Suchergebnisse

Delhi's pace of growth and urbanization are among the most expansive in India; however, water quality and supply continue to be a highly contentious issue within the media and everyday lived experience. This paper seeks to break down the way issues of water supply and quality are presented in the media towards more critical approaches to water access. Namely, I will investigate less visible narratives of water that do not hold a spotlight in mainstream media.

This work falls under the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Innovation 2009-2010 (DESMI 2009-2010), co-funded by the Republic of Cyprus and the European Regional Development Fund, and specifically under Grant ΠΕΝΕΚ/0609/54.

This work falls under the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Innovation 2009-2010 (DESMI 2009-2010), co-funded by the Republic of Cyprus and the European Regional Development Fund, and specifically under Grant ΠΕΝΕΚ/0609/54.

The African focus on the International Criminal Court (ICC) rule of law movement is far from incidental. It has everything to do with the identification of particular crimes as of gravest concern to humanity, crimes which, when viewed in political terms, foster cooperation by the majority of state parties. This article explores the workings of a global elite of liberalist lawyers and policy makers engaged in establishing what particular types of violence are considered part of an international moral and political agenda. I argue the ICC's emphasis on "command responsibility," conceptions of "justice," and human rights overlooks colonial history and its continuing postcolonial effects and the geo-political implications of resource competition.

This research analyzes the implications US and Russian involvement has had as two great powers in the Syrian civil war for international relations in the Middle East as well as for the relations between Washington and Moscow. Using a structural realist approach, this study suggests that the actions of both the US and Russia have mostly been defined by geopolitical status-quo concerns. As a result, they have preferred that their great power play be contained in Syria. As key findings, this study puts forward that the US-Russia showdown in Syria has prolonged the destruction and shaken US alliances in the region while allowing Iran as a key US adversary in the region to extend its influence deep into the region under cover of Russia. Furthermore, contrary to their broader escalatory security policies, Russia and the US have adopted containment approaches and avoided direct confrontation using Cold War tools.

This essay engages with an unfamiliar Antonio Negri, one who engages in biblical interpretation in The Labor of Job (2009). The analysis focuses on two key themes: kairós and measure/immeasure. Concerning kairós I critique Negri's relatively conventional approach – creative and opportune time – by identifying its inescapable moral and class associations with ruling ideology in ancient Greece, where it designates, through its basic sense of measure, the right time and right place. In response, I pursue an akairological position, one that draws upon Negri's complex treatment of measure and immeasure. While Negri seeks a reshaped and creative measure, I suggest we tarry with immeasure, for it overlaps with what is opposed to kairós. The article closes by asking why Negri should be interested in the Bible. The answer: he is able to do so, as his studies of Spinoza show, through a radical relativising of the absolute truth claims of theology.

The local party-state has always been a major source of extrajudicial influence in China. Drawing on interviews with judges, this article examines the impact of Xi Jinping's ambitious judicial centralization reforms, which are aimed at enhancing judicial autonomy by transferring authority over local court personnel and finances from local to provincial level. It finds that the reforms have achieved limited results. Although many appointment and budgetary powers were formally transferred to the provincial level, the local party-state retains considerable influence in both areas owing to its superior manpower, local knowledge and, in the case of developed regions, financial resources. Moreover, the local party-state maintains significant informal influence over the courts, which require many forms of discretionary assistance from various state organs – ranging from appropriating land for new courthouses to providing police protection for remote tribunals – in order to function. This setback highlights the depth and complexity of the courts' political and economic embeddedness and serves as a reminder of the inherent difficulty of institutionalizing judicial autonomy, however limited, in a large and diverse party-state. (China Q/GIGA)

AbstractThe local party-state has always been a major source of extrajudicial influence in China. Drawing on interviews with judges, this article examines the impact of Xi Jinping's ambitious judicial centralization reforms, which are aimed at enhancing judicial autonomy by transferring authority over local court personnel and finances from local to provincial level. It finds that the reforms have achieved limited results. Although many appointment and budgetary powers were formally transferred to the provincial level, the local party-state retains considerable influence in both areas owing to its superior manpower, local knowledge and, in the case of developed regions, financial resources. Moreover, the local party-state maintains significant informal influence over the courts, which require many forms of discretionary assistance from various state organs – ranging from appropriating land for new courthouses to providing police protection for remote tribunals – in order to function. This setback highlights the depth and complexity of the courts' political and economic embeddedness and serves as a reminder of the inherent difficulty of institutionalizing judicial autonomy, however limited, in a large and diverse party-state.

Museums, libraries and archives have long been considered the retainers of some form of collective memory. Within the last twenty years, the term 'memory institution' has been coined to describe these entities, which is symptomatic of the fact that such places are increasingly linked through digital media and online networks. The concept of the memory institution is also part of the vocabulary used to promote broader cultural integration across nations, and appears in discussions of European heritage and in policy documents concerning the digitization of cultural heritage collections. To explore the relationship between cultural heritage, memory and digital technology further, this paper will examine the large-scale digitization project Europeana, under which museums, libraries and archives are re-defined as cultural heritage institutions or memory institutions. My purpose is to trace the conceptual trajectory of memory within this context, and to address how the idea of a European cultural memory structured by technology holds implications for institutions traditionally associated with practices of remembering.Key words: Cultural heritage, collective memory, digitization, network, memory institution, Europe, integration

The global financial crisis underlines the relevance of accounting standards as much more than instrumental rules for corporate reporting. This important book details the accounting standards that embody societal and professional values and contribute to the distribution of financial benefits that put international harmonization of standards into the limelight. Sebastian Botzem reveals that international standards have emerged after decades of contest and political bargaining, which resulted in closely aligned standards, voluntary consultation procedures and a network structure comprising acto

From 1949 until 1986 the Kuomintang (KMT) ruled Taiwan and adjoining island territories (Republic of China or ROC on Taiwan) without organized political opposition. This party was led by two powerful leaders, a father and son: Chiang Kai-shek served as party chairman and the government's president until March 1978, and then Chiang Ching-kuo held both positions until his death in January 1988.

HydroAysén is a controversial megaproject that aims to build five hydroelectric power plants in southern Chile's Aysén region. The proposed dams would generate up to 20% of the country's electricity. Most of this would be destined for transport to mining operations in the north, a pillar of the national export economy. The project was approved in 2011 but placed on hold in 2012 due to protests from environmental NGOs. HydroAysén is supported by the country's conservative president and many interests from Chile's business sector, but has received harsh criticism for its possible environmental effects. The project will flood national parks, reserves, wetlands, privately owned conservation areas, and may negatively affect local residents including small eco-tourism operators. Using the geographic tool of scale analysis, this paper takes a spatial look at the controversy. The research draws upon social theory, where scale is considered to be socially constructed, to interrogate the Chile case. Data about the case is drawn from news media and personal communications. Arguments for the project often cite Chile's national economic interests, while arguments against it often cite regional interests of the Aysén residents, and simultaneously global conservation and tourism goals. This paper will look at how arguments made at local, national and global scales interact, are pitted against each other, and align in surprising ways. This investigation may help inform how scales are created and navigated strategically by different environmental actors, and how this may affect the physical landscape in the Aysén.