Extended Implicit Bias: When the Metaphysics and Ethics of Implicit Bias Collide

It has recently been argued that to tackle social injustice, implicit biases and unjust social structures should be targeted equally because they sustain and ontologically overlap with each other. Here I develop this thought further by relating it to the hypothesis of extended cognition. I argue that if we accept common conditions for extended cognition then people’s implicit biases are often partly realized by and so extended into unjust social structures. This supports the view that we should counteract psychological and social contributors to injustice equally. But it also has a significant downside. If unjust social structures are part of people’s minds then dismantling these structures becomes more difficult than it currently is, as this will then require us to overcome widely accepted ethical and legal barriers protecting people’s bodily and personal integrity. Thus, while there are good grounds to believe that people’s biases and unjust social structures ontologically overlap, there are also strong ethical reasons to reject this view. Metaphysical and ethical intuitions about implicit bias hence collide in an important way.

Why Is The Hague Sitting on the Fence in Prosecuting Boko Haram Terrorism in Nigeria?

On 18 November, 2010 a preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria was announced and for almost a decade, investigation has not yet begun. Ten potential cases have been identified, seven for Boko Haram and three for Nigerian Security Forces (NSF). This article investigates whether issues of complementarity and admissibility provide any legal barriers capable of withholding investigation; and whether granting national amnesty to Boko Haram can hinder investigation and prosecution by the International Criminal Court. It employs a qualitative methodological approach for investigation and evaluation regarding the issues discussed. It argues that the situation in Nigeria has met the entire legal framework for investigation and prosecution to proceed and that the arrest of Abubakar Shekau, Abu Musab AlBarnawi, and Abu Abdullahi Ibn Umar al-Barnawi, the Boko Haram leaders will weaken the group, and provide the needed external help and intervention desired to end the terrorism.

Legal Barriers and Risks of Regional Economy Digitalization

The scientific article is dedicated to the study of existing regulatory and legal barriers that prevent the digitalization of the regional economy. The relevance of this study is determined by the need to create a favorable legal environment for the digitalization project development. In addition, the significance of the research topic is determined by the possible occurrence of national state interests’ threats. The general scientific research methods were used when writing the article, such as the analysis of normative legal acts, the study and generalization of information, classification. The article contains a conclusion about the current normative project activity trends of regional economy digitalization in the Russian Federation. By the end of 2019, less than half of the Russian Federation’s regions have developed economy digitalization programs. This fact is based on the lack of understanding of economy transformation concept among the authorities. Moreover, this situation is caused by the imperfectness of the methodological base. The article also identifies the “weak spots” of the domestic industry legislation that hinder the “digital economy” development and lead to the occurrence of threat to national state interests. Particular importance in the context of ensuring the national interests of the Russian Federation have legislative gaps on the use of citizens’ personal data as well as the information constituting state, banking, and medical secrets. The conducted research will allow participants of strategic planning at all levels of administration and subjects of law-making in the Russian Federation to form draft normative legal acts containing necessary provisions for the effective economy transformation in the context of digitalization.

Resistance to territorial and maritime delimitation judgments of the International Court of Justice and clashes with ‘territory clauses’ in the Constitutions of Latin American states

This article analyses the growing resistance to judgments of the International Court of Justice arising out of domestic law in Latin America, through a study of challenges to the authority of the Court’s judgments regarding territorial and maritime delimitation in the region. These challenges are based upon the ‘territory clauses’ found in many Latin American constitutions, which were used to set national boundaries following colonial independence. Territory clauses that once developed international law doctrines such as uti possidetis iuris are now being used against prevailing international law rules, in a process described in this article as ‘constitutional resistance’. This article explains the nature of ‘territory clauses’ in Latin America, i.e., clauses that constitutionally define the national territory in reference to international law. It then describes the process of ‘constitutional resistance’, by which local authorities have used these clauses to oppose ICJ judgments, leading to various results, such as non-appearance in further proceedings, constitutionalizing exclusively favourable judgments, deferring the implementation of a judgment to the Constitutional Court or implementing only certain ICJ judgments, while creating legal barriers to the implementation of judgments that, in the State’s view, negatively affect their territory. These challenges based on territory clauses are studied through prominent ICJ cases involving Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Colombia. The article also explores how the lack of a strong territory clause eased the implementation of the Peru v. Chile judgment, and how the recent non-appearance of Venezuela in its current ICJ proceedings with Guyana, is partly based on constitutional justifications.

How Entrepreneurship Sustains Barriers in the Entrepreneurial Process—A Lesson from a Developing Nation

The aim of this study is to explore how entrepreneurship sustains the barriers in the entrepreneurial process in a developing country like Pakistan. To reach these findings, a qualitative approach was used in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with young entrepreneurs in the region of Hyderabad, Pakistan. After collecting data, thematic analysis was conducted. The findings of the study in the form of final themes suggest that trust issues, family barriers, financial issues, gender issues, educational barriers, corruption, and legal barriers are among the challenges which trigger changes in the entrepreneurial process and its sustainability. This study provides implications for the regional government, academic institutes, financial institutes, entrepreneurs, and society at large when developing a support system and promoting a sustainable entrepreneurial environment by minimizing these challenges and suggestions for an entrepreneurial focus on sustainable entrepreneurship.

Conclusions

The conclusions summarize and elaborate the comparative analysis, rebut the postmodern critique of the civil rights approach, and discuss extended implications to other research problems such as international climate justice. Although different constitutional frameworks may raise different legal barriers, the obstacles to challenge pornography are assessed as more political or ideological than legal. The criminal law framework is shown to be inefficient, even when supported by substantive constitutional equality. Criminal law does not represent the perspectives and interests of those harmed by pornography, but rather the consensus politics within the state. In instances where subordinated groups used or created law during legal challenges to pornography, the results were shown to be considerably more focused and successful. Hence, it is concluded that a civil rights approach would be more efficient than criminal law, with implications for other intractable oppression problems. It is demonstrated how the postmodern critique relies on misconceptions and lacks evidence.

A Systems Approach to Addressing the Intersection of Mental Health Disability, Homelessness, and the Criminal Justice System

California’s economy, alone, is so large that if it were its own country, it would be the 5th largest in the world. Yet, California has an estimated 151,000 people experiencing homelessness, which is more than any other state in the US. Housing insecurity is often interrelated with mental health and disability and there are several barriers experienced by persons with disabilities, especially when accessing essential needs. There are a multitude of legal barriers that homeless individuals living with disabilities face when seeking government services or interfacing with law enforcement. This panel will discuss how these social challenges intersect, and why a systems approach is needed to address these complicated, interrelated problems.

Centering inclusivity in the design of online conferences—An OHBM–Open Science perspective

As the global health crisis unfolded, many academic conferences moved online in 2020. This move has been hailed as a positive step towards inclusivity in its attenuation of economic, physical, and legal barriers and effectively enabled many individuals from groups that have traditionally been underrepresented to join and participate. A number of studies have outlined how moving online made it possible to gather a more global community and has increased opportunities for individuals with various constraints, e.g., caregiving responsibilities. Yet, the mere existence of online conferences is no guarantee that everyone can attend and participate meaningfully. In fact, many elements of an online conference are still significant barriers to truly diverse participation: the tools used can be inaccessible for some individuals; the scheduling choices can favour some geographical locations; the set-up of the conference can provide more visibility to well-established researchers and reduce opportunities for early-career researchers. While acknowledging the benefits of an online setting, especially for individuals who have traditionally been underrepresented or excluded, we recognize that fostering social justice requires inclusivity to actively be centered in every aspect of online conference design. Here, we draw from the literature and from our own experiences to identify practices that purposefully encourage a diverse community to attend, participate in, and lead online conferences. Reflecting on how to design more inclusive online events is especially important as multiple scientific organizations have announced that they will continue offering an online version of their event when in-person conferences can resume.

Mitigating Disputes and Managing Legal Issues in the Era of Building Information Modelling

Construction disputes are inevitable. They often arise between project stakeholders for numerous reasons and to resolve them, construction professionals adopt various dispute resolution methodologies. This study aims to identify the role of building information modelling (BIM) in mitigating such disputes and addresses the legal barriers faced by the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry while adopting BIM. The study reveals that disputes can be mitigated and managed efficiently with the intervention of BIM, as BIM offers various designing, planning, estimating, collaborating and controlling features. The benefits of BIM are impressive and exceptional; however, it comes with some legal issues that are first clarified and addressed with the support of a literature review and later validated through interviews with industry professionals. Dispute resolution, contractual arrangements, design responsibility, intellectual property (IP) rights and a lack of standardisation are identified as substantial concerns when adopting BIM. Thus, a strategy is proposed to manage these legal issues that entail the adoption of the appropriate contract suite, the formation of a common data environment (CDE) and the establishment of a firm BIM execution plan (BEP). Workshops, training sessions and seminars are also recommended to educate the industry with BIM features as it brings about the second revolution in the AEC industry.