The Fire of the Seas: A Novel About the Bitter Discrimination in Our Society

This article aims to discuss about the topic of discrimination and elaborate it through the form of a creative novel. Three topics are explored: the reasons for discrimination, how discrimination can continue to perpetuate, and how indirect discrimination can also hurt victims. These questions are answered in the narrative story in a novel with the help of the Social Dominance theory and Becker’s theory of Economic Discrimination. Sapphire is a fire-wielding mermaid who is discriminated against because of her power over fire. She finds out that discrimination can exist because the dominant group does not want to lose their privileges, and how discrimination still runs rampant because of the propaganda spread by the king, which is supported using the legalizing myths in Social Dominance theory. Sapphire also witnesses and suffers some indirect forms of discrimination, especially about lack of interaction and wage differences.Keywords: discrimination, indirect discrimination, social dominance, economic discrimination, fantasy, merfolk

Vulnerabilities of Internal Returnee Migrants in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in India

The study surveyed 227 returned labor migrants in four districts of western Odisha to comprehensively analyze the socio-economic vulnerabilities faced by internal returnee labor migrants caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The results show that the partial and complete lockdown caused factory and workplace closures in the entire country. Consequently, millions of migrants suffered a loss of income and faced an uncertain future which motivated migrant workers to return to their home villages. Upon arrival, they met socio-economic vulnerabilities, encountered social and economic discrimination, and were excluded by their family members and fellow villagers, which impacted their behavioral health.

Constitutional equality in the information society: the problem of private discrimination

The article deals with the implementation of constitutional norms on equality in the information society, which stimulates the manifestation of private and economic discrimination. Threats arising from the existence of natural inequalities have been investigated. On the basis of the conclusion about the legal admissibility of private discrimination, social and legal grounds for the implementation of the constitutional principle of equality have been revealed. The differentiation of private and economic discrimination is proposed, factors are identified that must be considered when determining the admissibility of discriminatory behavior in the information society: the level of market monopolization, the negotiating capabilities of the parties, the amount of costs required to restore the violated right. Considering the insufficiency of the actual capabilities of consumers of information benefits, it is concluded that it is necessary to protect the weak side of information relations. Movement to the minimum possible level of discretion on the side of provider of informational goods and creation of additional legal guarantees for constitutional and other rights of the citizen is provided.

Jazzing Around, or “How ’Ya Gonna Keep ’Em Down?”

In the 1920s, Paris became a central site in a Europe-wide process of touring and musical mixing that fostered Black cosmopolitanism. Performers experienced travel and touring as a social and political triumph over racial discrimination. This chapter also shows how economic depression at the end of this period heightened racial antagonism in Paris. The government responded with racial quotas on employment, and unions and laborers expressed hostility to immigrant workers (particularly those of color, whether French citizens or not). The quotas were particularly contentious regarding bands that played in popular venues, because many were marketed precisely on the basis of being foreign and thus best suited for tango, jazz, or biguine. Facing increased hardship, Black communities expressed solidarity against racial prejudice and economic discrimination. This, along with musical mixing during gigs and images and gossip in the Blackpress, contributed to the emergence of an everyday Black cosmopolitanism in interwar Paris.

Polarization and Local Conflicts in Post Decentralization Indonesia

Exploring the hypothesis that socio-economic discrimination contributes to conflict occurrence, we show that the experience of a large country that have gone through a big-bang shift from centralized to decentralized system and introduced direct local elections, confirms the link. Using the case of Indonesia, and by controlling for poverty, demand-induced resource scarcity, and institutional variables, it is revealed that income polarization and inequality at the provincial level explain the occurrence of violent conflict (causing at least 1 death), be it for total or for different types. The results are robust to a series of model specifications. For understanding its impact on conflict, polarization is found more important than income inequality as a measure of socio-economic discrimination.

Introductory Remarks by Amat Al Alim Alsoswa

This panel was organized by ASIL’s “Transitional Justice and Rule of Law” Interest Group. In an Annual Meeting focused upon “the promise of international law,” the Interest Group proposed for discussion the topic of “Transitional Justice in a Hostile Climate.” To be completely frank, transitional justice always faces a hostile climate. The calls for justice for innocent people injured by war, lawless governmental authorities, and political and legal structures supporting gender, racial, ethnic, and economic discrimination must be addressed. And the climate is, if anything, increasingly hostile.