A NATURAL LAW DEFENSE TO THE EMPLOYMENT LAW QUESTION: A RESPONSE TO RICHARD EPSTEIN

Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can demand. It is his own advantage, indeed, and not that of the society which he has in view. But the study of his own advantage naturally, or rather necessarily, leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous tothe society. ¹
The modern laborer, … instead of rising with the progress of industry, sinks deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his own class. He becomes a pauper, and pauperism develops more rapidly than population and wealth. ²
Eveyone has the right to work to free choice Of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Eveyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented if necessary, other means of social protection. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Evereyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holiday with pay. ³     

Disasters as Crisis Triggers for Critical Junctures? The 1976 Guatemala Case

This article focuses on the 1976 Guatemala earthquake disaster as a possible crisis trigger, in a relatively strict application of the critical juncture analytical approach. It expands to include the broader question of what conditions might cause disasters to trigger crises that open critical junctures for nation‐states. The research concludes that the 1976 Guatemala disaster led to a high degree of community self‐organizing and alliance‐building across Guatemala, which the Guatemalan national security state at that time perceived as a fundamental crisis requiring a response. This reaction generated significant debate and policy conflict within the state; the resulting decision was massively repressive violence, with legacies that continue to this day. Another conclusion is that strictly applied, critical juncture analysis can untangle often very complicated disaster postimpact emergency, recovery, and reconstruction situations.     

The impact of EU intervention on political parties’ politicisation of Europe following the financial crisis

Abstract

This article examines the effect of the financial crisis and economic intervention by the European Union on political parties’ politicisation of the EU within national elections. Data from the Manifesto Project for elections between 2002 and 2017 in 12 Eurozone countries is used to assess how the crisis and intervention altered the saliency, position and clarity of parties’ EU policies. The analysis shows that the crisis only led to an increase in EU saliency in those states not subjected to intervention whilst intervention is actually associated with a decrease in the saliency of the EU. In terms of increasing Euroscepticism, intervention appears to exhibit a greater effect than the crisis although the results display marked asymmetry between different parties on the left and right. The same is observed to be the case for the level of blurring that parties are engaged in to mask their EU positions. The implications of the findings suggest that economic intervention within the EU has negatively impacted democracy in intervened-in member states by reducing the manoeuvrability of parties to provide voters with clear choices on the direction of European integration.     

Theodor Adorno,Alterglobalization, and Non-identity Politics

While the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School has become an interesting player in recent theoretical attempts to understand the problems of, and potential solutions to, capitalist regimes of globalization, it has been generally limited to the work of Jürgen Habermas and his followers. As seen in the recent work of David Held and Nancy Fraser, Habermas's notion of the ideal of the public sphere and his conception of deliberative democracy have provided tantalizing tools for rethinking the importance of global civil institutions and spaces in furthering, to draw upon terms from Fraser's work, both recognition and redistribution on a global level. What has been less relevant in this resuscitation of Critical Theory in things global has been the work of the first-generation Frankfurt School theorists. In particular, the importance that Theodor Adorno's theory may have in articulating and characterizing the character of alterglobalization movements is explored. Adorno's notion of negative dialectics is first looked to in order to uncover a conception of radical politics, and then the recent attempt by John Holloway to bring in Adorno for the global anti-capitalist movement is explored. It is argued that while Holloway draws upon relevant and important aspects of Adorno's thinking, he does so by reinforcing some of the more problematic elements in Adorno's theory. Finally, Ernesto Laclau's characterization of political struggle is brought in to fully flesh out a non-identity politics implied in Adorno's work.     

The rise and fall of Germany's party of democratic socialism

This article offers a short diachronic analysis of the development and success of Germany's Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), followed by an examination of the explanations cited by academics, political commentators and the party itself for its poor performance in the 2002 general election. A distinction is drawn between factors that are short-term in nature and those that are more fundamental to the party's current predicament, with the analytical emphasis being placed firmly on internal variables – that is, on the party's own capacity (or lack thereof) to act. The conclusion is reached that sympathisers and supporters of the PDS currently have very little reason to be optimistic about the party's future prospects.     

A Social Network Analysis of Jemaah Islamiyah: The Applications to Counterterrorism and Intelligence

This article attempts to contribute to and advance the growing literature on social network analysis and terrorism studies, through a social network analysis of the Jemaah Islamiyah cell that was responsible for the Bali bombings in 2002. In doing so, the article endeavors to provide a potential framework for the intelligence analysis of terrorist cells. Such a framework will assist in (1) understanding the communication and structure of such cells and (2) assist in predicting the likely outcomes of terrorist cells when employed in real-time intelligence analysis.