Showing papers on "Sovereignty published in 2000"

The cosmopolitan perspective: sociology of the second age of modernity*

Abstract: ‘Second age of modernity’ is a magical password that is meant to open the doors to new conceptual landscapes. The whole world of nation sovereignty is fading away – including the ‘container theory of society’ on which most of the sociology of the first age of modernity is based upon. In this article I propose a distinction between ‘simple globalization’ and ‘reflexive cosmopolitization’. In the paradigm of the first age of modernity, simple globalization is interpreted within the territorial compass of state and politics, society and culture. This involves an additive, not substitutive, conception of globalization as indicated for example by ‘interconnectedness’. In the paradigm of the second age of modernity globalization changes not only the relations between and beyond national states and societies, but also the inner quality of the social and political itself which is indicated by more or less reflexive cosmopolitization as an institutionalized learning process – and its enemies.

International Law and State Behavior: Commitment and Compliance in International Monetary Affairs

Abstract: Why do sovereign governments make international legal commitments, and what effect does international law have on state behavior? Very little empirical research tries to answer these questions in a systematic way. This article examines patterns of commitment to and compliance with international monetary law. I consider the signal governments try to send by committing themselves through international legal commitments, and I argue that reputational concerns explain patterns of compliance. One of the most important findings is that governments commit to and comply with legal obligations if other countries in their region do so. Competitive market forces, rather than overt policy pressure from the International Monetary Fund, are the most likely “enforcement” mechanism. Legal commitment has an extremely positive effect on governments that have recently removed restrictive policies, which indicates a desire to reestablish a reputation for compliance.

Introduction: Legalization and World Politics

Abstract: In many issue-areas, the world is witnessing a move to law. As the century turned, governments and individuals faced the following international legal actions. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Britain's ban on homosexuals in the armed forces violates the right to privacy, contravening Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia indicted Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic during a NATO bombing campaign to force Yugoslav forces out of Kosovo. Milosevic remains in place in Belgrade, but Austrian police, bearing a secret indictment from the International Criminal Tribunal, arrested a Bosnian Serb general who was attending a conference in Vienna. In economic affairs the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body found in favor of the United States and against the European Union (EU) regarding European discrimination against certain Latin American banana exporters. A U.S. district court upheld the constitutionality of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) against claims that its dispute-resolution provisions violated U. S. sovereignty. In a notable environmental judgment, the new Law of the Sea Tribunal ordered the Japanese to cease all fishing for southern bluefin tuna for the rest of the year.

The Political Basis of Support for European Integration

Abstract: Much previous research on popular support for European integration assumes that support is a function of economic calculations. I propose a different model, in which support is the consequence of the interplay between supranational and national politics: the higher citizens' opinion of the functioning of supranational institutions and the lower that of national institutions, the greater their support for integration. This is so because the worse the opinion of the national political system, the lower the opportunity cost of transferring sovereignty to Europe. In order to illustrate this hypothesis, I show that levels of national support for integration are higher in those countries that suffer greater corruption and have less-developed welfare states. Through an ordered logit analysis of one Eurobarometer survey, I test this political model at the individual level. Finally, I draw some conclusions from the empirical analysis for current discussions on the possibility of a European democracy.

A Reappraisal of the State Sovereignty Debate The Case of Migration Control

Abstract: The ability of European nation-states to control migration has been at the forefront of the immigration debate. Some scholars have argued that international human rights and the freedom of circulation required by a global economy and regional markets are the two sides of a liberal regime that undermine the sovereignty of nation-states. Others have gone even further and declared the double closure of territorial sovereignty and national citizenship to be outmoded concepts. This article inscribes itself in that debate by answering the following questions: (a) To what extent do international legal instruments constrain the actions of national policy makers? and (b) How have nation-states reacted to international constraints and problems of policy implementation? Focusing on Council of Europe's jurisprudence, the authors assess the extent to which national courts have incorporated European norms and governments take them into account. The article examines ways that national policy makers have responded by shi...

An Introduction to African Politics

Abstract: The third edition of An Introduction to African Politics continues to be the ideal textbook for those new to the study of this fascinating continent. It gets to the heart of the politics of this part of the world, tackling questions such as: How is modern Africa still influenced by its colonial past? How do strong ethnic identities on the continent affect government? Why has the military been so influential? Why do African states have such difficulty managing their economies? How does African democracy differ from democracy in the West? The result is a textbook that identifies the essential features of African politics, allowing students to grasp the recurring political patterns that have dominated this continent since independence. Features and benefits of the third edition: Thematically organised, with individual chapters exploring issues such as colonialism, ethnicity, nationalism, religion, social class, ideology, legitimacy, authority, sovereignty and democracy. Identifies key recurrent themes such as the competitive relationships between the African state, its civil society and external interests. Contains useful boxed case studies at the end of each chapter, including: Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Somalia, Ghana, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe. Each chapter concludes with key terms and definitions, as well as questions and advice on further reading. Illustrated throughout with images of important political figures, and key moments in African history. Important terms and concepts are explained in a clear and accessible manner and supported by contemporary examples. This expanded, fully revised and updated edition remains the ideal gateway for students seeking to make sense of the dynamic and diverse political systems that are a feature of this fascinating part of the world.

Graduated Sovereignty in South-East Asia:

Abstract: What fundamental changes in the state, and in the analysis of the state, have been stimulated by economic globalization? In the course of interactions with global markets and regulatory agencies, so-called Asian tiger countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have created new economic possibilities, social spaces and political constellations, which in turn condition their further actions. The shifting relations between market, state, and society have resulted in the state's flexible experimentations with sovereignty. Graduated sovereignty refers to a) the different modes of governing segments of the population who relate or do not relate to global markets; and b) the different mixes of legal compromises and controls tailored to the requirements of special production zones. The Asian financial crisis further demonstrates the concept of graduation in that the market-oriented agenda can mean different things, strengthening state power and protections in certain areas, but not in others.

Rhetorical Sovereignty: What Do American Indians Want from Writing?

Abstract: After years of colonization, oppression, and resistance, American Indians are making clear what they want from the heretofore compromised technology of writing. Rhetorical sovereignty, a people’s control of its meaning, is found in sites legal, aesthetic, and pedagogical, and composition studies can both contribute to and learn from this work.

What Single Voice? European Institutions and EU–U.S. Trade Negotiations

Abstract: The member states of the European Union (EU) have transferred their sovereignty over trade policymaking to the supranational level. When entering into trade negotiations with third countries, they must first reach a common bargaining position among themselves and later defend that position with a “single voice” at the international table. How do the institutional rules, through which the fifteen different voices are aggregated into a single one, affect international outcomes? Differentiating between a “conservative” and a “reformist” negotiating context, I argue that voting rules and negotiating competence in the EU determine both the probability that the negotiating parties conclude an international agreement and the substantive outcome of the negotiations. The recent EU–U.S. trade negotiations on agriculture, public procurement, and open skies are all evidence that, for a given distribution of preferences, internal EU institutional mechanisms affect the outcomes of international trade agreements.

Political Theory and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Abstract: List of contributors Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Duncan Ivison, Paul Patton and Will Sanders Part I. Sovereignty: 2. Waitangi as mystery of state: consequences of the ascription of federative capacity to the Maori J. G. A. Pocock 3. The struggles of indigenous peoples for and of freedom James Tully 4. Beyond regret: Mabo's implications for Australian constitutionalism Jeremy Webber 5. Engaging with indigeneity: Tino Rangatiratanga in Aotearoa Roger Maaka and Augie Fleras Part II. Identity: 6. Paths towards a Mohawk nation: narratives of citizenship and nationhood in Kahnawake Audra Simpson 7. (De)Constructing the politics of indigeneity Manuhuia Barcham 8. On display for its aesthetic beauty: how western institutions fabricate knowledge about aboriginal cultural heritage Sonia Smallacombe 9. On the plurality of interests: aboriginal self-government and land rights John Bern and Susan Dodds Part III. Democracy: 10. The liberal image of the nation William E. Connolly 11. Minority claims under two conceptions of democracy Philip Pettit 12. American multiculturalism and the 'nations within' Will Kymlicka 13. Hybrid democracy: Iroquois federalism and the postcolonial project Iris Marion Young Notes Bibliography Index.

Self and Sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam Since 1850

Abstract: This book examines the shifts in Muslim thought and politics in response to colonial rule in India through to the period of decolonization and partion.

The UN's Kingdom of East Timor

Abstract: With its transitional administration in East Timor, the UN is exercising sovereign authority over a fledgling nation for the first time in its history. Such social and territorial control is an increasing trend in international interventions and aims to remedy the breakdown of failed states, to combat warring factions and to topple abusive warlords. But this control could evolve into another form of authoritarianism unless the transitional administrators themselves separate power structures and become accountable to the local population. Peace-maintenance will win legitimacy only if global governors lead by example. Thus far, the UN has not done so in East Timor.

Changes in the Westphalian Order: Territory, Public Authority, and Sovereignty

Abstract: nature of the concepts. All concepts are abstract. Indeed, the root of the word means to draw out or away from what Harry Eckstein called "the relentless particularity of experience." Concepts attempt to draw together elements of concrete experience that can be grouped in a fruitful way, so as to improve our understanding. Thus, the point is not to avoid abstraction, but to build fruitful concepts. Again, no one will disagree with so anodyne a statement. The challenge is to pitch concepts at the right level so as to connect both upward (towards general theory) and downward (towards the empirical data). The mix of concepts associated with the Westphalian order (sovereignty, authority, autonomy, control, territoriality) have fallen down on the latter criterion, that is, on the connection between abstract concepts and empirical observations. Dichotomous nature of concepts. Concepts such as sovereignty and territoriality have been treated as if they could take on two possible values-present or absent, sovereign or not sovereign, territorial or nonterritorial organization. While some concepts are inherently dichotomous, many so treated are at bottom continuous. Even types of political systems, such as presidential and parliamentary, can be conceptualized as having more or less of these properties measured on some underlying continuum (Shugart and Carey 1992:2-3). Defining our concepts in either/or terms has caused us to labor needlessly about whether certain states are sovereign or not, whether emerging international unions such as the European Union (EU) possess sovereignty or not, and if they do, whether such sovereignty is shared with the constituent nation states. Dichotomous conceptions of sovereignty have also prevented us from conceptualizing "sovereignty bargains" (Litfin 1997). Disputes over sovereignty and who possesses it are bound up with the notion that sovereignty is the ultimate right to decide. Sovereignty in this sense implies a hierarchy of both 4 Changes in the Westphalian Order 5 norms and power. Many institutions within (and outside) society may possess both competencies and normative support, but when they are in conflict with one another-when "the chips are down" as the saying goes-the important question is who has final authority? Since the ideas of normative conflict and hierarchy of norms are central to much legal reasoning, lawyers tend to adopt this view of sovereignty as located in final authority. Since the law is about adjudication among competing norms, lawyers are supremely well placed to shed light on sovereignty so defined. Yet the idea of sovereignty as the ultimate right to decide has seriously retarded progress. Dichotomous conceptions of sovereignty do not allow much observable variation, cannot be untangled from other important concepts, and are not easily assimilated into the language of political exchange (compromising sovereignty, sovereignty bargains) and sovereignty practices. Almost all of the concepts related to the Westphalian model-territory, control over borders, authority, autonomy, legitimacy, and sovereignty-can be thought of in continuous terms. While phrases such as "more or less sovereign" may sound odd, I suggest they do so because of the ingrained notion that sovereignty is the ultimate right to decide. While this point is straightforward, it is not uncontroversial, and finding areas of agreement with respect to definitions is an important first step. The aggregation of concepts. Concepts such as territoriality, sovereignty, and authority obviously exist at a very high level of aggregation. To some extent, this is unavoidable. We are dealing with macroconcepts that often cannot be factored down into more specific, microlevel representations. Anarchy is a structural characteristic of the international system, not a characteristic of states. States are not anarchic, yet placed in relation to one another they form an anarchy. And individual states are not bipolar or multipolar but the system as a whole may be. Information about components is used to construct systemic properties (how could it be otherwise?), but once assembled in relation to one another, the system takes on meanings of its own. Composition counts. The placement of elements makes a difference. Waltz (1979) has gone to great pains to establish the independence of thirdimage (systemic) theory. If Waltz is correct-and I think he is on this pointsystemic theory cannot be reduced to its components. A theory of the market is different from, and not reducible to, a theory of firms, just as a theory of international relations is separate from a theory of foreign policy.4 Lest I sound as if I am defending what I want to criticize, I note that the aggregation issue takes two forms. The first, discussed briefly above, concerns 4This is a separate question from whether systemic theory by itself is underdetermined and therefore requires a theory of foreign policy as a complement.

First Nations? Second Thoughts

Abstract: Controversial and thought-provoking, Tom Flanagan's First Nations? Second Thoughts dissects the prevailing orthodoxy that determines public policy towards Canada's Aboriginal peoples. Flanagan argues that this orthodoxy enriches and empowers a small elite of activists, politicians, administrators, middlemen, and well-connected entrepreneurs, while bringing further misery to the very people it is supposed to help. Over the last thirty years Canadian policy on Aboriginal issues has come to be dominated by an ideology that sees Aboriginal peoples as "nations" entitled to specific rights. Indians and Inuit now enjoy a cornucopia of legal privileges, including rights to self-government beyond federal and provincial jurisdiction, immunity from taxation, court decisions reopening treaty issues settled long ago, the right to hunt and fish without legal limits, and free housing, education, and medical care as well as other economic benefits. Underpinning these privileges is what Flanagan describes as Aboriginal orthodoxy - a set of beliefs that hold that prior residence in North America is an entitlement to special treatment; that Aboriginal peoples are part of sovereign nations endowed with an inherent right to self-government; that Aboriginals must have collective rather than individual property rights; that all treaties must be renegotiated on a "nation-to-nation" basis; and that Native people should be encouraged to build prosperous "Aboriginal economies" through money, land, and natural resources transferred from other Canadians. In First Nations? Second Thoughts Flanagan combines conceptual analysis with historical and empirical information to show that the Aboriginal orthodoxy is both unworkable and ultimately destructive to the people it is supposed to help.

Shadows and sovereigns

Abstract: This is an ethnographic and theoretical exploration of the `shadows': vast transnational networks of goods, services, people and exchanges that flow outside formal and legal state channels and international laws. These networks involve millions of people and more than a trillion dollars yearly worldwide, and my research demonstrates these are more formalized, integrated and rule-bound than traditional studies have suggested. Thus, `shadow' networks broker political, economic and social power that can rival many of the world's states, and they are profoundly implicated in world markets. This article explores core characteristics and cultures defining extant extra-state systems, and the power and potentialities for social sovereignty they wield. Investigation into shadow realities prompts a reassessment of the basic theoretical ideas concerning the nexus of legality/illegality, state/non-state and formal/non-formal power relations defining the world today.

Regulating Globalization? The Reinvention of Politics

Abstract: This article explores the political implications of the growing enmeshment of human communities with each other over time and the way in which the fate of peoples is determined increasingly by complex social, economic and environmental processes that stretch across their borders. Examining the growing interconnections between states and societies, the article focuses on the transformations that are under way in the form and nature of political community. It does not argue that globalization has simply eroded the nature of sovereignty and autonomy. Rather, it seeks to show how there has been a reconfiguration of political power, which has created new forms of governance and politics - both within states and beyond their boundaries. The consequences of globalization for democracy and accountability are also examined. While the article shows that the idea of government or of the state can no longer be simply defended as an idea suitable to a particular, closed political community or nation-state, it sets for...

Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs

Abstract: Rogue's Gallery Rogue States Crisis in the Balkans East Timor Retrospective 'Plan Colombia' Cuba and the US Government Putting on the Pressure - Latin America Jubilee 2000 "Recovering Rights" The United States and the 'Challenge of Universality' The Legacy of War Millennium Greetings Power in the Domestic Arena Socioeconomic Sovereignty.

The sovereignty of parliament : history and philosophy

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Defining Parliamentary Sovereignty 3. From Bracton to the Reformation 4. The Sixteenth Century 5. From James 1 to the Restoration 6. From the Restoration to the Revolution 7. After the Revolution 8. The Nineteenth Century 9. Historical Conclusions 10. The Philosophical Foundations of Parliamentary Sovereignty

Tribal sovereigns: Reframing research in American Indian education

Abstract: The inherent power dynamic between academic researchers and those they study is the focus of this article. Author K. Tsianina Lomawaima analyzes the shift in the balance of power between scholars and American Indian tribes that has occurred over the last four decades. She argues that issues such as access to subjects, data ownership, analysis and interpretation, and control over dissemination of findings all reflect what amounts to a struggle for power and tribal sovereignty. Lomawaima maintains that understanding the historical relationship between Native communities and academia, as well as the relatively new research protocols developed by various tribes, is necessary for responsible and respectful scholarship.

Living with hazards, dealing with disasters : an introduction to emergency management

Abstract: Drawing on sources in Japanese, Chinese, and American archives and libraries, this book reassesses another facet of Woodrow Wilson's agenda at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. Breaking with accepted scholarly opinions, the author argues that Wilson did not "betray" China, as many Chinese and Western scholars have charged rather, Wilson successfully negotiated a compromise with the Japanese to ensure that China's sovereignty would be respected in Shandong Province. Rejecting the compromise, Chinese negotiators refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles, creating conditions for the Soviet Union's entry into China and its later influence over the course of the Chinese revolution.

Democratic governance and international law

Abstract: Introduction: The spread of liberal democracy and its implication for international law Gregory H. Fox and Brad R. Roth Part I. The Normative Foundations of a Right to Political Participation: 1. Legitimacy of the democratic entitlement Thomas M. Franck 2. The right to political participation in international law Gregory H. Fox 3. Democracy and the body of international law James Crawford Part II. Democracy and Inter-State Relations: 4. Democratic legitimacy and the recognition of states and governments Sean D. Murphy 5. Constitutionalism and democratic government in the inter-American system Steven Schnably 6. Government networks: the heart of the liberal democratic order Anne-Marie Slaughter Part III. Democracy and the Use of Force: 7. Sovereignty and human rights in contemporary international law W. Michael Reisman 8. 'You, the people': pro-democratic intervention in international law Michael Byers and Simon Chesterman 9. Pro-democratic intervention by invitation David Wippman 10. The illegality of 'pro-democratic' invasion pacts Brad R. Roth 11. International law and the 'liberal peace' John Owen Part IV. Democratisation and Conflicting Imperatives: 12. Intolerant democracies Gregory H. Fox and Georg Nolte 13. Whose intolerance, which democracy? Martti Koskenniemi 14. Democratic intolerance: observations on Fox and Nolte Brad R. Roth 15. A defence of the 'intolerant democracies' thesis Gregory H. Fox and Georg Nolte 16. Democracy and accountability: the criss-crossing paths of two emerging norms Steven R. Ratner Part V. Critical Approaches: 17. Evaluating democratic progress Brad R. Roth 18. What kind of democracy does the 'democratic entitlement' entail? Jan Knippers Black 19. International law, democracy and the end of history Susan Marks.

After Britain: New Labour and the Return of Scotland

Abstract: After Britain is a scathing analysis of the twilight of an ancient state: the United Kingdom. Its constitutional monarchy (lacking a written constitution), its parliamentary democracy (with a totally undemocratic second chamber) and its rule of law (without a full bill of rights or freedom of information) were once the envy of the world. Now, a 'modernizing' government is embarking on a last ditch effort to shore up the fragments of old glory. In this mordantly funny and brilliantly perceptive book, Tom Naim shows how self-government in Scotland and Wales will inexorably remove sovereignty from Westminster. He also paints a satirical portrait of New Labour that cuts through the glitz and spin to the emptiness beneath.

Treaties, Human Rights, and Conditional Consent

Abstract: The U.S. treaty-makers have consistently attached conditions to their consent to modern human rights treaties, in the form of reservations, understandings, and declarations ("RUDs"). Through these RUDs, the treatymakers have sought to limit their consent to international obligations that the United States is constitutionally and politically able to comply with, and to ensure that these obligations are implemented in a manner consistent with principles of separation of powers and federalism. The conventional wisdom among scholars is that the RUDs are invalid under international law and U.S. domestic law, and are harmful to the international human rights movement. This Article challenges the conventional wisdom about RUDs. It argues that the RUDs serve as a useful bridge between isolationists who want to preserve the United States' sovereign prerogatives, and internationalists who want the United States to increase its involvement in international institutions -- a political divide that has had a debilitating effect on U.S. participation in international human rights regimes since World War II. In addition, RUDs help reconcile fundamental changes in international law with the requirements of the U.S. constitutional system. The RUDs achieve these ends in ways that are valid under both international and domestic law.

Global Democracy : Key Debates

Abstract: Introduction Barry Holden Part One: Theoretical Issues 1. The Changing Contours of Political Community: rethinking democracy in the context of globalisation David Held 2. A Critique of Held Michael Saward 3. Global Myths and National Policies Paul Hirst and Grahame Thomson 4. Paul Hirst and Grahame Thomson 'Global Myths and National Policies': A Reply Jonathan Perraton 5. The Lords of Peace: From the Holy Alliance to the New International Criminal Tribunals Danilo Zolo 6. Neither Cosmopolitanism nor Realism: A Response to Danilo Zolo Tony Coates Part Two: Structures and Processes 7. An Agenda for Democratization: democratization at the international level Boutros Boutros-Ghali 8. The United Nations as an Agency of Global Democracy Daniele Archibugi, Sveva Balduini and Marco Donati 9. Alternative Models for Global Democracy Johan Galtung 10. Global Civil Society and the Democratic Prospect Richard Falk 11. Globalisation, Sovereignty and Policy Making: Insights from European Integration Jonathan Golub Afterword Globalisation and Democracy Richard Bellamy and R.J.Barry Jones

American Indian identity and intellectualism: The quest for a new red pedagogy

Abstract: In this article Grande argues that American Indian intellectualism and its central concerns - sovereignty and self-determination - have been ignored, obscured, and impeded by dominant modes of educational theory. More specifically, she argues that current obsessions with identity theory and formation work to deny the critical difference of American Indians as tribal peoples of distinct nations with sovereign status and treaty rights. Dominant modes of identity theory, thus, work to obscure the real sources of oppression of Indigenous peoples, substituting radical social transformation with a politics of representation. In working to address the inner contradictions between dominant modes of identity theory and American Indian tribal subjectivity, Grande employs the use of narrative, examining the text of her own identity formation through the lenses of differing modes of identity theory, namely essentialist, postmodern, and critical identity theories. She analyzes the potential of each theory to produce t...

Managing migration : time for a new international regime?

Abstract: Introduction: Towards a new international regime for orderly movements of people International migration in post-Cold War international relations Globalisation, sovereignty and transnational regulation: Reshaping the governance of international migration Migration and the new international order: The missing regime Why do we need a General Agreement on Movements of People (GAMP)? Migration outcomes of guestworker and free trade regimes: the case of Mexico-US migration Migration - international law and human rights Forced migration in the post-Cold War era: the need for a comprehensive approach New international regime for orderly movements of people: What will it look like ?

Recognizing Indigenism: Canadian Unity and the International Movement of Indigenous Peoples

Abstract: It is rare that circumstances in world history are favorable to the creation of a new kind of global political entity. Nationalism and the nation-state were novelties in the nineteenth century, as E. J. Hobsbawm (1990) convincingly demonstrates, but their connection with modernity was concealed by nationalist identifications with natural ties, permanent homelands, archaic cultures, and timeless bonds of common history. A similar global movement, which I refer to here as "indigenism," has gained momentum over the last few decades largely out of the notice of observers, pundits, and theorists of international events. This movement, it is true, is smaller in scale, more fragile, less turbulent than the nationalist upheavals of the past two centuries, but it nevertheless has the potential to influence the way states manage their affairs, and even to reconfigure the usual alignments of nationalism and state sovereignty. The use of the term 'indigenous'1 in reference to original inhabitants of a givI would like to thank Robert Epstein, David Maybury-Lewis and Jon Bankson for commenting on earlier drafts of this paper. The Grand Council of the Crees provided invaluable logistical support, above all in getting me through the doors of the Palais des Nations for Working Group meetings in the summer and fall of 1996, and in making available its archive at the embassy in Ottawa. The staff at doCip and the League of Nations archive in Geneva brought some very compelling material to my attention, and Ted Moses and Robert Epstein were often able to expand on issues not covered fully by the written record. The Pimicikamak Cree Nation of Cross Lake, Manitoba gave me a firsthand comparative perspective during the later stages of revision that has subtly influenced my thinking on the main issues. I In the legal literature the term "indigenous" has developed as "an accident of history" (Barsh, cited in Muntarbhorn), while in the anthropological literature (for example Maybury-Lewis 1997:7-11) similar problems of social and historical diversity are gathered within an ill-defined category. The most commonly recognized features of indigenous peoples are: descent from original inhabitants of a region prior to the arrival of settlers who have since become the dominant population; maintenance of cultural differences, distinct from a dominant population; and political marginality resulting in poverty, limited access to services, and absence of protections against unwanted "development." These features can be found in Cobo's (1986) provisional definition:

National Politics as International Process: The Case of Anti-Female-Genital-Cutting Laws

Abstract: Looking at power struggles primarily within national boundaries reifies the nation-state and misses larger issues of control in the international system. Using the example of female genital cutting (FGC), we consider the relative importance of local constituencies versus international normative influence in treating national policies. We find that the occurrence of anti-FGC legislation in countries where many individuals support the procedure, the timing and character of national legal action directed against FGC, and the uniformity of political action all lend weight to the importance of international norms. At the national level, we find (1) reform is often a top-down process in which national laws are developed to change rather than reflect local attitudes, and (2) African states tend to work around local communities by adopting bureaucratic policies to combat FGC (Western countries, in contrast, tend to adopt formal laws). At the international level, our findings suggest (1) the structural position of international actors influences whether they deploy assimilative or coercive reform strategies, (2) contradictions among international ideals limits Western hegemony, and (3) international ideals can simultaneously empower (by offering options) and disempower (by disengaging states from local constituencies) local individuals. Social science literature tends to assume a link between national policies and local civil societies. Although that model may represent Western nations reasonably well, its extension to African nations and other countries in the Southern Hemisphere is often problematic.1 Such analyses miss an important piece of the picture: the international context of national action. Increasingly, calls for democratic process coincide with calls for particular political outcomes, which may go against local majority sentiments. Examining the evolution of laws from power struggles within countries reifies the nation-state and misses larger issues of control in the international system. An examination of the practice and policies of female genital cutting (FGC)2 provides an interesting case to explore the importance of international culture in creating national policies.3 FGC has generated many debates precisely because the issue juxtaposes the ideals of sovereign autonomy and local representation against an international definition of human rights. Due to the resulting moral quandary, national laws relating to the procedure are highly controversial. In this article, we examine why countries adopt anti-FGC legislation. Assuming that laws reflect national culture and material conditions, one might expect female genital cutting to be legally condoned in countries where the practice is prevalent (see Kidder 1984:36-57). Instead, laws in these countries are exclusively directed at banning female genital cutting. Laws banning female genital cutting are also common in countries in which the practice is very rare (the United States, Great Britain, etc.). Rather than viewing each law as the end point of a national political struggle, we consider all anti-FGC laws as part of an international process.4 We elaborate this process, exploring the strategies used by international actors to eradicate female genital cutting. We adopt the perspective that laws are significant because of the transcendent principles outside the means-end relationship for which they stand (see Boyle & Meyer 1998; Gusfield 1963; 1986:166; Burke 1945; see also Fine 1993). Law is a key ingredient in the social construction of reality. For example, African countries' anti-FGC policies bolster the perception of an international consensus to eradicate female genital cutting (cf. Edelman et al. 1999) and are viewed as an invitation by international activists to work within countries to eradicate the practice (see El Dareer 1982:96). In this way, laws have real consequences in fueling eradication efforts, regardless of whether local individuals are actually prosecuted under them. …

Dialogues in Arab Politics: Negotiations in Regional Order

Abstract: Dialogues in Arab Politics: Negotiations in Regional Order, by Michael N Barnett New York: Columbia University Press, 1998 xiii + 270 pages Notes to p 337 Bibl to p 365 Index to p 376 $40 cloth; $1750 paper Dialogues in Arab Politics is a theoretically sophisticated and thought-provoking analysis of the interplay between "Arabism" and state sovereignty-an interplay that is mediated by rational leaders who were "fundamentally concerned with regime survival" (p 34) Using a constructivist approach, which emphasizes ideas and shared norms rather than structures and material forces, Michael Barnett provides a sweeping historical narrative of inter-Arab politics since 1920 The focus is on several key events, representing "intense debates," or "dialogues," about the desired Arab national order (pp 19, 25) Arabism, he maintains, supplied the normative context in these dialogues, which defined Arab national interests and set limits of acceptable behavior But strategic interactions among Arab states transformed Arabism to accommodate sovereignty as well as regime interests In these dialogues, leaders competed to supply a "winning interpretation" of events This was a high-stakes game in which the winners, using symbolic instruments of power, could mobilize Arab popular support and control their competitors' foreign policies (pp 10, 45) Dialogues, Barnett argues, revolved around three core Arab national concerns: Arab-Western relations, the Arab-Zionist/israeli conflict, and Arab unification With regard to the West, Arabs were initially concerned with gaining their independence But after independence, the issue of whether to continue relations with former colonial powers and whether to take side in the East-West conflict dominated Arab agenda (pp 103-20) The Baghdad Pact debates in the 1950s served as a defining moment in this dialogue (p 86) It was Egyptian President Gamal `Abd al-Nasir who led the opposition to alignment with the West and whose "positive neutrality" emerged as the winning interpretation that undermined the pro-Pact monarchy in Iraq The 1991 Gulf War, in which a military alliance between several key Arab states and the United States was formed against Iraq, represents a clear-cut departure from the longstanding norm and a sign of how much things have changed since the Baghdad Pact debates How to deal with the challenge of Zionism and Israel represented the second core area of common concern The rejection of, and prohibition of peace overtures toward, Israel dominated much of the period The Six-Day War in 1967 completed the fracturing of the Arab consensus, which had begun a few years earlier In spite of its defiant resolutions, the Khartoum Summit in 1967 represented a pragmatic turn in Arab attitudes toward Israel For al-Nasir, this meant a reversion to his pre-1955 Egypt-first policy (pp 166, 172-74) This pragmatism paved the way for Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's unilateralism, which culminated in Egypt's peace agreement with Israel in 1979 (pp 187-91) This trend continued with more agreements (ie, between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and between Israel and Jordan), and with gradual regionwide normalization A sign of how far the pendulum has swung since pre-1967 times is the fact that what is of concern to the Arabs today, according to Barnett, is nor so much peace with Israel but the "pace" of normalization The last core issue is unification Barnett acknowledges that, from the beginning, differing perspectives coexisted-ranging from maximalist versions that envisioned a single, unitary state to minimalist ones that allowed for loose arrangements (pp 73-74) The formation of the United Arab Republic (UAR) in 1958 gave al-Nasir and pan-Arabism the upper hand, albeit briefly Dissolution of this union three years later discredited pan-Arabist forces Ultimately, according to Barnett, failure of unification attempts before and after the UAR experiment was due to a number of factors, including "hastened individuation" (p …

History as reflected in capital markets: the case of World War II

Abstract: Historical events are reflected in asset prices. We analyze movements in the price of bonds issued by five European governments and traded on the Swiss bourse between 1928 and 1948, with special attention to the war years. Some war events that are generally considered crucial are clearly reflected in government bond prices. This holds, in particular, for the official outbreak of the war and changes in national sovereignty. But other events to which historians attach great importance are not reflected in bond prices, most prominently Germany's capitulation in 1945.