‘Good neighbours or distant relatives?’ Regional identity and cooperation in the South Caucasus

Conceptualization of the South Caucasus as a distinct regional unit is a relatively new development. Notwithstanding geographic proximity, the three states of the region face different political, economic and security realities, precipitating different strategic orientations. Conflicting dynamics complicate relations between states and serve to undermine efforts, both internal and external, to establish a sense of regional identity and advance inter-state cooperation. This paper argues that the concept of a distinct ‘South Caucasus’ region is an externally generated, geographical label, which implies a certain degree of unity and positive interdependence that does not exist. The three states may be geographical neighbours, but they are not ‘good neighbours’, as the complex web of enmities that has developed over the centuries means the three states tend to look externally to ‘distant relatives’, undermining both regional cohesion and awareness.     

韩国国会议员社会背景管窥

韩国国会议员的社会背景是其政策决策的社会源流。韩国的内外政策从宏观看存在着左右分野,而从微观看则明显带有个人的影响。韩国社会是一个人情社会,社会标签与网络决定了个人的情绪与政策喜好。在对议员社会背景的分析中,性别与血型、血缘与地域、教育经历、职业生涯、特别经历等因素决定了议员本人的活动与价值观,从而决定了政策的基本走向。这些基本的社会背景因素对国会议员的议政活动和议会政治发展产生了种种影响。     

21世纪中国地方政府在中韩关系中的作用

随着中国改革开放的深入和中韩关系的发展,中国地方政府开始在中韩关系中发挥日益重大的作用。本文以山东省、上海市、广东省、湖北省为案例,分析了21世纪中国地方政府在中韩关系中的作用。这种作用体现为以下三个方面：中国地方政府与韩国的经贸关系为中韩关系发展注入了强大的经济动力;中国地方政府与韩国的外事活动为中韩关系发展奠定了坚实的政治基础;中国地方政府与韩国的文化交流为中韩关系发展营造了友好的民意支撑。展望未来的中韩关系,本文得出的相关政策启示在于：对于中国地方政府而言,要为韩国企业入驻创造良好的投资环境;对于中国中央政府而言。需要给予地方政府在发展中韩关系中适当的授权和分权;对于韩国政府而言,需要积极应对中国经济发展方式的重大转变;2012年韩国丽水世博会将是进一步密切中国地方政府与韩国关系的重要契机。     

理解南海共同开发与航行自由问题的新思路——基于国际法视角看南海争端的解决路径

南海共同开发与航行自由问题的明确与解决,直接关系到中国的海洋权益以及南海的未来法律秩序。尽管泰国湾地区的共同开发经验能够为中国提供借鉴,但南海主海的情况与之有很大区别。共同开发方式在国际范围内接受程度不广泛,实际效果不理想,其对南海争端的可适用程度较低。因此,应对共同开发方式在南海争端解决中的作用予以重新定位。从长远的角度出发,共同开发不能成为解决南海争端的优先选择和主要方式,即便在短期内以共同开发方式为处理南海争端的权宜之计,也应当注重构建一个合理的共同开发机制。中国对南海的"历史性权利"并未被后来的有效国际法律规范所更改或取消,这一权利不能按照《联合国海洋法公约》的架构来解读,也并不存在妨碍南海航行自由的问题。相反,倒是其他南海周边国家滥用《联合国海洋法公约》规定所提出的意在分割、控制南海的种种主张更加妨碍南海的航行自由。比较之下,中国的主张更加符合南海水域本身的性质及其适用当代海洋法之后的应然状态。     

Text Matters: Some Reflections on the Forging of a New Constitutional Jurisprudence in South Africa

The South African Constitution establishes a constitutional democracy with a strong form of constitutional review. The Constitutional Court is required to declare invalid any legislation or conduct of the President which is inconsistent with the Constitution. The author, a former judge of the Constitutional Court, argues that the text of the Constitution has been an important determinant of the Court's jurisprudence, both in relation to the Court's jurisprudence concerning the institutional structures established by the Constitution and its Bill of Rights jurisprudence.     

SKEPTICISM BORDERING ON DISTRUST: FAMILY LAW IN THE HOLLYWOOD CINEMA

This article critiques Hollywood films from the last last 20–30 years that relate to family law. More specifically, this article considers films involving marriage, divorce, child custody, and adoption and focuses on the portrayal of law in those films. While the films are not tightly connected to one another and surely do not share a unified theme, the films do share a surprising skepticism bordering on distrust regarding law, legal procedures, and legal institutions. Hollywood appears to have picked up a general sentiment that family should be a private, intimate sanctuary and is better off without state intrusion through law. The films incorporate this sentiment and also reinforce it by teaching viewers to be leery of law in family matters. Key Points for the Family Court Community:

• 1 Recent Hollywood films include not only abundant portrayals of family life but also numerous examples of family law.
• 2 As a result, these Hollywood films have the potential to educate viewers about family law and to prompt certain normative attitudes about family law.
• 3 In general, Hollywood films invite viewers to be skeptical and even disdainful of family law.

     

Cultivating “success” and “failure” in policy: participatory irrigation management in Nepal

Introduced over a decade ago and considered largely successful by irrigation professionals, Irrigation Management Transfer and Participatory Irrigation Management (IMT/PIM) policies were recently reviewed and seen to have resulted in more cases of “failure” than “success”. Primary research on two IMT/PIM projects in Nepal, which were among the few “successes” in the assessment supporting a “failed” PIM, shows how such policy-driven evaluations, when defining success, overlook incongruities between policies, institutions, and the evolving dynamics around class, caste, ethnicity, and gender. Without exploring the dynamics of practice, the process of “cultivating” success and/or failure in evaluations provides little insight on how irrigation management works on the ground.     

The role of caste in the implementation of herbal gardens in Bangalore

Over the past few decades home garden research has emphasised the promotion of home gardening for nutritional and other welfare benefits for the poor in urban areas. Still, the urban communities who cultivate plants in their home gardens are in general represented as rather uniform groups, and no distinction is made in terms of caste, ethnic groups, or social class. This article asserts that social stratification represents an important aspect that needs to be taken into account while devising educational programmes and community projects for the promotion of home herbal gardens in urban areas.     

Microcredit and power: examining how and why women encounter domination in Bangladesh

Using data from a recent ethnographic research project on microcredit, power, and poverty in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, this article demonstrates that the relationship of women with both NGOs and male relatives is one of dependency and subordination. Gendered power relations, embedded in NGO practices and socio-cultural gender norms, influence the female borrowers to accept the domination of the fieldworkers and their male relatives. This article examines how and why NGOs create power inequalities between fieldworkers and female borrowers, why the fieldworkers dominate a group of women, and why these women continue to participate in microcredit programmes.     

Religion and attitudes towards corruption in India: a collective action problem?

This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about corruption, typically leading to condemnation. However, it is also argued that, in a systemically corrupt country, such condemnation is unlikely to influence actual corrupt behaviour. Based on fieldwork in India, the paper finds that existing anti-corruption policies based on a principal-agent understanding of corruption, even if they incorporate religious organisations and leaders, are unlikely to work, partly because people consider “religion” to be a discredited entity. Instead, the paper argues that if corruption were to be seen as a collective action problem, anti-corruption practice would need significant rethinking. Despite its current lack of influence, revised policies and practices may see a role for religion.