Solidarity economy and recycling co-ops in São Paulo: micro-credit to alleviate poverty

Lack of working capital hinders collective commercialisation of recyclables. Social exclusion and bureaucratic constraints prevent recyclers from obtaining official bank loans. As they continue to depend on intermediaries, the cycle of poverty, dependency, and exclusion is perpetuated. The article discusses collective commercialisation and the micro-credit fund created among 30 recycling groups in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. A committee of eight women recyclers manages this fund. The article contextualises reflections on empowerment and community-based development, applying the theoretical framework of social and solidarity economy. The author finally suggests that inclusive governance structures have the potential to generate greater justice and sustainability.     

Measuring the impact of fair trade on development

This study of the impact of fair trade relies on new field data from coffee and banana co-operatives in Peru and Costa Rica, including a detailed assessment of its welfare effects by comparing FT farmers with non-FT farmers as a benchmark. Attention is focused on three major effects: (a) direct tangible impact of FT arrangements on the income, welfare, and livelihoods of rural households; (b) indirect effects of fair trade for improving credit access, capital stocks, investments, and attitudes to risk; and (c) institutional implications of fair trade for farmers' organisations and externalities for local and regional employment, bargaining, and trading conditions. Although direct effects in terms of net income remain fairly modest, important benefits are found to include capitalising farmers and strengthening their organisations.     

美国和日本对东南亚山地僳族的研究——兼与中国傈僳族研究的比较

傈僳族既是中国的世居民族之一,也广泛地分布在东南亚山地地区,是这一区域内重要的跨境民族。本文在对1968-2008年美国、日本人类学东南亚山地傈僳族研究文献梳理和评述的基础上,阐明二者在理论和资料关注、研究脉络和研究对象认知、民族志写作等方面的差异。最后,从家户的研究问题、比较维度和联系性研究视角、田野调查和多元研究方法3个层面就美、日东南亚山地傈僳族研究与中国傈僳族研究进行比较。希望在这种比较中搭建与国际傈僳族研究对话的研究框架。     

中国法史学基础问题反思

中国现代法律史学是在传统法律史学和外来法律史学的双重基础上建立起来的。正确认识中国法律史学的学科性质,对完善这门学科的独立品格,促进这门学科的进一步发展具有重要意义。运用现代法学理论,特别是运用部门法理论去分析中国传统社会的法史材料,是中国现代法史学研究方法形成和发展的主要标志。但不应简单地用部门法理论、现代法理学的一般概念去比附评论中国传统法史材料,使中国法史学研究带上过分浓厚的现代色彩。应重视法史学研究的学术批评问题,提倡既非庸俗吹捧也非恶意贬低的高水平的独立评论。     

美国“新经济”成长的制度因素及对我国的启示

20世纪90年代以来,美国经济出现了二战后罕见的持续非线性的高速度增长.其主要表现为高增长率、高就业、高规模、高扩张,人们将这种经济现象定义为-新经济.新经济出现在美国绝非偶然,本文旨在探讨新经济现象背后的制度因素--科技创新、制度创新、政策性保障及对中国知识经济发展的借鉴意义.     

奥巴马政府亚太战略解析

21世纪初亚洲地位的迅速提升正在引起美国全球战略重心的东移。奥巴马政府亚太战略的目标,是要在"美国的太平洋世纪"里,"保持和加强美国在亚太地区的领导能力,改善安全,扩大繁荣,促进美国的价值观"。为此,美国将以"前沿部署外交"为开端,按照"六条关键性的行动路线"向前推进:增强美国的双边安全同盟;深化美国与新兴大国的关系;发展与区域性多边机构的接触;扩大贸易和投资;打造基础广泛的军事存在;增进民主和人权。这表明,"现实的理想主义"构成了奥巴马政府亚太战略的战略理念。     

日本平台经济下的“类雇员”概念建构及其启示

平台经济在各国的发展状况不同,各国对其涉及的劳动关系认定等问题进行规制的法律制度也不同。日本平台经济下的劳动关系认定相关探讨建立在个别法与集体法对劳动者概念之界定、相关的判例和学理的基础上,主要思路是修订现行《家内劳动法》与导入德国"类雇员"概念。在充分考虑日本对于平台经济之定位与我国有所区别的前提下,其兼顾"如何划定适用对象"及"对其采用何种规制"的政策研究方式,以及构建"类雇员"概念的相关探讨,对我国相关政策研究及法律制定极具借鉴意义。     

新时代促进农民共同富裕的逻辑、难题和路径

实现全体人民共同富裕,农民共富是关键和短板。新时代促进农民共同富裕具有深刻的必然逻辑：它是中国共产党的初心宗旨,是中国特色社会主义农业现代化的重要特征,是破解新时代社会主要矛盾的迫切要求,也是农民实现美好生活最现实的利益诉求。但当前,促进农民共同富裕也面临着一些现实难题,表现在：大部分农民收入较低,城乡收入差距较大,大多数农村地区产业发展较落后,部分农民就业创业能力不强等方面。要坚持和完善农村集体所有制,加快农村产业振兴,构建促进农民持续较快增收的长效机制,激发农民勤劳致富内生动力,扎实促进新时代农民共同富裕。     

在市场经济条件下进一步 做优做强工会企事业的几点思考

工会企事业是工运事业的重要组成部分。办好工会企事业对于提升工会组织的履职能力和服务能力,扩大工会组织的社会影响力,增强工会组织的号召力和凝聚力,有着极为重要的作用。多年来,各级工会组织高度重视企事业建设与发展,经过持续努力,逐步形成了具有工会特色、适应职工群众需求的工会企事业体系,在工会工作中发挥出积极的作用。     

Globalization and regulatory change: The interplay of laws and technologies in E-commerce in Southeast Asia

Electronic commerce has brought about business and technological changes globally, and these global changes have given rise to major legal reforms across nations. In the fast-changing global digital economy, states need strategies to maintain competitiveness of their markets while simultaneously ensuring the secure and effective use of technologies involved in conducting electronic transactions. This paper examines how the use and recognition of electronic signatures are regulated in Southeast Asia – the region that has shown the most significant growth in global e-commerce in past few years. Based on a comparative analysis of the laws of four representative ASEAN member states – namely Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, this paper argues that there is a regional trend towards adopting more liberal and technology-neutral standards for electronic signatures. Electronic signature regulation in Southeast Asia is now built upon limited technological neutrality (or the so-called “two-tiered” approach) as a shared regulatory understanding, but this approach is operationalized differently in each state due to distinctive national contexts. Within the common legal framework, each state has developed its own system of control and management with respect to higher-level signatures (using advanced technologies). The principle of technological neutrality, a concept originally developed for the regulation of technologies in response to the liberalization of telecommunications market, has been the central theme of discussions on the e-transactions policy-making scene. As the author shows, in the process through which states localize the global standards of technological neutrality, ASEAN as a vehicle of regulatory change has played an essential role in translating this principle to the national context.