All these premises having, as I think, been clearly made out, it is impossible that the rulers now on earth should make any benefit, or derive any the least shadow of authority from that, which is held to be the fountain of all power, Adam's private dominion and paternal jurisdiction; so that he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it, and so lay a foundation for perpetual disorder and mischief, tumult, sedition and rebellion, (things that the followers of that hypothesis so loudly cry out against) must of necessity find out another rise of government, another original of political power, and another way of designing and knowing the persons that have it, than what Sir Robert Filmer hath taught us.

Two Treatises of Government.

Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy

Culture and Imperialism

Scholars of culture, humanities and social sciences have increasingly come to an appreciation of the importance of the legal domain in social life, while critically engaged socio-legal scholars around the world have taken up the task of understanding "Law's Empire" in all of its cultural, political, and economic dimensions. The questions arising from these intersections, and addressing imperialisms past and present forms the subject matter of a special symposium issue of Social Identities under the editorship of Griffith University's Rob McQueen, and UBC's Wes Pue and with contributions from McQueen, Ian Duncanson, Renisa Mawani, David Williams, Emma Cunliffe, Chidi Oguamanam, W. Wesley Pue, Fatou Camara, and Dianne Kirkby. This paper introduces the volume, forthcoming in late 2007. The central problematique of this issue has previously been explored through the 2005 Law's Empire conference, an informal but vibrant postcolonial legal studies network.

Law's Empire

The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 1, Reason and the Rationalization of Society

Dignity is a homonym, signifying both private law conceptions of valuable 
reputation, and the innate humanness that informs universal human rights. Natural 
law tradition distinguishes between these two substantially different ideas by 
referring to the former as lIgdignitasl/Ig and the latter as dignatio . As implicitly 
confirmed by certain landmark decisions, notably Makwanyane , the dignity 
guaranteed by the Constitution is dignatio. However, in Jordan , the Court appears 
to have relied on dignitas to give meaning to inherent human dignity. In this 
article, I argue why constitutional dignity is dignatio and outline certain 
consequences that arise from this. Furthermore, I argue that dignatio is principally 
realised when respect is shown to the human body. Such respect includes: fostering 
autonomy in relation to the body; rejecting a market imaginary for investigating 
humanness; and ensuring that the exclusion of those never yet fully included in 
society does not continue.

Dignatio and the human body

This paper outlines the relationship between human rights and sustainability, and establishes the context for potential research subjects in this field. The paper is premised on the proposition that a humanist conception of human rights and sustainability is plausible and can be put into practice.The paper begins with a conception of humanism that informs universal human rights. It provides a consideration of human rights, including their origins, generational classifications, and the functions that different social institutions may have in relation to human rights. Next, issues of anthropocentricism and standing in relation to an assertion of rights are examined. Arguments for animal rights and rights for natural objects are outlined and critiqued from a humanist perspective, with the aim of promoting a plausible conception of human and sustainability rights. The paper concludes with a non-exhaustive list of potential research topics derived from the discussion.

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Human rights, sustainability and standing: A humanist perspective.

Background Rapid response systems have been implemented with the aim of preventing patient deterioration, in-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA) and related deaths. Not all 'unexpected deaths' are preventable, thus compromising the use of unexpected deaths as an outcome measure. Aims To assess temporal trends in potentially preventable deaths as a subset of total unexpected death rates over a 4-year period. Methods A single centre, cohort study of all unexpected deaths between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2013. Unexpected deaths were identified from the rapid response systems database and patients' case histories were reviewed to reclassify the deaths into one of three categories: potentially preventable: if earlier MET activation may have prevented death; missed not for resuscitation opportunity; and not preventable. Total bed days were obtained from the hospital's patient administration system. Results The rate of potentially preventable deaths decreased from 5.3 to 0.7 per 100 000 bed days (incident rate ratio (IRR) 0.53 (95% CI 0.31-0.90), P = 0.02). The rate of total unexpected deaths was unchanged (IRR 0.96 (0.80-1.16), P = 0.70), as were the rates of non-preventable deaths (IRR 1.06 (0.78-1.42), P = 0.72) and missed NFR deaths (IRR 1.1 (0.83-1.42), P = 0.56). Conclusion The rate of potentially preventable deaths has decreased by 47% per year over a 4-year period without any change in the overall rate of unexpected deaths. Distinguishing between potentially preventable deaths in contrast to total unexpected deaths enables more targeted evaluation of rapid response systems.

Measuring the success of Medical Emergency Teams: potentially preventable deaths versus total cardiac arrest deaths. A single centre observational study

The demographic shift towards an ageing population will necessitate increased numbers of people remaining in employment beyond the traditional retirement age of 65. Management approaches and practices will need to adapt to the changing age distribution in the workplace. In particular, attitudinal barriers to older worker employment must be overcome. Managers will face significant challenges in engaging, not only with the ageing workforce, but also in pursuing equity in intergenerational employment relations. Adopting a specific New Zealand focus but with general application, this article argues that these challenges also bring opportunities for developing human resource management practices in productive and equitable ways. Drawing on research into workplace diversity, the article outlines these challenges and opportunities, and explores ways of managing for inclusion in the face of an ageing workforce.

Managing for inclusion: Engagement with an ageing workforce

How can we better represent course content (for example, engineering components) that does not translate well into a paper-based medium? And how can we deliver this content without reliance on networks or online technologies? We propose that one solution to these questions is the use of augmented reality (AR). This chapter describes our journey of discovery as we investigate the possibilities of using AR technology to render 3D objects in paper-based course materials. This is not a technical document of the inner workings of AR technology but a description of the processes required to implement AR technology within Open Polytechnic courses. The project was conducted by an Open Polytechnic cross-discipline team, with participation from other work areas across the Open Polytechnic.

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Jonathan Barrett

Papers

Dignatio and the human body

Human rights, sustainability and standing: A humanist perspective.

Measuring the success of Medical Emergency Teams: potentially preventable deaths versus total cardiac arrest deaths. A single centre observational study

Managing for inclusion: Engagement with an ageing workforce

Open learning for an open world: Reflections on open and distance learning and teaching at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.