scholarly journals Reflections on the Cultural Background to China's Reaction to the Nobel Prize Award

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 81-100
Author(s):  
Gunnar Haaland
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Nobel Prize ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
Prize Award ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Selection Of

This paper deals with some complex and controversial issues that arose in connection with the 2010 Nobel Prize Peace award to the Chinese dissident Liu Xiao Bo. These issues involve different levels. On one level it is important not to confuse the Nobel committee’s independence of outside interference from political and other organized agencies, with the question of whether the Nobel Prize committee’s decisions can be ideological or politically unbiased in its decisions. Part of the strong Chinese reaction to the award is related to this issue. Another level deals with the Committee’s widening of the criteria to be taken into account in the selection of candidates from the original criterion focused on direct contribution to reduction of armed conflicts, to the wider issues of indirect contributions like alleviation of poverty, ecological sustainability and most crucial the issue of human rights. The last issue is particularly critical since different states have different perspectives of what constitute human rights, and what rights should be given priority on different levels of the country’s development. The main point of the article is to look at historical events and socio-cultural conditions that shape the Chine Government’s (and many citizens’) reaction to the 2010 award. This is placed in the context of the widening income differences emerging in the modern political economy of China and how these may affect the growth of civil society. The critical question is: will the reward contribute to promotion of civil society or will it lead to increased crackdown on dissident voices. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v5i0.6357 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 5, 2011: 81-100

scholarly journals Legal Framework for the Police Commissions: Current State and Prospects for Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. O. Sviatokum
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Career Decisions ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Current State ◽  
National Police ◽  
Single Approach ◽  
Selection Of

The article deals with the current legal framework for the activities of the police commissions in Ukraine. These bodies, established under the 2015 Law of Ukraine “On National Police”, are tasked primarily with ensuring transparent staffing of the police by conducting competitive selection of the candidates for the positions in the police. They include representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Police as well as representatives of the civil society, appointed on the by the oblast councils on the local and by the Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Ombudsperson on the countrywide level. However, in the study, a number of problems of the existing regulations have been identified. The first group concerns the way the commissions are established, namely, there is no single approach to the establishment of the commissions of the interregional territorial police forces (such as the Patrol Police). While some of these forces have only one police commission, functioning in Kyiv, the others (including the Patrol Police) have separate police commissions for every oblast. While the latter provides better representation of the local interests, legal status of such commissions requires clarification. Additionally, it was proposed, that establishment of the police commissions on the level below the oblasts seems to be appropriate in order to better represent interests of the communities. The second problem stems from the fact that the contests involving police commissions are obligatory only for the first assignment in the police, while further career decisions are at the respective police director’s discretion. There are no criteria that make appointment through the procedures of the police commissions obligatory for any position in the police, which significantly lowers their relevance for the further career development of the police officers. Therefore, it was proposed to establish a list of the positions, for which the contest would be mandatory. Finally, the article deals with the issue of the policing priorities. While they are mentioned in the Law of Ukraine “On National Police”, the powers of the police commissions to issue them are not sufficiently regulated. It was suggested, therefore, to establish a mechanism, under which the police commissions would draft policing priorities and the respective local councils would adopt them.

7. The challenges ahead

2021 ◽  
pp. 101-112
Author(s):  
Gil Loescher
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Local Institutions ◽  
Intrastate Conflicts ◽  
Failing States

This chapter offers directions for more effective approaches to refugee situations. As long as the growing scale of forced migration is driven by severe human rights violations, failing states, and intrastate conflicts, the prospects of solutions for refugees depend largely on resolving these issues. International organizations need to adopt programmes and policies to involve and strengthen civil society and local institutions. Lasting solutions will only be found if a concerted effort is made to defuse ethnic and religious tensions, resolve armed conflicts, protect human rights, strengthen arms control measures, and promote equitable and sustainable development. Through shared responsibility, collective action, and the active participation of refugees themselves, solutions are possible.

The Selection of Children's Books Translated from Spanish to Galician, Basque and Catalan (1940–80)

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-258
Author(s):  
Mónica Domínguez Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Social Economic ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Intercultural Relations ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Source Text ◽  
The Status ◽  
Castilian Spanish ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Selection Of

This study deals with children's literature translated from Castilian Spanish into Galician, Basque and Catalan by a different publisher from that of the source text, between 1940 and 1980, and with the criteria used to choose books for translation during that period. It compares the different literatures within Spain and examines the intersystemic and intercultural relations that the translations reflect. Following the polysystems theory, literature is here conceived as a network of agents of different kinds: authors, publishers, readers, and literary models. Such a network, called a polysystem, is part of a larger social, economic, and cultural network. These extra-literary considerations play an important role in determining the selection of works to be translated. The article suggests that translations can be said to establish transcultural relations, and that they demonstrate different levels of power within a specific interliterary community. It concludes that, while translations may aim to change the pre-existent relationships, frequently they just reflect the status quo.

Contemporary Developments Relating to the Inviolability of Mission Premises

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan E Falconi Puig
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
National Security ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Domestic Legislation

This chapter addresses some of the controversial issues relating to the inviolability of mission premises. The Yvonne Fletcher incident of 1984 led to debates about the need to upgrade or reform the VCDR in that regard; and the United Kingdom, as a direct consequence of the incident, adopted the ‘Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987’ to be able to adopt unilateral measures to remove premises immunity where threats to national security, to public integrity and/or the need of urban planning exist. Domestic legislation of this kind, however, also provides ground for conflicts with the VCDR. This chapter explores conflicts between property immunity and issues such as access to justice, human rights, and terrorism and examines ways of overcoming such difficulties through mechanisms which safeguard diplomatic privileges and immunity to allow the pursuit of diplomatic functions.

scholarly journals A Rights-Holder View on Human Rights Provisions in Olympic Bidding and Hosting Regulations

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 356-361
Author(s):  
Daniela Heerdt
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
International Olympic Committee ◽  
Winter Olympics ◽  
Potential Benefits

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics will be the first Olympic Games for which human rights provisions were added to the Host City Contract (HCC). The Milano/Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will be the first edition of the Games that were awarded with human rights requirements forming part of the candidature process. The inclusion of human rights provisions into hosting and bidding regulations can be seen as a reaction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the increasing pressure from civil society to address adverse human rights impacts of these events. This essay provides an analysis of the benefits and shortcomings of this development and reveals that from a rights-holder perspective, the benefits are meaningless. More specifically, it argues that potential benefits are cancelled out by the shortcomings and most importantly that there is a mismatch between intended and actual beneficiaries of these provisions.

Determination of integral indicators characterizing the possibility of accommodating the evacuated population in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2020 ◽  
pp. 154851292097028
Author(s):  
Yernar Zh Akimbayev ◽  
Zhumabek Kh Akhmetov ◽  
Murat S Kuanyshbaev ◽  
Arman T Abdykalykov ◽  
Rashid V Ibrayev
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Data ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Inaccurate Information ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Integrated Indicators ◽  
Selection Of

Studying the historical facts of past wars and armed conflicts and natural and man-made emergencies, today in the Republic of Kazakhstan one of the most important security issues is the preparation and organization of the evacuation of the population from possible dangerous zones, taking into account the emergence of new threats to the country’s security. The paper presents an algorithm for constructing universal scales of the distribution function of opportunities by types of support and rebuilding them into subject scales using display functions. The purpose of the paper is to determine the integral indicators characterizing the possibility of accommodation of the evacuated population and the impact on resources during relocation. On the subject scales of cities and districts of the region, indicators of the possibility of relocation of a certain amount of the evacuated population by types of support and indicators characterizing the impact on the district’s resources during resettlement of a certain amount of the evacuated population are determined. It was concluded that the use of integrated indicators allows the selection of areas to accommodate the evacuated population without the use of statistical data, in conditions of incomplete and inaccurate information. The presented method does not replace traditional methods based on classical methods of territory assessment by the level of life sustenance, but also allows their reasonable combination with the experience of specialists in this field, taking into account the incompleteness, uncertainty, and inconsistency of the initial data of the study area, which does not allow the application of existing methods.

A National Treasure? The Role of Civil Society in Promoting and Enforcing Human Rights in the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social And Economic Rights

Abstract The article investigates the negative attitude towards civil society over the last decade in the United Kingdom and the repercussions for human rights. It considers this in the context of the United Kingdom government’s implementation of the policy of austerity. It reflects on the various policy and legal changes, and the impact on the campaigning and advocacy work of civil society organizations, particularly those that work on social and economic rights.

scholarly journals Legal and human rights-based approaches to healthy diets and sustainable food systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
D W Patterson ◽  
K Buse ◽  
R Magnusson ◽  
B C A Toebes
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
Health And Development ◽  
The Right

Abstract Issue Malnutrition in all its forms poses daunting challenges to global health and development. The agriculture sector is a significant contributor to global warming. COVID-19 has pushed many people into poverty, including food poverty. A radical rethink of business models, food systems, civil society involvement, and national and international governance is required to address the interlinked crises of COVID-19, obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. International human rights law, institutions and mechanisms provide important opportunities for norm setting, advocacy and accountability. Yet these pathways are under-utilised by both governments and civil society. Description The global AIDS response demonstrated the power of a human rights-based approach. United Nations' HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Guidelines greatly influenced the global consensus for effective, evidence-based approaches. The Guidelines also informed resolutions of the UN General Assembly and its Human Rights Council, contributing to more affordable medicines, an unprecedented increase in people on treatment, less stigmatising health services, the empowerment of marginalised groups, and the institutionalisation of norms, including “no one left behind.” Human rights-based approaches have also been successfully utilised in tobacco control. Results In 2019, 180 experts from 38 countries published an open call on WHO and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to initiate an inclusive process to develop guidelines on human rights, healthy diets and sustainable food systems. Most signatories were from the health and development sectors, demonstrating the increasingly broad interest in using human rights mechanisms to address global health challenges. Lessons Opportunities exist to transform food systems and create healthier food environments and a healthier planet by clarifying existing international obligations to progressively realise the right to food and the right to health. Key messages Market forces, alone, are failing to deliver healthy diets and sustainable food systems. International legal frameworks and accountability mechanisms provide opportunities for engagement and action. Human rights guidelines can help mobilize multisectoral action, strengthen State and private sector accountability, and deepen community engagement in the urgent task of achieving Agenda 2030.

scholarly journals The Implications of and Responses to COVID-19: Localizing Human Rights in the City of York (UK)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-259
Author(s):  
Paul Gready
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
City Council ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City ◽  
Dimensional Picture

Abstract This essay attempts to capture the human rights implications of COVID-19, and responses to it, in the city of York (UK). Three human rights contributions are identified: ensuring that responses enhance dignity, the right to life, non-discrimination, and protect the most vulnerable; using human rights when balancing priorities and making difficult decisions; and optimizing the link between disease and democracy. The overarching aim is to localize and contextualize human rights in a meaningful way in the city, and thereby to provide meaningful guidance to the City Council and statutory agencies when implementing the difficult measures required by the pandemic, and to support civil society advocacy and monitoring. This work, led by the York Human Rights City (YHRC) network, illustrates the value of a localized ‘thick description’ of human rights and the multi-dimensional picture of challenges, innovations and solutions facilitated by such an approach.

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