Peripheral states and conformity to international norms: the dilemma of the marginalised

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the seemingly paradoxical behaviour of states of the Global South, which on one the hand conform to transnational norms in order to integrate into the international society and on the other hand (sometimes simultaneously) differentiate themselves from them. To that end, this article develops the dilemma of the marginalised in order to show that conformity and differentiation become two paradoxical strategies for marginalised actors to pursue the same goal: equality with powerful states. The transformation of the Organisation of African Unity to the African Union, where significant changes in Africa’s policy vis-à-vis global powers took place, serves as a case study to illustrate how marginalised actors struggle between conformity and differentiation in order to claim their place in the international arena. It also shows how the dilemma of the marginalised can be compelling to help us understand the predicaments of marginalised actors across vastly different situations of structural inequality. Acknowledging the dilemma helps us understand their behaviour rather than to dismiss it as irrational, thereby recognising Third World agency in shaping the international system.     

全球环境治理“领导者”的蜕变:加拿大的案例

加拿大长期以来曾是西方发达国家中积极领导全球环境治理的典范,一度也是全球气候治理的积极参与者,但是近年来却俨然蜕变为气候谈判中的"拖后腿者"。发生这种转变的原因究竟是什么?本文通过国际和国内、政治与经济多个层面的分析发现,除了美国因素以外,加拿大国内的经济形势变化和政治体制是导致其战略变化的主要原因。20世纪90年代以来,油砂大规模开发和原油出口(特别是对美国的市场依赖),导致加拿大在气候变化问题上处于比较劣势;而相关利益集团的游说,正好与加拿大松散的联邦制等制度因素相结合,导致了加拿大气候政策的转向。从这个层面上看,经济利益的变化和政治决策制度特征共同成为决定国家气候或环境战略的主要因素。在某种程度上,这一案例也反驳了发达民主国家因其制度因素必然成为全球环境保护积极支持者的命题。     

后危机时代汉语话语权研究

本文在全球化金融危机背景下、提出汉语民族话语权问题,深刻揭示英语全球化与尴尬的汉语教育、汉语科技话语权以及网络汉语权所面临的空前危机。纵观世界各个民族语言的兴衰更替历史,阐述了汉语母语教育权与汉语话语权对国家与民族的巨大影响,提出应把汉语母语话语权放至与国家、民族主权以及政治、经济自主权等同等重要的地位,应大力加强全民汉语母语教育、全面提升汉语母语话语权地位。     

The failure of the Russian global license proposal and the future of alternative remuneration systems

As rights holders, courts, and policy makers worldwide struggle with the question of copyright infringement and the potential liability of internet service providers (ISPs) worldwide, Russia developed – and subsequently abandoned – a proposal for the creation of a global license to be imposed on ISPs which would allow for rights holders to be compensated for copyright-infringing activities carried out through those ISPs.Russia is not the first jurisdiction to look at a global license as solution to the wide spread of copyright infringements online. By analysing the Russian proposal for a global license, this article addresses the sustainability of such a model on a wider scale by analysing the legal implications this may cause. In this context, this article will address the Russian proposal's legislative history before moving into a substantive discussion about the synergies between legal justifications and merits of a global license.     

A Paradigm Shift in the Practice of Family Law: A Response to Mosten and Traum

In their article, Interdisciplinary Teamwork in Family Law Practice, Mosten and Traum promote the use of an interdisciplinary, team‐based approach to family law practice. This commentary focuses on the two pronged shift in the current zeitgeist of family law practice. First, Mosten and Traum guide us away from an historically adversarial approach to family law practice, in which attorneys advocate for the legal rights of a single client, to a more holistic approach in which the focus is on the Family Global Case. Furthermore, the push toward Family Global Case shifts the focus away from discrete legal issues associated with reorganization to empowering families to self‐determine through their reorganization. This shift follows the movement in both medicine and mental health away from direct intervention for people with disorders to promoting wellness for at‐risk yet healthy individuals. The second prong of Mosten and Traum's approach is a movement toward more collaborative interdisciplinary functioning. However, the shift in the practice of family law from the sole practitioner working alone to being one member of a broader multidisciplinary team focusing on the future well‐being of the family brings with it not only issues of professional role definitions but also the development of a new combined set of ethics and models for training. These are discussed in detail.     

试论“世界性因素”的范式意义及其问题意识

陈思和先生"世界性因素"理论架构的提出及相关研究实践,对中外文学关系研究领域具有一定的范式转型意义.它针对以实证为基础的影响研究的局限性,倡导对"20世纪中国文学中的世界性因素"进行研究,强调树立中国文学的主体性地位,为整个中外文学关系的研究提供了一个新思路.     

“数字税”全球治理改革的共识与冲突——基于实验主义治理的解释

数字经济全球化背景下的税收改革不仅体现为传统税收原则的失效与调整,更体现为传统税收治理体系的改革与变迁。有害税收竞争、税收规避等新治理挑战的凸显,使得旨在解决“多重征税”问题的传统税收治理体系难以为继。经合组织推动下的国际税收秩序改革共识与各国单边主义征税行为共同构成了当前“数字税”全球治理改革的复杂图景。如何对并行存在的共识与冲突提供整体性的理论解释框架,以分析不同机制的相互影响关系,既是全球治理理论发展并应用于具体领域的需要,也是实践方面探索“数字税”未来改革进程、实现多边共识的必要前提。文章基于全球税收治理体系演变历史的回顾与逻辑的梳理,总结了国际组织和各国参与“数字税”全球治理改革进程的多重行为,进而以实验主义治理为理论分析框架,从框架性目标设定、政策学习过程、改变现状机制这三个方面为“数字税”全球治理改革进程提供了整体解释。本研究不仅有助于全面理解“数字税”全球治理改革进程的复杂机制,也有助于为我国数字经济全球化战略提供政策参考。     

The Brexit Negotiations and the Anglosphere

The Brexit negotiations raise the question of what Britain’s future role in the world should be. Brexiters have drawn on ideas of the Anglosphere to imagine what that future might be. The Anglosphere belongs in a long line of thinking about uniting English speaking communities around the world. Different conceptions of the Anglosphere such as CANZUK are identified. The Anglosphere appeals to many Brexiters because it gives them a positive vision of ‘Global Britain’ as an alternative to EU membership. The advantages to Britain of regaining full sovereignty and associating once more with its ‘true friends’ are stressed. What is ignored is the lack of support among Anglosphere countries for much closer relationships except in the security sphere, and the inability of increased economic ties with the Anglosphere to begin to match what the UK will lose by severing itself from its most important economic partner.     

公共治理转型的全球分析

中国正在发生从旧到新的治理转型,治理转型实际上是一场全球性变革运动.20世纪80年代以来的全球性公共治理转型,是人类社会发展的必然趋势和结果.全球治理转型过程中出现的各种理论和实践模式,为中国探索和建立更为有效的公共事务"治理"模式,实现公共治理向"良好治理"方向的转型提供了某些启示.     

“全球安全倡议”：人类安全的“前景图”

“全球安全倡议”是人类命运共同体理念在全球安全治理中的具体化,是运用中国智慧为人类自救于危难、发展于和平、成就于安宁而提出的中国方案。安全观是安全的一种理论化的体系性认知。“全球安全倡议”宣示了中国的全球安全观,弘扬了全人类共同价值,超越了国际无政府逻辑,完好地回答了安全指涉对象、安全立场、安全原则、安全治理的目标/主体/方式/内容等问题,具有重大的理论创新性与时代价值。全球安全是一种本体安全,“和合”是其正向价值取向的核心,共生、共建、共享是其基本特性。为此,“全球安全倡议”的实践前提是“和合共生”,实现路径是“和合共建”,价值目标是“和合共享”。维护与塑造全球安全的共建策略是,达成人类命运共同体的全球共识,形成安全互助的良好态势,促成安全互保的战略环境,建成安全共享的治理体系。“全球安全倡议”作为以新安全格局保障新发展格局的框架设计,描绘的正是呈现和合共生、和合共建、和合共享的人类安全“前景图”,以保障人类发展的美好未来。