数字鸿沟与网络不平衡发展

网络以其“新技术”和“新经济”的双重威力改写了20世纪90年代中期以后中国社会的面貌。作为一种新型的媒体,它为文化生产提供了新的公共空间。而且伴随着这种新空间的浮现以及它日益深刻地介入到传统媒体和社会之中,必然会产生出新型的媒体社群。当然,我们也不能高估这一新的媒体空间的可能性,因为它的生产同样受制于市场与权力交互运作的特殊语境。     

中国公民社会发展的制度环境影响评估

公民社会发展的制度环境是对旨在影响公民结社行为和民间组织活动的各种正式规则和非正式规则的统称,这些规则的集合体是决定公民社会生存发展的重要外部条件。改革开放以来,我国公民社会发展的制度环境表现出选择性鼓励和选择性限制相结合的政策取向,由此出现公民社会发展的有利和不利制度性因素并存局面。现行监管体制以限制和控制为主要政策取向,客观上制约着公民社会组织的发展壮大与和谐社会目标的顺利实现。建设“培育服务与监督规制并举”的能促型民间组织管理体制应当成为优化我国公民社会发展的制度环境的努力方向。     

Contextualising emergency responses to famine among Turkana pastoralists in Kenya

The pastoralism of the Turkana has persisted in the challenging environment of northwestern Kenya for some 200 years. Yet many pastoralists find that they increasingly rely on food relief during droughts and famines. This article contextualises emergency responses to famine among Turkana pastoralists by considering their encounters with colonialism, development, and humanitarian interventions. It uses key informant interviews, participant observation, and content analysis, to analyse the benefits and challenges of a small-scale food relief programme. The article argues that such programmes can weaken the viability of pastoralism, and concludes with considerations for future policy and programming.     

Governing ghostbots

This article discusses the legal implications of a novel phenomenon, namely, digital reincarnations of deceased persons, sometimes known as post-mortem avatars, deepfakes, replicas, holographs, or chatbots. To elide these multiple names, we use the term 'ghostbots'. The piece is an early attempt to discuss the potential social and individual harms, roughly grouped around notions of privacy (including post-mortem privacy), property, personal data and reputation, arising from ghostbots, how they are regulated and whether they need to be adequately regulated further. For reasons of space and focus, the article does not deal with copyright implications, fraud, consumer protection, tort, product liability, and pornography laws, including the non-consensual use of intimate images (‘revenge porn’). This paper focuses on law, although we fully acknowledge and refer to the role of philosophy and ethics in this domain.We canvas two interesting legal developments with implications for ghostbots, namely, the proposed EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act and the 2021 New York law amending publicity rights to protect the rights of celebrities whose personality is used in post-mortem ‘replicas’. The latter especially evidences a remarkable shift from the norm we have chronicled in previous articles of no respect for post-mortem privacy to a growing recognition that personality rights do need protection post-mortem in a world where pop stars and actors are routinely re-created using AI. While the legislative motivation here may still be primarily to protect economic interests, we argue it also shows a concern for dignitary and privacy interests.Given the apparent concern for the appropriation of personality post-mortem, possibly in defiance or ignorance of what the deceased would have wished, we propose an early solution to regulate the rise of ghostbots, namely an enforceable ‘do not bot me’ clause in analogue or digital wills.     

论环境壁垒的双重性及我国的法律选择

随着经济全球化的迅猛发展和世界环保运动浪潮的高涨,环境因素在国际贸易中的影响达到了前所未有的高度。世界各国通过制定环境壁垒来保护生态环境和国民健康,符合时代潮流;但有些国家通过制定严格苛刻的环境壁垒来保护本国产业,阻止外国产品的进入,则限制了自由贸易。面对这些,我国应从国情出发,认清环境壁垒双重性的本质,避其弊、取其利,选择自己的环境壁垒法律制度,最终实现我国环境保护和贸易自由“双赢”的目标。     

环境可持续发展原则探析

可持续发展原则是基于环境资源有限性与人类需要无限性、人类发展普遍性与区域发展不平衡性、经济发展高速性与环境质量渐恶性、和谐社会终极目标与不和谐社会现状等矛盾而产生的,有其存在的哲学和伦理基础.环境可持续发展原则要求实现代际公平、代内公平、资源可持续利用以及环境与经济社会发展协调,具体可以通过环境规划制度、循环生产制度、环境税收制度、清洁生产制度和生态补偿制度予以贯彻落实.     

现代服务业与先进制造业的耦合与发展

现代服务业与先进制造业之间有内在的"耦合发展"现象,生产力的发展是现代服务业与制造业耦合发展的客观基础,良好的环境是现代服务业与先进制造业耦合发展的必备条件.我国制造业的发展具有市场空间大、劳力成本低、生产能力强、后发优势足等优势,应适时利用这些优势将我国由"制造业大国"引向"服务业大国".     

Landholding size and farmers’ access to credit and its utilisation in Pakistan

This article reports on a study that aimed to investigate the differences in access to, and utilisation of, agricultural credit among subsistence farmers in Pakistan. Primary data were collected from 87 randomly selected subsistence farmers. Results show that subsistence farmers with more land had greater access and utilisation, and that education, experience, type of farmer, and landholding size were significant factors influencing access to credit. As subsistence farmers with the least land were the most disadvantaged, there is a need for revamping the credit policy to protect their interests. Moreover, simplifying the existing complex procedures involved in securing agricultural credit is highly recommended.     

Controlling gully erosion: an analysis of land reclamation processes in Chambal Valley,India

Programmes for environmental protection and land reclamation have been deeply embedded in local political and social contexts. This article focuses on the effectiveness of such measures to control ravine erosion in the lower Chambal Valley, one of the most degraded regions in India. The study used field observation to see whether the measures had any impact on further gully and ravine formation. The findings suggest that agricultural practices, including those often based on the short-term economic needs of households, lead to inefficient land-use practices, particularly in land-levelled and reclaimed areas.     

Municipality and food security promotion for disabled people: evidence from north-eastern Thailand

This article puts forward a qualitative method for analysing the role of municipalities in promoting food security for people with disabilities, and examining barriers that affect their food access and food utilisation. Findings from face-to-face interviews with mayors, street vendors, and disabled persons from three major municipalities in north-eastern Thailand clearly indicate that a lack of knowledge of food security among mayors and street vendors, and financial restrictions suffered by families, have become insurmountable barriers to food among people with disabilities. The article recommends that municipalities should create paid employment for people with disabilities and incorporate universal design into infrastructure improvement.