One-way conversation with Philippe Van Parijs

This essay reacts to Philippe Van Parijs’s arguments in favor of English as the global lingua franca and in favor of the territorial protection of the languages of minority nations. I agree with both arguments. But I see the case for the lingua franca as a matter of convenience rather than justice. And I don’t link territorial protection to the emergence of English, but instead ground it as a fundamental right of national self-determination.     

Does justice stand alone?

A common feature of leading liberal-egalitarian political theories is the sharp priority they attribute to justice, and to distributive justice in particular. In this article, I argue that liberal egalitarians have yet to offer a persuasive argument for prioritizing justice, and distributive justice in particular, in this way. I focus on assessing arguments advanced in the seminal work of John Rawls and employ the pluralist liberalism of Isaiah Berlin to illustrate that Rawls’ arguments are not even persuasive for reasonable liberals like Berlin, let alone for non-liberals. The upshot of my argument is not that liberals should abandon the pursuit of greater equality of wealth and income, but only that such goals should still be balanced against the claims of other fundamental values, such as individual liberty and the common good (contrary to those who want to give sharp priority to distributive justice).     

On fighting for global justice: the role of a Third World international lawyer

Abstract

The life of a Third World international lawyer is devoted to resistance to the norms of international law designed by agents with power to promote the interests of the powerful sections of the international community. Increasingly the instrumental norms of international law are fashioned through the use of private power, making the positivist claim that public international law is a law between states illusory. The task of this paper is to identify a framework of common concerns so that a collectivity of Third World lawyers can work together, examine how mechanisms of power can be countered, and devise a confrontational strategy.     

What is Restorative Justice? Fresh Answers to a Vexed Question

Abstract

It has become commonplace to say that restorative justice cannot be defined. I argue that restorative justice can and must be defined concretely as a justice mechanism. I develop this argument with four points: (1) restorative justice is not a type of justice, it is a justice mechanism; (2) retributive justice is not a type of justice or a justice mechanism; (3) restorative justice is one of many justice mechanisms under an innovative justice umbrella; and (4) restorative justice can be defined. The way forward is to assess and compare a variety of justice mechanisms, which reside on a continuum from conventional to innovative. In time, the justice mechanisms studied may come to matter more than the concept of restorative justice.     

“We Don't Want a Teacher”: Using the Past to Offer Fresh Eyes to Contemporary Practice

Much historical and contemporary writing lauds the Citizenship Schools of the Civil Rights Movement, and the Highlander Folk School that supported them, as major players in the struggle to educate Black people across the South as citizens and voters. However, little scholarly literature explores the pedagogical and programmatic elements of these community-driven schools or the ways these schools provided an infrastructure to the movement. Drawing from archival research, this article examines these schools and connects their educational methods to the successes of the Civil Rights Movement. It names ways these methods influenced present practice in youth work for social change while also identifying the ways that many of the practices of these schools have been ignored or lost in contemporary youth work. It concludes by identifying from this work 9 questions youth workers can pose to orient their youth work toward social and racial justice.     

罗马自然法思想探析

罗马自然法思想的最早渊源可溯及古希腊哲学.罗马法中所包含的自然法思想对罗马法的发展和完善起着举足轻重的作用.罗马自然法思想对人类的贡献主要表现为它为人类提供了一种价值观念.罗马自然法思想对我国法治建设的启示为①法律的价值分为实然价值和应然价值;②法治不仅是手段,更重要的是目的.     

State borders as defining lines of justice: why the right to exclude cannot be justified

This paper seeks to answer the question of what we, according to justice, owe to immigrants. The answer to this normative question is extracted by providing an analysis of Michael Blake’s jurisdictional theory presented in Immigration, Jurisdiction, and Exclusion and elaborated upon in other articles in which he argues for states’ right to exclude immigrants based on states’ jurisdictional nature. I regard this theory as unjustified since it rests on a weak basis, which is further problematised by weighing the moral claims of residents above those of immigrants. In this way, my criticism serves to provide argumentative support in a negative manner for weighing the moral claims of immigrants on an equal footing with those of residents.     

司法改革的着眼点:构建司法独立环境

本文从历史与现实两种角度 ,分析论述了中国司法独立的缺陷与重构     

评世界主义者对罗尔斯国际正义理论的批判

由于缺乏足够的阐释和论证,兼之世界主义思潮的影响,当前西方学界对罗尔斯的国际正义理论总体上仍持批判意见。这些批判主要涉及理论旨趣、人民观、人权清单和援助责任等四项焦点问题:前三种批判揭示了罗尔斯理论的疏漏之处,但通过对其思想脉络和观点立场的同情式理解,在既有理论框架内加以翔实阐释,这些理论疏漏可以在一定程度上得到回应和辩护;围绕援助责任的争论,则集中展现了罗尔斯与世界主义者之间的观点分歧,双方在可欲性和可行性两个层面各有优劣。相比之下,容纳二者优势并有所超越的人类命运共同体理念能够为全球正义的理论探讨提供一个更为有效的支点。     

RETRACTED: “I’m Not Leaving,I’m Not Afraid”: (Re)Visiting the Dysfunctional Systems of Justice on Gender-based Violence (GBV) in Uganda

This article has been retracted.