Ironic Empires

Reading Du Fu ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 56-70
Author(s):  
Lucas Rambo Bender
Keyword(s):  
Du Fu ◽  
Irreducible Complexity ◽  
Domestic Affairs

This chapter considers the irreducible complexity of Du Fu’s relationship to the Tang empire in his late poetry from Kuizhou. During this period, his poems repeatedly portray miniature versions of the empire in the ostensibly private, domestic affairs that occupied his attention in a region where he had no property and few friends. Readers have been divided as to the significance of these poems: for some, that he should have continued even in his exile to see the empire everywhere he turned has evidenced his continuing commitment to the Tang; to others, the patent absurdity of some of these miniature empires has suggested a mockery of imperial pretensions. This chapter argues that both of these antithetical interpretations are correct. As soon as Du Fu seeks to assert his continued connection with the values of the empire, he recognizes the absurdity of his overreach; and as soon as he recognizes the absurdity of his overreach, he acknowledges the darker ways in which he remains dependent, even in Kuizhou, upon imperial hierarchies of questionable justice.

SEARCH FOR AND SEIZURE OF EVIDENCE IN CYBER ENVIRONMENTS: A LAW-ENFORCEMENT DILEMMA IN SOUTH AFRICAN CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-67
Author(s):  
Vinesh M Basdeo ◽  
Moses Montesh ◽  
Bernard Khotso Lekubu
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
South African ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Time Zone ◽  
Legal Sanctions ◽  
Domestic Affairs

Investigating, deterring and imposing legal sanctions on cyber-criminals warrants an international legal framework for the investigation and prosecution of cybercrime. The real-world limits of local, state and national sovereignty and jurisdiction cannot be ignored by law-enforcement officials. It can be a strenuous task to obtain information from foreign countries, especially on an expedited basis – more specifically when the other country is in a different time zone, has a different legal system, does not have trained experts and uses different languages. In South Africa existing laws appear to be inadequate for policing the cyber realm. The effects and impact of information technology on the legal system have not yet received the attention they warrant. The challenges presented by the electronic realm cannot be solved merely by imposing existing criminal and criminal procedural laws which govern the physical world on cyberspace. The electronic realm does not necessarily demand new laws, but it does require that criminal actions be conceptualised differently and not from a purely traditional perspective. Sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of another state are fundamental principles grounding the relations between states; they constitute an important mechanism in the armoury of criminals. The harmonisation and enactment of adequate and appropriate transborder coercive procedural measures consequently play a pivotal role in facilitating effective international cooperation. This article examines the efficacy of South African laws in dealing with the challenges presented by police powers to search for and seize evidence in cyber environments. It analyses the rudimentary powers that exist in South African criminal procedure regarding the search for and seizure of evidence in cyber environments, and compares them against the backdrop of the more systemic and integrated approach proposed by the Cybercrime Convention.

Relations Between Neighbouring States in North-East Africa

1984 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-285
Author(s):  
Peter Woodward
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
International Society ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Order ◽  
International Dimension ◽  
North East ◽  
Pan Africanism ◽  
Foreign Politics ◽  
New States ◽  
Domestic Affairs

In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in international politics in Africa. After the initial post-independence discussion of pan-Africanism the international dimension seemed overshadowed by the concern to account for domestic developments in many new states, and it is this imbalance which is now being redressed. Indeed, it has recently been argued by Robert Jackson and Carl Rosberg that, contrary to the situation elsewhere, Africa's international politics have assumed an order which is sadly lacking in the domestic affairs of many states: ‘At the level of international society, a framework of rules and conventions governing the relations of the states in the region has been bounded and sustained for almost two decades.’ If the contrast between internal anarchy and international order seems somewhat exaggerated, the distinction between domestic and foreign politics appears both conventional and appropriate.

The Issue of Implementation Enforcement: SADC's Power Mediation in Madagascar

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Kotzé
Keyword(s):  
Transition Process ◽  
International Community ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Sufficient Power ◽  
Role Players ◽  
International Responsibility ◽  
Domestic Affairs

This article argues that the international community is increasingly becoming involved in the domestic affairs of states and that this involvement can be described as part of international responsibility to promote peace and security. The role that an external party plays as a mediator in a transition or peace process is by definition a form of intervention. This article argues that this understanding of mediation should be broadened to include the responsibility to oversee the implementation (or enforcement) of the mediated agreement. The case of Madagascar (2009–2013) is used to investigate whether such enforcement is already accepted in practice and what some of the complications are. The article’s conclusions acknowledge that such a view of the mediator’s enforcement responsibility will be controversial, especially when mediation is used as a strategic instrument of power politics. In mediation, more attention is normally paid to its preparations and the negotiation process than to the implementation phase. Elections, as part of a transition process, create a critical tipping point for external enforcement, because after elections an external presence will be an unpopular idea for the national role players. Enforcement by actors who have sufficient power leverage is more viable than enforcement by mediators who have little power but a great deal of political or diplomatic authority (such as former presidents or senior diplomats). Implementation enforcement is more likely when it is motivated by interest-based considerations than by normative values. In conclusion, enforcement of agreement implementation is generally supported by the international community as a rhetorical exercise, but it is not yet embraced as a norm for international behaviour.

Dangerous vulnerability: Simultaneous prohibition and coercion in Palestinian-Israeli single mothers’ relationships with men

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110514
Author(s):  
Einat Lavee ◽  
Tal Meler ◽  
Madlen Shamshoum
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Women Migrants ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Domestic Affairs ◽  
Depth Interviews

The objective of this study is to broaden understanding of how vulnerability is shaped more by social, cultural, and religious institutions than by individual life circumstances, exploring the case of Palestinian-Israeli single mothers’ relationships with men. Research often determines the vulnerability of a group, such as women migrants from an ethnic minority, by specific demographic characteristics. This common assumption has been challenged by calls to understand vulnerability as social processes intersecting with the action of the state and other social institutions. The study provides a nuanced examination of the social processes through which Palestinian-Israeli single mothers are simultaneously forbidden from and coerced into having relationships with men, drawing on a systematic analysis of data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 36 Palestinian-Israeli single mothers. The analysis exposed several mechanisms which forbid single mothers from having relationships with men, alongside mechanisms that permit, often even coerce, such relationships. These mechanisms are embedded in interrelated structural factors—massive differences in gender power relations, vast gender economic disparities, inability of most single mothers to support their families independently, and state policy of non-intervention in domestic affairs of ethnic minorities, and create a state of “dangerous vulnerability.”

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document