Seeing Like an Orientalist State: The Three Deaths of Neda Agha-Soltan

On June 20, 2009 one image became a symbol of violence, as well as a rallying cry for a movement that contested the disputed election of hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The image captured the murder of a 26 year old protester named Neda Agha-Soltan, and showed a first-hand account, in bloody detail, of the savagery of state killing. With the help of social media, the video received mass attention from news organizations in the United States by June 22, 2009. Cursory analysis of the New York Times and The Washington Post, representation of Neda’s death, reveals an Iranian government that was unafraid to violently repress a democratic movement. It is my contention here that such a construction was framed by an Orientalist discourse which helped to fabricate three distinct deaths of this murdered protester. First the lasting images of death became a symbol of freedom; Neda’s second death showed a grievable life, one that provided an emotional space for a US audience; and finally her third death which became a means of defining and (re)stabilizing Orientalized perceptions of Iran as violent and barbaric. Ultimately, these three deaths became an instrument that would help justify the call for US intervention on behalf of Western morality and humanitarian aid.     

Ancestry and BMI Influences on Facial Soft Tissue Depths for A Cohort of Chinese and Caucasoid Women in Dunedin,New Zealand

This study measured and assessed facial soft tissue depths (FSTDs) in adult female Chinese and New Zealand (NZ) Europeans (Caucasoids). Ultrasound was used to obtain depths at nine landmarks on 108 healthy subjects (51 Chinese, 57 NZ European), erect positioned, of same age group (18–29 years). Height and weight were also recorded. Statistical analysis focused on comparison of tissue depth between the two ancestry groups and the influence of Body Mass Index (BMI) (kg/m²). Results showed mean depth differences at Supra M2 and Infra M2 landmarks significantly greater for Chinese than Caucasoid women for all three BMI Classes (BMI <20, 20 ≤ BMI < 25, 25 ≤ BMI < 30), even BMI <20. For both groups BMI positively correlated with FSTD values at all landmarks except Labrale superius. This study enabled ancestry and BMI influence on FSTDs to be observed and compared for two distinct groups. Results add to knowledge about facial tissue depth variation.     

Taming mammon: corporate social responsibility and the global regulation of conflict trade

Unethical business practices, the conduct of corrupt rulers and conflict entrepreneurs in conflict-prone societies have provoked genuine humanitarian concern from NGOs and activists who constitute the main driving force behind calls for ethical markets. However, powerful players, such as western multinational corporations and OECD governments, have been able to undercut campaigns for compulsory legal regulatory codes by promoting industry self-regulation and voluntary codes of conduct. This article assesses a number of these initiatives to control the trade in conflict goods and promote good resource governance. It concludes that current mechanisms constitute a weak attempt to control the negative impacts of the market and, by failing to tackle the real causes of instability, are inadequate for building a political economy of peace.     

Law enforcement and civil society in Russia

Many Russian civil society organisations are directly engaging with state law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, in joint efforts to improve the performance and change the norms and values of state officials involved in administering justice. These activities are based upon a model of state–society relations that stresses the possibility of a positive relationship of mutual assistance and partnership between the state and civil society. Such assistance is often described by these organisations as helping low-level bureaucrats better perform their core organisational tasks. This model is contrasted with two alternative models of the role of civil society, which depict civil society either as teaching citizens the norms and values associated with liberal democracy, or as a potential counter-weight to an over-reaching state. Three cases studies of cooperation between NGOs and law enforcement agencies demonstrate the utility of such an approach. Although these projects suffer from some common pathologies of civil society work in Russia, they remain important, not least because of the presence of ‘uncivil society’ extremist groups who also are trying to influence the norms and beliefs of state law enforcement officials. The civil society activities profiled here suggest that direct, cooperative engagement with the state is one important component of long-term efforts to transform the Russian state in a more liberal, ‘civil’ direction.     

The decomposition and graphical analysis of crime and sanctions data: A cross-national application

This article attempts to illustrate the utility of isoquant map analysis from the field of production theory in microeconomics for the analysis of criminal justice data. Cross-national comparisons of aggregate crime and justice data are used to demonstrate the ability of this technique to reveal important patterns that are often obscured by simple rate comparisons and multivariate treatments such as pooled time-series analysis. For each jurisdiction, aggregate trends in criminal justice processing rates are systematically analyzed as a sequence of two-input production processes: gross imprisonment rates (prison population divided by resident population) can be partitioned in terms of the crime rate and punitiveness (prison population divided by the number of offenses); punitiveness can, in turn, be partitioned in terms of severity and certainty of punishment; certainty of punishment can then be partitioned, seriatim, in terms of the incarceration rate, the conviction rate, and the arrest or clearance rate and the rate at which citizens report crimes. Cross-national data collected by Farrington, Langan, and Wikström are used to illustrate the utility of the method for displaying comparisons of the decomposition of aggregate criminal justice data for the United States, England, and Sweden.     

Expanding Accountability Through Participatory Institutions: Mayors, Citizens, and Budgeting in Three Brazilian Municipalities

As new political institutions provide Brazilians with unprecedented access to policymaking and decisionmaking venues, politicians and activists have undertaken reform efforts to promote institutional arrangements partly designed to expand accountability. The expansion of participatory decisionmaking venues may grant citizens greater authority, but these institutions could also undermine municipal councils' ability to curb the prerogatives of mayors. This article analyzes participatory budgeting in São Paulo, Recife, and Porto Alegre to illustrate that mayors have differing capacities to implement their policy preferences, and this greatly affects how accountability may be extended.     

The European Community and Biodiversity Loss: Missing the Target?

The European Community has set itself the stringent policy target of halting all biodiversity loss by 2010. It intends to achieve this target by following a dual strategy. On the one hand, the 1979 Wild Birds Directive and 1992 Habitats Directive are designed to protect important sites housing vulnerable wildlife. On the other hand, biodiversity protection is to be integrated into all other Community policies. The Community views the Common Agricultural Policy as having a vital role in both areas. It provides a mechanism through which much needed Community funding can be channelled into the management of protected wildlife sites. Equally, it also has an important influence upon biodiversity in the wider countryside. This article examines the regulatory measures that have been taken to integrate biodiversity protection into the Community's agricultural policies and assesses whether they are likely to be sufficient to enable the Community to meet its 2010 target.     

Innovations and intellectual property: the case of genomic patenting.

In an effort to balance static and dynamic efficiency in the production and use of knowledge, societies institute intellectual property policies. In the United States, the patent system is a well-established mechanism to provide inventors with time-limited protection of new technologies in exchange for disclosure of information about their inventions. Emerging biotechnology, specifically the filing of patents on gene sequences, raises serious questions about whether the patent system is appropriately weighing societal costs and benefits in its grants of intellectual property protection. Gene sequences represent a hybrid case between discrete inventions and more general pieces of information that are useful for many, potentially very different, purposes. This information content in genes makes it possible for a patent on a gene to cover a wide range of possible technological applications and, as a result, be of unknown breadth when issued. This analysis explores the potential effect of these characteristics on future innovation in biotechnology. Copyright 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Genomic research and incidental findings.

The Human Genome Project showed that there is significant genetic variation within the population. Current research is accumulating large databases that may reveal genetic variations associated with disease or health risks, even if not intended as part of the study design. These incidental findings create legal, ethical, and financial challenges for researchers. Current federal and international guidelines are not adequate. Plans for dealing with incidental findings need to be established in the study design and reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board.