标制度、资源管理行政首长负责制度,建立以区域或者流域为对象的监督管理机制、环境资源使用信息公示制度、环境灾难群众自救制度等。     

读罗尔斯的《政治哲学讲义》——立足于人性看《利维坦》中的社会契约

罗尔斯在他的《政治哲学讲义》中对霍布斯的利维坦给予了高度评价,并主要在世俗系统内对《利维坦》进行了全面的解读。罗尔斯对社会契约的形成过程的分析不是基于神学知识的考虑,而是通过对人性的认知,并以人性为核心,来看待自然状态如何转变为战争状态,以及如何由自然状态下形成订立契约的合意,最终导致自然状态向市民社会的转变。     

人本法律观的几点澄清

人本法律观是以人为本位去认识、体验法律,视法律为人所建构出来的人造物,主张法律是人追求美好生活的工具。法是死的,人是活的,有生命的人妥善操作法律,法律才能够发挥其促成人类共生乐活的功能。以人本的立场研究探讨法学,为避免不必要的误解与混淆,可从五个层面释明澄清之:首先是区辨人本与人文、人道的意义;其次从自然法的发展史考察人本自然法是自然法的最新型式,也是第五种自然法;再次强调法律之建构与变迁乃是应人之生活需求,人有如何的想法,就会产生如何的法律;复次说明法治并非人治,是秉人本精神依法治理,法治思维有工具性、社会性、过程性、抽象性、规范性和知识性等六个构成因素;最后,检视人本的法学方法论,循人性以论,一方面是理性与经验之融贯,另一方面则是视之为一种法律实用主义的方法论,采相对价值的伦理观,有其和谐致善的伦理向度,最终极的任务无他,运用法律使人类互惠共生,同享安乐。     

Consent in escrow

Disasters such as flash flooding, mass shootings, and train and airplane accidents involving large numbers of victims produce significant opportunity for research in the biosciences. This opportunity exists in the extreme tails of life events, however, during which decisions about life and death, valuing and foregoing, speed and patience, trust and distrust, are tested simultaneously and abundantly. The press and urgency of these scenarios may also challenge the ability of researchers to comprehensively deliver information about the purposes of a study, risks, benefits, and alternatives. Under these circumstances, we argue that acquiring consent for the immediate use of data that are not time sensitive represents a gap in the protection of human study participants. In response, we offer a two-tiered model of consent that allows for data collected in real-time to be held in escrow until the acute post-disaster window has closed. Such a model not only respects the fundamental tenet of consent in research, but also enables such research to take place in an ethically defensible manner.     

Food distribution's socio-economic relationships and public policy: Mexico City's municipal public markets

Traditional food supply systems, like municipal public markets (MPM), are in crisis. Nevertheless, MPMs continue to demonstrate importance in the lives of the cities. In this article we discuss the case of Mexico City and the importance of the public markets for its neighbourhoods. We present the results of two research projects, completed in Mexico City at two different historical times and interpreted longitudinally. The results demonstrate the importance of socio-economic relationships for MPM's survival and potential. The article concludes with public policy recommendations to permit conservation, given the MPM's importance for the city's social cohesion.     

Farmer-to-farmer extension: opportunities for enhancing performance of volunteer farmer trainers in Kenya

Farmer-to-farmer extension (FFE) is playing a complementary role to formal extension services in facilitating the spread of agricultural technologies and improving farmers’ capacities. The effectiveness and sustainability of such programmes depend on volunteer farmer trainers (VFTs) having technical skills and overcoming process-related challenges that hinder them from achieving the desired outcomes. This article uses quantitative and qualitative data collected from seven sites to explore the challenges experienced by VFTs as they share their knowledge on livestock feed innovations in a dairy development project in Kenya. Sustainable opportunities for enhancing VFTs’ performance are discussed.     

Rural development from the ground up: agro-food initiatives in Tasmania

Concerns about the decline of rural agricultural communities have recently refocused on new economic opportunities available in regional food production. This article analyses three on-the-ground case studies of rural development projects in Tasmania, Australia that aimed to develop new regional food opportunities. It analyses these projects to identify how local food producers can create viable economic alternatives in rural settings. The projects illustrate that the existence of regional food assets alone is not enough to guarantee economic development success: rural producers need connections into relevant knowledge networks if they are to identify and respond to new agro-food market opportunities.     

Collective action in small-scale mushroom production in Swaziland: does organisational form matter?

While substantial literature is available on the determinants of small-scale farmers’ participation in collective action, and the welfare impacts of producing and/or marketing collectively, studies on the likely implications of organisational form on producers’ collective behaviour remain scant. This article attempts to address this knowledge gap by using an example of different forms of small-scale mushroom-producing groups in Swaziland. Given the importance of collective action in sub-Saharan Africa, the overall results of this article provide valuable insights into alternative means of coordinating commercial small-scale agricultural activities, which can improve producers’ ultimate benefits while reducing the likelihood of internal free-riding.     

Erstwhile villages in urban India

In the process of urbanisation villages are becoming parts of cities or towns, and are becoming almost irreversibly transformed as a result. Erstwhile villages, now parts of cities and towns, are on the margins of an urbanising India. They are lagging behind other parts of the cities in terms of receiving basic urban services and infrastructures. Urban development processes should look at the specific issues and concerns of these villages independently from the need and scope of planning for the city at large. This would make the transition from rural to urban status fair and inclusive for erstwhile villagers.     

Farmers,peanuts, and aflatoxins in Uganda: A gendered approach

This article describes a collaborative research for development project that used participatory methods to engage smallholder farmers in Uganda in post-harvest aflatoxin management. It is based primarily on qualitative research with peanut growers tracing ‘the path of the peanut’ through their hand-drawn maps and journal writing. By focusing on everyday life and including recipes and drawings, this research encouraged women's participation and emphasised women's roles. A unique partnership among universities, women's organisations, and farmers created an environment of mutual learning and produced a book documenting food preparation and other post-harvest practices as part of a study and capacity-building effort on peanuts and aflatoxins.