China and global development: towards a Global-Asian Era?

The rise of China as an economic and political ‘driver’ of the global economy may presage a new phase of globalization. This paper postulates the emergence of this new phase – a ‘Global-Asian Era’ (GAE) – as a ‘working hypothesis’. It suggests that such an era is likely to be distinct from any of the earlier phases of globalization, and China's global footprint, in terms of its business, economic and political actions and their geopolitical implications, is likely to be markedly different from what has gone before. The paper sketches the reasons for these differences before turning to a discussion of the nature and dynamics of a possible future GAE. Paying particular attention to the developing world, the paper then explores some of the evidence that could be marshalled in support of the hypothesis. It outlines a series of vectors (trade, aid and energy security) along which it is possible to discern some of the ways in which an emergent GAE could be seen as impacting on the developing world. The paper argues that, at least for these vectors, a China-driven GAE is likely to provide dangers as well as opportunities for national development projects.     

Exemplary Lives and the Normative Theory of Culture

This article defends an essentialist account of culture against the recent turn toward nonessentialism in contemporary liberal multiculturalism. It does so by drawing on Friedrich Nietzsche's early period and argues that Nietzsche provides an alternative to the dominant tradition of Volk conceptions of culture that derive from J. G. Herder. Nietzsche's alternative—what I call the “Exemplar Account” of culture—defines culture in terms of the patterns of human excellence that constitute it. This alternative overcomes standard concerns about essentialism by embracing the nonessentialist insight into the fluidity and variability of any culture's beliefs, values, and practices, yet holds that exemplary lives transcend the flux of culture and individuate one culture from another. I suggest in conclusion a practical benefit of this conception of culture for contemporary multiculturalism—namely, it fares better than other conceptions in fostering integration among diverse cultures, a pressing worry facing the current project of multiculturalism.     

社会记忆研究:从“集体记忆”到记忆实践的历史社会学

尽管有多个学科和不同背景的学术研究领域做了大量的工作,社会记忆研究仍然是一个缺乏固定范式的、没有中心的、跨学科的事业。要纠正这种相对混乱的局面,我们有必要推进多项工作,将社会记忆视为一个有用的传统和一个可加工的范围,为将来的工作奠定基础。我们需要追溯这项事业的家世,回顾围绕社会记忆之基本定义产生的争论,勾勒出历史的视角,并评价与社会记忆静力学和动力学有关的社会学理论。     

Lessons learnt from two decades of international environmental agreements: law

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - As Patricia Birnie cautiously and prophetically put it in the inaugural issue of this journal (INEA 1, January 2001, p. 74),...     

Law in Film: Globalizing the Hollywood Courtroom Drama

The courtroom drama is a prominent film genre. Most of the movies in this category are Hollywood productions, dealing with the legal system in the United States of America. What they have in common is that essential parts of their stories take place in court. These movies have a tremendous influence on the public's concept of justice even though very few of them accurately reflect legal reality. Anyone with legal training who watches films of this sort will notice in them all sorts of absurdities which are not thoroughly investigated in this paper. Our concern here is to inquire why even movies that take place in continental Europe follow patterns of the American system and also why certain elements from American movies are repeated over and over again.     

Social capital and labor politics in Japan: Cooperation or cooptation?

Policy Sciences - Social capital, derived from voluntary cooperative relationships and memberships, is thought to enhance a group's capacity to attain a common good. Japan enjoys plentiful...     

What gets done and why: Implementing the recommendations of public inquiries

Abstract: Public inquiries are often the instrument of choice when governments decide to re‐think their approach to large issues, yet there has been little empirical research on how effective they are. This article is an evidence‐based look at what affects the implementation of recommendations made by public inquiries. It considers eleven inquiries, examining how they operated, their political and administrative setting, and what action was taken on the recommendations. The central hypothesis is that governments do implement the recommendations of public inquiries under certain conditions. Such implementation extends not only to technical, incremental recommendations but also to recommendations involving systemic changes. The findings point to the role of judges who head and preside over inquiries as policy influencers. Often buffered by inquiry counsel or policy staff, judges may test potential recommendations with governments and other interested parties. The impact of inquiry hearings suggests that public inquiries do not necessarily serve a government's wishes to delay action. If inquiry hearings are the top item in the news, it is hard to see how that furthers a government agenda to bury the issues. Sommaire: Les enquêtes publiques sont souvent l'instrument de choix auquel ont recours les gouvernements lorsqu'ils décident de repenser leur manière d'envisager les grandes questions, or peu de recherches empiriques ont été entreprises pour déterminer de leur efficacité. Le présent article est un examen fondé sur les données probantes de ce qui influe sur la mise en œuvre des recommandations résultant d'enquêtes publiques. Il passe en revue onze enquêtes publiques, examinant comment elles ont fonctionné, quel était leur cadre politique et administratif, et quelles mesures ont été prises à propos des recommandations. L'hypothèse principale est que les gouvernements mettent effectivement en œuvre les recommandations des enquêtes publiques dans certaines conditions. Une telle mise en œuvre couvre non seulement les recommandations techniques croissantes, mais aussi les recommandations concernant les changements systémiques. Les résultats attirent l'attention sur le rôle joué par les juges qui dirigent les enquêtes par l'influence qu'ils exercent sur les politiques. Les juges, souvent utilisés comme tampons par les avocats des enquête publiques ou le personnel chargé des politiques, peuvent tester les recommandations potentielles auprès des gouvernements et autres parties intéressées. L'impact des audiences des enquêtes publiques laisse entendre que les audiences publiques ne servent pas nécessairement à retarder les mesures à prendre comme pourrait le souhaiter le gouvernement. Si les audiences d'une enquête publique font la une des médias, il est difficile de voir comment un programme gouvernemental peut progresser en étouffant les questions.     

Innovation in the U.S. Service Sector

This paper contributes to ard a better understanding of innovation in the service sector by focusing on the disparate nature of R&D in the U.S. service sector as learned through case studies of the U.S. telecommunications, financial services, systems integration services, and research and development testing services industries. Based on this understanding of the nature and scope of R&D therein, a new policy-oriented model of innovation specific to the service sector is posited. Also, policy recommendations are offered with regard to the public sector’s collection and interpretation of R&D data related to the service sector.      

The Limits of Disclosure: What Research Subjects Want to Know about Investigator Financial Interests

Research participants' views about investigator financial interests were explored. Reactions ranged from concern to acceptance, indifference, and even encouragement. Although most wanted such information, some said it did not matter, was private, or was burdensome, and other factors were more important to research decisions. Very few said it would affect their research decisions, and many assumed that institutions managed potential conflicts of interest. Although disclosure of investigator financial interest information to research participants is often recommended, its usefulness is limited, especially when participation is desired because of illness.