Violence,fear, and development in Latin America: a critical overview

This introduction presents the core concepts that shape this special issue on the impact of violence and the processes of development in Central and South America. The understanding of development is considered in terms broader than the economic context alone, in order to assess wider social and political aspects. With a similarly expansive scope, forms of violence are addressed that range from direct physical harm and bodily attack to the often more subtle aggression of racialised abuse or the pressures on community-centred production from dominant market forces. In these contexts, violence, economic initiatives, and political allegiances form unintended and often dangerous networks of consequence for development matters. All the articles in this volume exemplify further the spatial environments of violence and diverse ‘landscapes of fear’ that shape our existence and help to define our actions, territories, and understanding of what happens around us.     

Globalisation

The term ‘globalisation’ is widely used to describe a variety of economic, cultural, social, and political changes that have shaped the world over the past 50-odd years. Because it is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, globalisation has been credited with a wide range of powers and effects. Its proponents claim that it is both ‘natural’ and an inevitable outcome of technological progress, and creates positive economic and political convergences. Critics argue that globalisation is hegemonic and antagonistic to local and national economies. This article argues that globalisation is a form of capitalist expansion that entails the integration of local and national economies into a global, unregulated market economy. Although economic in its structure, globalisation is equally a political phenomenon, shaped by negotiations and interactions between institutions of transnational capital, nation states, and international institutions. Its main driving forces are institutions of global capitalism – especially transnational corporations – but it also needs the firm hand of states to create enabling environments for it to take root. Globalisation is always accompanied by liberal democracy, which facilitates the establishment of a neo-liberal state and policies that permit globalisation to flourish. The article discusses the relationship between globalisation and development and points out that some of the most common assumptions promoted by its proponents are contradictory to the reality of globalisation; and that globalisation is resisted by more than half of the globe's population because it is not capable of delivering on its promises of economic well being and progress for all.     

Citizenship: a perverse confluence

This article discusses the different meanings that citizenship has assumed in Latin America in the past few decades. Its main argument is that, in the perverse confluence between neo-liberal and democratic participatory projects, the common reference to citizenship, used by different political actors, projects an apparent homogeneity, obscuring differences and diluting the conflict between those projects.     

From the right to development to the rights-based approach: how ‘human rights’ entered development

This article offers an intellectual genealogy of how the concept of human rights has entered the development discourse—from the formulation of a ‘right to development’ to the rhetorical incorporation of rights within prevailing discourse, to the articulation of a ‘rights-based approach’ to development. It concludes with some propositions about the important role that a focus on rights might play in the practice of international development.     

印尼华人的民族权利与华文教育问题

2006年7月,印度尼西亚国会通过的争议多年的新<国籍法>,取消了已存在半个多世纪的在印尼国籍问题上带有族群歧视性的条款.新<国籍法>不仅为包括华人在内的印尼外来族群获得平等的生存权利提供了法律上的保障,而且也为印尼华文教育的发展带来了新的曙光.本文试从印尼华人民族权利的角度出发,分析探讨印尼华文教育多样性发展的可能前景,希冀能够抛砖引玉,引发更多关于印尼华文教育可持续发展的思考和讨论.     

祛魅与自足:政治理论对宪法解释的影响及其限度

宪法学究其根本是为了适用宪法而对宪法文本进行解释的宪法释义学。但是,由于宪法文本的不确定性,在宪法解释中纳入政治的考量是不可避免的。对于同样的宪法条款,在不同的政治理论引导下,会得出完全不同的解释结果。考察政治理论对宪法解释的影响是一种社会科学对法学的逻辑自足的祛魅,是有价值的。但是,随意选择作为宪法解释“背景规范”的政治理论,会导致解释的恣意,损害法的安定性价值。所以,必须根植于本国的制宪历史、规范环境和宪法文本去容纳政治理论论证这种“外部论证”,消解其对宪法解释确定性的损害。     

国际强行法保护的人权

人权并不存在等级 ,所有的人权 ,包括公民权利 ,政治权利 ,经济、社会和文化权利 ,对于维护人的尊严都具有同等的重要性。在国际人权法上有一些人权属于“受国际强行法保护的人权”。但是 ,这些人权也不是更重要和更高级的人权 ,它们是维护人的尊严所需要的“最低限度的人权”。     

实践中的证据法——中国证据法实施情况调查研究

证据制度是本次中国司法文明指数体系的一个重要一级指标,我们选取了四项二级指标进行了评估,通过问卷调查和数据分析,并结合中国证据法治指数问卷调查的数据,可以得出以下结论:当事人证据权利缺乏有效保障,侦查人员的证据意识有所增强,非法证据排除规则有待落实,以及司法证明过程缺乏合理规范。     

TRIPS协议下我国假冒注册商标罪的立法完善

依据Trips协议的相关规则和要求,完善和调整我国知识产权的法律保护机制,是亟待研究解决的问题。Trips协议下我国假冒注册商标罪的立法应从以下方面加以完善:将服务商标、“类似商品”、“近似商标”侵权行为和反向假冒注册商标行为纳入本罪的保护范围;改结果犯为行为犯的立法模式;加大刑法对注册驰名商标行为的保护力度。     

证据法的基本权利保障取向

证据法的理性主义传统,既要求通过理性证明的方式去查明事实真相,而非诉诸神明和暴力;又不以追求真相为最高目的,而是将其视为实现正义的手段.这种理性传统,决定了法治国家证据制度具有求真、求善的双重功能,并将公正奉为首要价值,从而奠定了基本权利保障的价值取向.我国证据法学研究和证据制度建设正在经历从义务本位向权利本位转型,权...