Flora Sapio on "Musings on the concept of zhengfa (politics and law)"

On 17 March 2016, Flora Sapio, presented a marvelous paper at a Workshop on Zhengfa (Politics and law), held at the Australian Centre on China in the World - ANU.  The paper is entitled Musings on the concept of zhengfa (politics and law). It is a profound effort to read zhengfa semiotically, to understand its signification in context.  That alone should be invitation enough to read. But its insights for "reading" China also merits serious consideration. 

An abridged version of the paper has been posted to Prof. Sapio's website, Forgotten Archipelagos, which I have cross posted here.  My comments will appear in a later post.

Part 7 (The Social Self and the Mother)--Dialogues on a Philosophy for the Individual: The Social Self

(Pix © Larry Catá Backer 2016)

Flora Sapio (FS), Beitita Horm Pepulim (BHP), and I (LCB) continue our experiment in collaborative dialogue. We move from the individual to the social self as we work toward a philosophy of the individual. While at first blush this appears to be well worn ground--who hasn't, over the course of the last 5,000 years, in every civilization with a recorded history NOT spent vast amounts of time thinking about the social self?  But much of this thinking starts at the social and works through the issues of control, management and socialization of the individual.  That is, they start from the core premise that the individual is the object of a project for which the social serves as an instrument and as an ends.  In the spirit of the emerging philosophy of the individual, we propose to invert the conversation--to start with the individual and work through the issues of control, management, and individuation of the social.

But we move from the individual in herself, to the individual as subject and as symbol, as something which, when observed and transformed from itself to the idea or symbol of itself, assumes a quite distinct, and useful, position for the organization of selves--and for the structure and operation of the law of the social.  To that end our conversation will likely flow around and through the following: 

1--the social self as the reflection of the mother
2--the social self as a reflection of the family
3--social self as a reflection/result of one's ancestors
4--the social self as a reflection of God
5-the social self as a refection of the state
6--the social self as terrorist
7--the social self as orthodox

This conversation, like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts.  Your participation is encouraged.

In this post Betita Horn Pepulim responds to Flora and Larry. 

Contents HERE.

Just Published: "Fractured Territories and Abstracted Terrains: Human Rights Governance Regimes Within and Beyond the State"

 (Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2015)

Representation as the foundation of governance legitimacy is in crisis. The issue of representation hangs like a sword of the heads of those institutions and mechanisms that increasingly seek to assert governance power over and for individuals.  Governance organizations--states, international organizations and non-state actors--all seek to act as representatives of individuals.  Yet increasingly the connection between the individuals represented and the apparatus of state, institution or enterprise is increasingly tenuous.  

In states legislators and their parliaments increasingly serve  and represent outside powers.  That has been made quite clear in the context of the Greek bailouts and the Bangladesh responses to the Rana Plaza factory building collapse.

In international organizations, the representation of individuals through states has become clouded through the rise of managerial classes and the distortions of unequal state power.  The individual becomes an object with no direct voice in those activities undertaken for their benefit.

In non-state actors, the individual is fully abstracted and commodified. There, even the fig leaf of indirect consent to presentation disappears in the face of enterprises and non-governmental organization who on their own declare their authority to represent the interests of individuals to states and international organizations.    

In "Fractured Territories and Abstracted Terrains: Human Rights Governance Regimes Within and Beyond the State", just published in the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 23(1):61-94 (2016) I explore these issues and the consequences for national and transnational governance. The article appears as a contribution to an excellent symposium edited by Daniel Augenstein and Hans Lindahl--Global Law and the Boundaries of Statehood (more about which in a later post).

The abstract and introduction follow. The pre-publication draft may be accessed here.

Part 6 (The Social Self and the Mother)--Dialogues on a Philosophy for the Individual: The Social Self

(Pix © Larry Catá Backer 2016)

Flora Sapio (FS), Beitita Horm Pepulim (BHP), and I (LCB) continue our experiment in collaborative dialogue. We move from the individual to the social self as we work toward a philosophy of the individual. While at first blush this appears to be well worn ground--who hasn't, over the course of the last 5,000 years, in every civilization with a recorded history NOT spent vast amounts of time thinking about the social self?  But much of this thinking starts at the social and works through the issues of control, management and socialization of the individual.  That is, they start from the core premise that the individual is the object of a project for which the social serves as an instrument and as an ends.  In the spirit of the emerging philosophy of the individual, we propose to invert the conversation--to start with the individual and work through the issues of control, management, and individuation of the social.

But we move from the individual in herself, to the individual as subject and as symbol, as something which, when observed and transformed from itself to the idea or symbol of itself, assumes a quite distinct, and useful, position for the organization of selves--and for the structure and operation of the law of the social.  To that end our conversation will likely flow around and through the following: 

1--the social self as the reflection of the mother
2--the social self as a reflection of the family
3--social self as a reflection/result of one's ancestors
4--the social self as a reflection of God
5-the social self as a refection of the state
6--the social self as terrorist
7--the social self as orthodox

This conversation, like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts.  Your participation is encouraged.

In this post Flora Sapio comes back to the mother in the formation of the social self with a nod to the late Justice Antonin Scalia. 

Contents HERE.

中外学者对中国法治改革的关注与讨论 －－ 基于对Jerome A. Cohen的文章“A Looming Crisis for China’s Legal System”的评论 评论人：Larry Backer (白 轲), Flora Sapio, Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt 和Shaoming Zhu (朱绍明)

-->

(Pix © Larry Catá Backer 2016)

中外学者对中国法治改革的关注与讨论

－－ 基于对JeromeA. Cohen的文章“ALooming Crisis for China’s Legal System”的评论

评论人：Larry Backer (白 轲), Flora Sapio, Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt 和Shaoming Zhu (朱绍明)

翻译整理：朱绍明

随着中国国际地位的提高，中国的经济、外交、政治、社会管理和法律体制都为国际社会所关注。正在如火如荼地进行中的司法改革更是引起了很多西方学者的热议。美国著名的法学家Jerome A. Cohen日前发表了文章“A Looming Crisis for China’s Legal System”，对中国当前的法治现状和问题进行了评论。文中的很多观点值得思考和商榷，因此我们对此文进行了评论，并在其基础上就中国的法治建设进行了理论分析。参与人包括Larry Backer, Flora Sapio, Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt 和Shaoming Zhu (朱绍明)。

Norway Government Pension Fund Global: Council on Ethics Annual Report for 2015

Eli Lund, Executive Head of Secretariat for the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund-Global, Norway's flagship sovereign wealth fund, has been kind enough to circulate the Council on Ethics Annual Report 2015.

The Annual Report includes brief articles on specific topics relevant to the Council’s work, such as the assessment of companies producing nuclear weapons, corruption risk, environmental damage or violation of worker’s rights. The report also includes a summary of all the Council’s recommendations to Norges Bank that have been published in 2015 and until 1 February 2016.



The Council on Ethics Annual Report 2015: http://etikkradet.no/files/2016/03/Etikkraadet_AR_2015_web.pdf

Etikkrådets årsmelding for 2015: http://etikkradet.no/files/2016/03/Etikkraadet_arsmelding_2015_web.pdf

The Council on Ethics may be followed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CouncilOnEthics

The Council on Ethics welcomes any feedback you may wish to give. Mine will appear in a future post.

Human Rights Council 31st Session: Statement by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva, 10 March 2016

UN Human Rights Chief Zeid

The 31st regular session of the Human Rights Council is taking place now in Geneva (29 February to 24 March 2016).  On Mach 10, 2016, the UN High Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, presented his annual report (UN Human Rights Chief Zeid presents his annual report to the Human Rights Council).

Additional sources may be accessed here:

Annotations to the agenda in all languages
Programme of work (provisional; subject to change) English | French
List of reports for the 31st session of the Human Rights Council
Extranet for the 31st session (for more information)
A to Z booklet (theme and countries)

The Speech may be accessed HERE.  And it follows below, along with my brief comments.

Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy 2016 ASCE Conference--Call for Papers; Convocatoria a Sumarios/Ensayos

The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) has just posted its call for papers (convocatoria a sumarios/ensayos) for its upcoming 2016 Conference to be held in Miami, Florida, 28-30 July. Affiliated with the American Economic Association and the Allied Social Sciences Association of the United States, ASCE maintains professional contacts with economists inside Cuba —whether independent or associated with the Cuban government— who are interested in engaging in scholarly discussion and research.

The ASCE's publications include: 

Annual Proceedings
ASCE Occassional Paper Series
Cuban Economic News Clipping Service
Newsletters
Special Studies

The call for papers-convocatoria follows in English and Spanish.

Part 5 (The Social Self and the Mother and the State of Nature)--Dialogues on a Philosophy for the Individual: The Social Self

-->

(Pix © Larry Catá Backer 2016)

Flora Sapio (FS), Beitita Horm Pepulim (BHP), and I (LCB) continue our experiment in collaborative dialogue. We move from the individual to the social self as we work toward a philosophy of the individual. While at first blush this appears to be well worn ground--who hasn't, over the course of the last 5,000 years, in every civilization with a recorded history NOT spent vast amounts of time thinking about the social self?  But much of this thinking starts at the social and works through the issues of control, management and socialization of the individual.  That is, they start from the core premise that the individual is the object of a project for which the social serves as an instrument and as an ends.  In the spirit of the emerging philosophy of the individual, we propose to invert the conversation--to start with the individual and work through the issues of control, management, and individuation of the social.

But we move from the individual in herself, to the individual as subject and as symbol, as something which, when observed and transformed from itself to the idea or symbol of itself, assumes a quite distinct, and useful, position for the organization of selves--and for the structure and operation of the law of the social.  To that end our conversation will likely flow around and through the following: 

1--the social self as the reflection of the mother
2--the social self as a reflection of the family
3--social self as a reflection/result of one's ancestors
4--the social self as a reflection of God
5-the social self as a refection of the state
6--the social self as terrorist
7--the social self as orthodox

This conversation, like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts.  Your participation is encouraged.

In this post Flora Sapio comes back to the state of nature and LCB responds.

Contents HERE.

Part 4 (The Social Self and the Mother)--Dialogues on a Philosophy for the Individual: The Social Self

(Pix © Larry Catá Backer 2016)

Flora Sapio (FS), Beitita Horm Pepulim (BHP), and I (LCB) continue our experiment in collaborative dialogue. We move from the individual to the social self as we work toward a philosophy of the individual. While at first blush this appears to be well worn ground--who hasn't, over the course of the last 5,000 years, in every civilization with a recorded history NOT spent vast amounts of time thinking about the social self?  But much of this thinking starts at the social and works through the issues of control, management and socialization of the individual.  That is, they start from the core premise that the individual is the object of a project for which the social serves as an instrument and as an ends.  In the spirit of the emerging philosophy of the individual, we propose to invert the conversation--to start with the individual and work through the issues of control, management, and individuation of the social.

But we move from the individual in herself, to the individual as subject and as symbol, as something which, when observed and transformed from itself to the idea or symbol of itself, assumes a quite distinct, and useful, position for the organization of selves--and for the structure and operation of the law of the social.  To that end our conversation will likely flow around and through the following: 

1--the social self as the reflection of the mother
2--the social self as a reflection of the family
3--social self as a reflection/result of one's ancestors
4--the social self as a reflection of God
5-the social self as a refection of the state
6--the social self as terrorist
7--the social self as orthodox

This conversation, like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts.  Your participation is encouraged.

In this post Beitita Horm Pepulim (BHP) responds to LCB.

Contents HERE.