Global Britain and the Narrative of Empire

Since 2016, the UK government has outlined plans for ‘Global Britain’ as a framework for post‐Brexit foreign policy. Some criticise the idea as a vision of ‘Empire 2.0’, but it is rarely made clear exactly what form it takes or what its wider political implications are. This article argues that Global Britain constitutes not just an idea or a slogan, but a foreign policy narrative and, more specifically, the narrative of empire. Indeed, to appear reasonable its grand ambitions require pre‐existing knowledges of past imperial ‘successes’ and accepting images of empire among the British public. Yet Global Britain lacks efficacy: as a domestic rather than an international narrative, by being inherently regressive in its worldview, and for contradicting the preferences of international partners on which the UK heavily relies. These narrative flaws, it is argued, make Global Britain an actively problematic, rather than merely ineffective, component of UK foreign policy.     

Renminbi appreciation and Global Value Chains in China: exploring the linkages

China has experienced a rapid integration into Global Value Chains and a decade long appreciation of its exchange rate. However, these trends have been analysed largely in isolation from each other. In this paper, we explore the linkages between the two based on interviews with a sample of firms in Jiangsu Province. We show (1) how the distribution of the costs and benefits of exchange rate appreciation depends on the power hierarchies between firms in GVCs; (2) how exchange rate changes are important drivers of upgrading and even downgrading in GVCs; and (3) that the firm heterogeneity evident in GVCs provides additional insights into the politics of exchange rate determination in China.     

核安全峰会与核安全全球治理

美国奥巴马政府上台以来,为应对核恐怖主义对美国国家安全造成的严峻威胁,提升国际社会应对核安全威胁的能力,重塑美国在核领域的领导地位,积极推动由各国首脑参加的核安全峰会。经过四届核安全峰会,国际社会在促进凝聚核安全共识、设定合作重点并推动核安全全球治理的建章立制等方面取得了诸多成果,但也面临着在后峰会时代保持国际合作势头、明确和完善核安全全球治理范畴以及进一步完善均衡的核安全全球治理机制等挑战。为确保核安全全球治理在后峰会时代的可持续发展,国际社会应在治理范畴方面分清主次,在治理模式方面坚持全球合作治理与国家治理相结合,发挥国际原子能机构的核心作用。拥有大量核材料与先进核安全技术的大国在全球治理中负有特殊责任,理应发挥表率作用。     

试论新时期厂务公开民主管理工作的深化发展

新时期深化发展厂务公开民主管理工作,必须深化思想认识,加强组织领导;突出工作重点,把坚持完善职代会制度作为厂务公开民主管理工作的重要载体;以构建和谐劳动关系、保障劳动者权益为主线,抓好规范运作和拓展延伸;强化监督制约,把厂务公开民主管理工作与惩治预防腐败体系建设有机结合起来。     

Prosecutorial regulation in the Global South: Environmental civil litigation by prosecutors in China compared to Brazil

Brazil's successful prosecutorial civil action against polluters could be a regulatory example for the Global South. This paper analyses whether such regulation could also develop without the major political, institutional, and legal reforms that spurred it in Brazil. To do so, it analyzes China, where similar reforms have so far not occurred, but where prosecutors have recently started to initiate civil litigation against polluters. It finds that prosecutorial civil litigation in China has only a limited regulatory effect or potential. Prosecutors in China are influenced by conflicting incentive structures that reward one‐off lower level test cases with an innovation bonus, while structurally stimulating a focus on general crime fighting. Ironically, as a result of such incentives, the recent legal reform, toward providing standing for prosecutors in public interest litigation, will, in contrast to Brazil, decrease rather than increase the regulatory effect of these cases. These findings have implications for understanding how the interaction between regulatory independence, legal reform, and regime type shapes possibilities for regulatory innovation in the Global South.     

论金融危机背景下出口信用保险对中小外贸企业的促进作用

2009年中国总体出口形势严峻，中小企业作为出口企业的主力军更是承受巨大压力，就目前来看，收汇风险增大和融资困难是阻碍其发展的两个重要原因。出口信用险结合其项下的商业银行贸易融资项目，可以同时解决中小企业的收汇和融资难题。在新的经济形势下，国家应加大对出口信用险的扶持和推广力度，深化贸易融资创新，协助和引导中小型外贸企业走上可持续发展的道路。     

Animal rights is a social justice issue

The literature on social justice, and social justice movements themselves, routinely ignore nonhuman animals as legitimate subjects of social justice. Yet, as with other social justice movements, the contemporary animal liberation movement has as its focus the elimination of institutional and systemic domination and oppression. In this paper, I explicate the philosophical and theoretical foundations of the contemporary animal rights movement, and situate it within the framework of social justice. I argue that those committed to social justice – to minimizing violence, exploitation, domination, objectification, and oppression – are equally obligated to consider the interests of all sentient beings, not only those of human beings.     

Against Global Parliament

Experimentation is often thought to be a key quality of any legitimate democratic system. Employing global parliamentary proposals as a heuristic, this article suggests that top‐down models for global democratization – proffered by liberal cosmopolitans and world government scholars – may create path‐dependencies which foreclose options for experimenting with alternative institutional designs in the future. Drawing upon historical institutionalism, the structure, sequence, and setting of top‐down proposals are outlined to show how experimentation with other forms of democracy may be constrained in problematic ways. Following this assessment, the article suggests that striving for democratic values under a pluralist arrangement of global governance may facilitate incremental institutional development and promote experimentation over time.     

Strengthening Canadian Law Enforcement and Academic Partnerships in the Area of Online Child Sexual Exploitation: The Identification of Shared Research Directions

This article outlines the law enforcement response to online child sexual exploitation and identifies two key areas of research that would benefit from an academic focus—the link between online and offline child sexual exploitation offending, and the psychological health and wellness of online child sexual exploitation investigation employees. While there are several areas in need of research, these two areas demonstrate a unique opportunity for collaborative work. Also highlighted is a joint international research partnership among law enforcement, practitioners and academia that demonstrates the benefits of linking academic research interests with the practical needs of law enforcement. Last, are several suggestions for operationally relevant collaborative research in this area. Such opportunities bring together various areas of expertise, which will advance our understanding of the needs of victims, and improve victim support services.     

夯实深化创新厂务公开、民主管理的基础

推进职代会、厂务公开建制工作,今后需要进一步做好以下几个结合:一是与建设中国特色社会主义工会理论相结合;二是与推进两个普遍相结合;三是与开展建制专项行动相结合;四是与贯彻执行劳动法律法规相结合;五是与建立通报和督导制度相结合。