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For decades, Greenlandic politicians have sought recognition for their country as an independent agent in international politics. Renewed global interest in the Arctic has given new impetus to a strategy of diversifying the existing dependency relations, as a way to postcoloniality. This chapter investigates how Greenlandic foreign policy narratives have cast China in different roles which support this strategy. Some narratives are informed by Orientalist tropes imported from Denmark, while others dismiss the very same tropes and instead embrace China as a crucial bilateral partner in Greenland's road to independence. Mainly, China has been imagined as a potent source of, mainly, material resources and wealth (export revenues, investments, labour). Initially, this narrative was employed to support a business attempt to reinvigorate traditional hunting through new export channels. Later, narratives underscored Greenlandic ambitions as a mining country. Recently, they have backed a Greenlandic search for new solutions to the less-hyped fishing and tourism industries. But besides the promise of material revenue, Greenlandic authorities have also imagined that China could supply immaterial resources like international recognition. However, the sought for recognition has changed drastically, from the time when Greenland's national team played soccer against Tibet to current attempts to negotiate science- and paradiplomacy with Beijing and Copenhagen. The analysis is based on select media reports, government foreign policy reports and parliamentary debates from 1999 to 2018. Theoretically, the analysis draws on a tradition of analyzing international politics and foreign policy as driven by narratives constructing nation state identities in relation to Others.

Studies relating age of independence training with achievement motivation and achievement have resulted in contradictory findings. The responses of fifty‐two Chinese mothers in Hawaii to the independence training questionnaire were analyzed in conjunction with ethnographic data on child rearing practices. The lack of significant relationships between the index of independence training and measures of boys' achievement motivation and achievement behaviors was explained by the failure of the questionnaire to tap the mother's underlying motives for stating particular ages. The Chinese data revealed that cultural factors, such as values, strongly affect the mothers' responses.

'Libya Since Independence: Oil and State-building' by Dirk Vandewalle is reviewed.

Purpose: The perceived ineffectiveness of applicable regulations at its best promotes susceptibility of statutory auditors to compromise independence. Unlike most of the existing studies, this study investigated auditor independence regulations in Nigeria with a view to appraising their effectiveness in promoting independence of audit practitioners. -- Design/methodology/approach: Survey research design was employed to enable collection of relevant data from relevant practitioners using structured questionnaire. Descriptive method, Relative Importance/Significance Index (RII) and Mean Index Score (MIS) were employed for ranking and assessment of auditor independence regulations according to their effectiveness using a five-point Likert. -- Findings: Results revealed that the most effective auditor independence regulation as perceived by the experts was restriction on advertising with Relative Importance Index (RII) and Mean Index Score (MIS) of 0.82 and 4.08 respectively. Independent review by peers (RII = 0.68, MIS = 3.40) and rotation of audit partners (RII = 0.67, MIS = 3.37) were considered to be ineffective among others. -- Originality/value: Being the first known study on audit regulation effectiveness in the country, the study provided valuable insights for urgent intervention by relevant regulators to enforce compliance with applicable audit regulations in the interest of investors. ; peer-reviewed

I begin with a question: why have a conference on judicial independence? To find the answer, one need only read the newspapers. Judicial independence-as well as its political counterpart, judicial impeachment-is a hot topic these days because some in Congress have threatened to impeach judges for delivering unpopular decisions. So I take as my subject in this Essay the question of whether the constitutional provisions safeguarding judicial independence protect judges against impeachment for issuing rulings that Congress considers erroneous or even loathsome. When we talk about judicial independence, we have to separate two questions. The first question is the extent to which judges are or ought to be independent of the political branches of government. May Congress impeach judges simply because it disagrees with their rulings? Despite the current popular inclination toward limiting this kind of judicial independence, I think this first issue involves a constitutional rarity-an easy question with a clear answer. Indeed, there is a fairly large body of literature that reaches the same conclusion. I will therefore begin my remarks with a relatively brief explanation of that clear answer. Regardless of whether judges ought to be independent of the political branches, however, judges must still remain faithful to "the law." In interpreting the Constitution, for example, judges cannot claim to be independent of that document. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of dispute about what it means to be faithful to the Constitution.' This second question is in fact linked to the first: much of the controversy about the extent to which the political branches can or should control federal judges stems from disagreement with the way in which those judges have interpreted the Constitution.

This thesis examines the nature and extent of judicial independence in China. In particular, it focuses on judicial adjudication (sifa shenpan) and explores the factors that affect judicial behaviour and how those factors influence and shape the judges' decision-making process. In contrast to the existing literature - most of which sees judicial independence in China as stagnant, this thesis employs the strategic interaction approach to study the development of impartial adjudication in China and argues that judicial decision-making is more complicated than conventionally appreciated. The extent of adjudicative independence is evolving with the amount of judicial discretion afforded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to judges. This thesis first argues that, allowing for regional variations, and within the authority delegated by the CCP in the context of Party's declared intention to govern according to law (yifa zhiguo), the courts have enjoyed a significant and growing degree of judicial independence. Within the space allowed by the CCP, apart from some politically sensitive cases, the more common external influence on the courts is not from the Party or other government agencies, but from the litigants themselves, chiefly because of the importance of guanxi in China. This thesis further argues that the independence ofjudicial adjudication in China varies with the amount of discretion afforded by theCCP to judges at different times on different issues. Nevertheless, the growth of a 'legal professional community' has the potential to play a significant role in challenging the external, non-legal influences on - and defending the independence of - the judiciary. To support these arguments, this thesis applies the strategic interaction approach as well as relying on historical and cultural research. In particular, it draws on a number of case studies supplemented by field research interviews in different regions in China. The major contribution of this thesis is to reveal a dynamic process in the development of ...

On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence. As of March 6, 2009, fifty-six states have recognized Kosovo's independence, while a number of states maintain that Kosovo's declaration of independence is illegal. There is no specific resolution calling for nonrecognition, yet whether an obligation of nonrecognition stems from UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is a highly disputed issue. Resolution 1244 established an international territorial administration, affirmed Serbia's territorial integrity, and called for a political process leading to settlement of Kosovo's future status. Unlike in East Timor, the political process in Kosovo did not result in a prenegotiated path to independence, confirmed by a subsequent Security Council resolution. This Article analyzes legal positions regarding Kosovo's declaration of independence and examines the significance of international involvement in the process of state creation. Despite the reference to the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the declaration of independence, Kosovo is an example of unilateral secession from Serbia. This Article concludes that international involvement implies constitutive elements of state creation and that Kosovo has some deficiencies in meeting the statehood criteria.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Roots -- 2. Reverence, Respect, and Dependence -- 3. Aesthetic Experience and Virtue: Narrative, Emotions, and the Understanding of Others -- 4. Autonomy's Sources and the Impact of Globalization -- 5. Personal Independence and Social Justice: Contradictions of Liberal Virtues? -- 6. Autonomy and Moral Responsibility: On Virtues and the Common Good -- 7. The Politics of Virtue in the French Revolution -- 8. Volunteering as Virtue -- 9. The Relation between Independence and Trust -- References -- About the Contributors -- Index

'Freedom, Trauma, Continuities: Northern India and Independence' edited by D.A. Low and Howard Brasted is reviewed.