Making the World a Better and Safer Place: The Time for Action is Now

This article argues that the events of 11 September 2001, and their aftermath, have heightened the need both to confront terrorism directly, increase global security and enhance the structures of global governance. The article concentrates on measures to enhance global security and gover-nance. In particular, measures must be taken to address some of the root causes of terrorism: those of economic exclusion, poverty and under-development. The article argues that the World Bank, along with other international financial institutions and the UN system, have a central role to play. The article concludes by identifying four priority areas for international action.     

Las Madres De Chihuahua: Maternal Activism,Public Disclosure,and the Politics of Visibility

Women simultaneously occupy a space of both strength and vulnerability in Mexico. While existing institutions, traditions, and gender norms create the conditions whereby feminicide and forced disappearances proliferate, responses to these events prominently feature maternal calls for justice. How do the victims’ mothers counter extreme gender violence in Ciudad Juárez? Existing accounts of maternal politics typically fall into three wide categories: celebratory accounts, critical approaches, and the theatrical dimension of maternal politics. While these accounts provide important insights into the political power of maternal politics, they do not adequately explain its pedagogical function. Bringing to bear the insights of Judith Butler’s performative theory of public assembly and Rita Laura Segato’s anthropology of violence, this article suggests that maternal politics transforms private experiences of extreme gender violence into political expressions of strength and agency to politically beget what Segato defines as counter pedagogies of cruelty.     

Is There Now a Political Climate for Policy Change? Policy and Politics after the Stern Review

Climate change is fuelling a significant renaissance in the national environmental movement in the UK. The broad aim of this article is better to understand the extent to which the 2006 Stern Review on climate change marked a decisive turning point in the battle against climate change or just another missed opportunity. Labelled as the most comprehensive review of the economics of climate change ever produced, the Stern Review was commissioned by the Chancellor in the summer of 2005 as part of the G8 Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change. The main themes of and reactions to the Stern Review are analysed against the backdrop of changing domestic party politics. Then, the follow through in terms of new political and policy pronouncements is examined. It is concluded that finding a way to tie together domestic and international actions on climate change represents an enormously tricky political challenge for whoever succeeds Blair as prime minister.