No hay ganancia en la milpa: the agrarian question,food sovereignty,and the on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity in the Guatemalan highlands

Although they receive little recognition for their contribution, peasant farmers in the global South play a fundamental role in securing the long-term global food supply. Via their self-sufficient agricultural practices, they cultivate the crop genetic diversity that enables food crops to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In this paper I draw upon empirical data from the Guatemalan center of agricultural biodiversity to investigate the concern that market expansion will displace peasant agriculture and undermine a cornerstone of the global food supply. I find that even though peasants' livelihoods involve multiple forms of market provisioning, they also engage in a Polanyian ‘double movement’ to protect their subsistence-oriented agricultural practices from the potentially deleterious effects of markets. I also investigate the so-called ‘agrarian question’ about the effects of market expansion on the viability of peasant agriculture, finding that although new forms of market provisioning are likely exacerbating rural inequality, the income from market activities actually enables rural Guatemalans to reproduce the conditions for peasant agriculture. Ultimately, I observe that the conservation of agricultural biodiversity and, consequently, global food security are contingent upon the ‘food sovereignty’ of peasant farmers.     

Assembling security in a ‘weak state:’ the contentious politics of plural governance in Lebanon since 2005

Lebanon is most often depicted as a ‘weak state’ lacking territorial sovereignty and thus fostering the proliferation of violent non-state actors that generate political instability and regional insecurity. In contrast, this essay explores the dynamics of security politics in Lebanon since 2005 through the lens of hybrid sovereignty. It shows how an assemblage of state and non-state actors has been able to navigate between rival understandings of insecurity, producing at times shared, but still contested, understandings which have sustained a system of plural governance over security that has been able to respond to a shifting geography of threats.     

Beating the bounds: how does ‘open source’ become a seed commons?

In response to ongoing plant genetic enclosures, the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) is creating a ‘protected commons’ for seed. It is a project, I argue, that reflects characteristics of a growing transnational commoning movement. From the Zapatistas to seed wars, such movements draw attention to commons not simply as a resource, but as a dynamic and evolving social activity: commoning. In the US, OSSI includes 38 plant breeders, 48 seed companies and 377 crop varieties. Yet challenges remain for OSSI to gain wider legitimacy for ‘freed seed’, to build trust in a moral pledge, and to establish fair guidelines for which people and which seed can participate in making the commons. Using the metaphor of ‘beating the bounds’ – a feudal practice of contesting enclosures – I ask how OSSI defends the commons in intersecting arenas. The first way is legal, as OSSI negotiates a move from contract law toward moral economy law. Next is epistemic, as an informal breeder network revitalizes farmer knowledge, while proving more structurally able and culturally equipped to lead commoning efforts. Finally, I reflect on the nature of boundary beating itself, aided by Global South movements. Seed sovereignty perspectives suggest room for a pluriverse of commons to grow.     

澜沧江-湄公河次区域合作的国际法问题

澜沧江—湄公河流域是东南亚的一个次区域,连接6个国家。在东盟推进合作的行动中,该区域成为了重要的目标和对象。有关该区域水资源的共享、开发、利用和保护等规则须依托国际法的基本原则和规则而形成。本文从国际法角度分析了国际水道共享中的有关问题,明确了澜沧江—湄公河次区域合作中的基本法律规则和原则。     

经济全球化与国家主权

经济全球化是21世纪世界经济发展的大趋势。经济全球化的不断发展,对现代主权国家在国际体系中的地位作用、对国家主权的范围等产生了强烈的冲击和影响。“历史终结论”、“民族国家终结论”、“主权终结论”、“超国家主义”等观点是站不住脚的。主权观念没有过时。面对经济全球化给国家主权带来的挑战,包括中国在内的广大发展中国家,应积极寻求维护国家主权的基本对策。     

主权在民:源流与反思

主权在民原则系宪法之首要原则。主权在民原则经历了由国家主权、政治主权、议会主权到人民主权的发展过程。主权在民原则既是近代宪法的逻辑起点,又指导着宪法具体制度的建立。主权在民原则在历史上发挥了巨大的作用,但也应当厘清、识别和深刻反思主权在民在宪政成长过程中的作用与局限。     

引领人民向自由前进的航标——浅评卢梭的《社会契约论》

卢梭的《社会契约论》既是一部政治学著作,又是一部法学著作,是世界思想史上的重要古典文献之一。本文即从它的历史背景出发,对其"自由与平等"的目标、性质以及"主权在民"的重要思想进行了浅显的评析。     

评“人权高于主权”

近年来西方某些国家炮制了一种所谓"新干涉主义"理论,并在国际关系中执意加以推行.这一论调的症结在于歪曲了人权与主权的关系,“人权高于主权”不仅与“新干涉主义”相表里,而且是它的核心.文章分析了“新干涉主义”及其“人权高于主权”理论出笼的背景、内涵和实质,指出它标志着霸权主义的新发展.     

法典修订与理论更新——论“97刑法”典总则的价值取向

通过与“79刑法”相比较,详细论证了“97刑法”的九大价值取向,指出新刑法是对中外刑法理论研究成果和司法实践经验的科学总结和升华。