Regulating genetically modified crops and foods in Canada and the United Kingdom: Democratizing risk regulation

Abstract: This article examines the alternate use of models of representative, functional and citizen‐centred participatory democracy in the formulation of policies to regulate the risks of genetically modified crops and foods in the United Kingdom and Canada. It demonstrates that representative, functional and participatory democracy have all played a role in the United Kingdom; functional democracy has been ascendant in Canada, with representative democracy playing a secondary role. These cross‐national differences derive from the greater imperative for regulatory legitimacy in the U.K., and the Canadian pre‐occupation with regulatory effectiveness. The result is a more transparent U.K. regulatory framework that provides representation of a broader range of public values and concerns than in Canada. Sommaire: Cet article examine les différentes utilisations de modèles de démocratie représentative, fonctionnelle et axée sur les citoyens dans la formulation de politiques destinées à réglementer les risques associés aux cultures et aliments génétiquement modifiés au Royaume‐Uni et au Canada. Il démontre que les démocraties représentatives, fonctionnelles et participatives ont toutes joué un rôle au Royaume‐Uni; la démocratie fonctionnelle a dominé au Canada, tandis que la démocratie représentative y a joué un rôle secondaire. Ces différences transnationales proviennent du plus grand impératif de légitimité de la réglementation au R.‐U., et de la préoccupation canadienne de l'efficacité de la réglementation. Le résultat est un cadre de réglementation plus transparent au R.‐U. qui représente un plus vaste éventail de valeurs et de préoccupations publiques qu'au Canada.     

AFTERWORD: CROSS-CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF JAPANESE HERITAGE LANGUAGE POLICIES AND PRACTICES

Scholars of regions where multiple languages are spoken have much to gain by considering heritage language education, individual identity, and state power through these ethnographic and historical cases that focus on Japan and the Japanese diaspora. The articles in this two-part collection offer insights into the interrelationships of linguistic hierarchies and political economy, the navigation of ethnic and racial subjectivities, and the ways children and adolescents claim belonging to various communities through their linguistic practices. The articles interrogate not only heritage but remembrance and the ways individuals may produce identity through language in everyday interactions and institutional settings.     

The heart of Asia and the roof of the world

This article concentrates almost entirely on the events of 1971 and the author's involvement in the “sometimes complicated and frustrating negotiations and consultations” which led up to the signing at the end of 1971 of the various Treaties of Friendship as Britain withdrew from the Gulf, leaving behind a number of independent states, including the United Arab Emirates.