Global democracy in a society of peoples

This paper explores the political structures suitable for the realization of John Rawls’ The Law of Peoples (1999). In particular, it explores whether Rawls’ principles and fundamental foundations recommend establishing global institutions and, if so, whether, and in what sense, these institutions should be democratic. It is often suggested, either implicitly or explicitly, that The Law of Peoples would operate through the bilateral and multilateral interactions of, ideally conceived, nation-states. This paper argues, on the contrary, that it would advise a series of democratic global institutions. The case is developed with respect to the idea of a global institution with the remit of regulating international trade and applied, in the contemporary context, to the World Trade Organization (WTO).     

Volunteering in the Arab World: Bringing Back People into Politics?

This article analyzes the concept of volunteering in the Arab world. The main argument is that the nature of the Arab world in addition to the historical development of civil society directly affected the philosophy of volunteering in the region. Since civic services were not framed nor included in the national agendas of the state, this had a direct negative effect on the development of the act. However, due to social, economic, and political factors, this trend is changing: As of 2000, organizations and societies started to understand the importance of volunteering and its link to the social and economic revival of societies; Arab states started to encourage the act by providing the right legal and political environment. However, these different policies are not building democratic societies nor encouraging civic engagement. The article concludes with recommendations for how to bring people back into civic and political society as well as suggestions for future research.     

Journalism ethics and Levinas' Third: interruption in a world of multiple Others

This paper develops a theory of journalism ethics centered on the concept of interruption. Interruption provides a space in which the “Other” can speak; an instance in which those with whom we have no other contact but through news media can disrupt us. While steeped in Levinasian philosophy, the theory of journalism ethics developed here challenges some of its key tenets: unlimited responsibility for the Other and the single passive ethical imperative “interrupt me.” In a world inhabited by a multitude of others, a dogmatic reading of Levinas cannot foster a “community of interruption” in which the news media play a crucial role. Ultimately, to achieve such a community, the “Third” (the Other's other) must be privileged over the Other and the passive ethical imperative requires a complementary active imperative best stated as “let me interrupt!”     

The scent of a green carnation: A review of the queer year

The “Blitz spirit” is a popular story about the British public during the Second World War, uniting together with defiance and resilience to overcome the threat of invasion from Nazi Germany. Previous work has revised this wartime story as a propagandistic construction of national identity and popular memory. Therefore, this paper reviews the Blitz spirit as a myth. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) then examines how this myth was retold in British newspapers after the July 7th bombings in London. I examine how this myth was constructed and the ideological role it played after the attacks. Similar to previous revisions of the Blitz myth from 1940, I argue that social and political complexities after July 7th were often suppressed by messages that sought to evoke a sense of “Britishness” defined by a previous generation. Whilst the July 7th bombings were not a case of traditional warfare or attacks carried out by a foreign force, I argue that wartime analogies often supported military responses in the war on terror and evoked a foreign threat.     

The World Bank as Knowledge Bank: Analyzing the Limits of a Legitimate Global Knowledge Actor

The World Bank has always sold ideas, not just loans. Starting in 1996, then president James Wolfensohn rebranded the Bank by articulating a formal vision of a “Knowledge Bank”—a provider of state‐of‐the‐art expertise on development. After a number of internal changes and assessments, the Bank is acknowledging that it needs to be more humble, pluralistic, and practical. Why do some regard the Bank as a legitimate knowledge actor, whereas others contest that authority? We offer an analytical framework that can explain stakeholders' uneven recognition of the Bank's knowledge role. When stakeholders define knowledge as products, the Bank generally obtains recognition for the quality and quantity of the information it generates. This is the output dimension of legitimacy. On the other hand, when knowledge only counts as such to users who have been part of the process of creating it, the Bank finds itself with limited recognition.     

The Tragedy of Liberal Diplomacy: Democratization,Intervention, Statebuilding (Part II)

Abstract

The first part of this paper (in the previous issue) showed that the democracy promotion policies often perceived as characteristic of the New World Order are not so new. Rather, they were an integral part of the modernization theories and policies of the Cold War era. This second part of the paper shows that the democracy transition paradigm is based on precisely the same liberal assumptions as its predecessor and that, like the former, its theories and policies have widely been identified as failing. This failure leads to interventionist and statebuilding policies which in turn trigger resistances in target countries; a pattern already familiar from the Cold War period. We are confronted, thus, neither with a new world order nor with the end of history but rather with its repetition. And this repetitive cycle of counterproductive theories and policies, the paper concludes, will continue for as long as the liberal ideology underpinning it remains essentially unchallenged.     

浅析明朝私人海上贸易与白银货币化之关系

明朝是中国历史上的重要发展阶段,在这个时期,中国社会面临着巨大的发展变迁。在明初,白银并不是合法的流通货币,但由于明朝社会内部的变动,特别是明朝在对外贸中长期保持顺差,在明朝中后期通过私人海上贸易使大量的白银流入中国,为白银的大量流通奠定了基础。白银货币化在长期的历史进程中自下而上再自上而下逐渐完成,而明朝的白银货币化猛烈刺激了中国的白银需求,进一步拉动了海外私人贸易的发展。私人海上贸易与白银货币化的双向互动,见证了明朝市场经济的发展与繁荣,并且成为了明朝与世界联系的纽带,使得明朝参与了世界贸易体系的初步架构,在世界贸易的整体化过程中扮演了举足轻重的作用。     

作为文化线路的“海上丝绸之路：泉州史迹”遗产保护研究

文化线路作为一种全新的遗产概念,为“海上丝绸之路：泉州史迹”遗产保护带来了新理念和重要的启示：“海上丝绸之路：泉州史迹”遗产保护应坚持“保护第一、合理开发”、树立“整体性”理念、唤醒公众参与意识、建构共生理念等原则.     

邓小平关于建立党的第三代中央领导集体的三大决策

建立党的第三代中央领导集体,顺利实现第二代中央领导集体向第三代中央领导集体的过渡,是邓小平始终关注的重大战略问题。为了建立党的第三代中央领导集体,他果断提出并实施了三大决策：大力选拔培养接班人;实行干部退休制度,废除干部领导职务包括党的领袖职务终身制;严格选拔第三代中央领导集体的成员,确立第三代中央领导集体的良好形象。     

Balancing domestic regulation and trade liberalisation under the GATS: universal access issues in South Africa's telecoms sector

The service sector increasingly has become the cornerstone of a great number of economies in both the developed and developing world. The main barrier to trade in services is the imposition of domestic regulations which are aimed at ensuring the affordability, availability and efficiency of services. Such domestic regulations are important for services and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) consequently recognises the right of countries to regulate in order to achieve these goals. The GATS, however, also seeks to discipline such regulations to ensure that they do not hinder trade in services. This article seeks to assess these seemingly competing interests in the context of South Africa's history and its burgeoning telecommunications sector.