Inevitable recidivism--the origin and centrality of an urban legend

This paper examines the pervasive conviction that sex offenders - particularly child molesters - will continue to re-offend. This belief in inevitable recidivism turns out to be absolutely essential to both the justification for, and the structure of, the sexually violent predator laws. When actual evidence of sex offender recidivism is examined, however, a huge gap exists between what is assumed and what the data actually show because most sex offenders do not in fact re-offend. Thus there is a galaxy of sexually violent predator laws and an entire branch of Supreme Court jurisprudence that is founded upon a demonstrable urban legend.     

The tangled web: does the internet offer promise or peril for the Chinese Communist Party?

This paper seeks to address the divide between political rhetoric and reality on the question of the impact of the Internet on China. Many politicians and pundits steadfastly promote the Internet as a conduit for democracy, without empirical proof to support their statements. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the debate over information technology and the Internet in China. The Chinese Communist Party is employing a number of approaches to control the Internet, from introducing numerous regulations to encouraging self‐censorship, with some success. This paper will examine state‐coordinated measures to control the use of the Internet, look at how the Internet could be making CCP rule more effective, and consider the validity of the argument that the Internet represents a threat to CCP rule.     

Approaches to Women and Development in Rural China

In this paper I analyze the language and concepts framing approaches taken by the Chinese women's movement to women and rural development. Until the late 1990s the language adopted by Chinese women's organizations concerned with rural development was quite different from that of development agencies elsewhere, but since that time it has become increasingly similar. In this paper I ask: to what extent did the earlier language of Chinese women's development activists point to understandings and practices that were different from those of the global development movement? And what might be the significance of the growing convergence between the two?     

Village Self-Government and Representation in Southwest China

Villages in China are, according to recent law, “self-governed” by villager committees, whose members are elected by villagers and held accountable to villagers and villager representative assemblies. Previous studies have focused on the institutions of self-government, assuming that, if unimpeded, they will enhance both direct villager participation in governance and the representation of villager interests. In contrast, this article focuses on local understandings and ideals about political roles and relationships, as constructed through everyday political claims and practices. The article draws on qualitative research in four villages in Yunnan, southwest China. In these villages, neither cadres nor villagers used the word “represent” to characterise the role of members of village government. Furthermore, villagers could not explain what villager representatives do or what “representative” in the title “villager representative” means. This leads us to ask: How do village residents conceive the responsibilities of villager representatives and cadres? Is the lack of reference to “representation” merely a linguistic issue, or do they have a different conception of villager-cadre and villager-representative relationships? In addressing these questions, this article aims to enrich our understanding of village self-government in China and contribute to theorising about political representation.