ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00170.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Taking national unity to be desirable but not at any cost, the authors explore the conditionality of unity on genuine and lasting realization of the people's right to self‐determination through the political stability, economic development, and social justice for all citizens of a country, both individually and collectively. While emphasizing that secession and separate statehood are not the only way for realizing a people's right to self‐determination, the authors argue that this option must be considered seriously when a people is denied their right to self‐determination within the country. If this right is satisfied within an existing state, it is extremely unlikely that a minority would opt for the high political, economic, and security risks of separate statehood. But without that option, a majority may have little incentive to address the grievances of the minority. Applying their analysis to the civil war in Sudan, the authors propose a clear set of criteria and mechanisms for evaluating standards of achievement for self‐determination with unity within a specific time. Should the conditions of unity fail to materialize, the possibility of peaceful and orderly secession must be con

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00171.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article discusses the United Nations' Declaration of the Right to Development in the context of contemporary scholarly critiques both of development discourse and of rights discourse. Highlighting the geo‐spatial dimension of post‐World War II development theory, this article considers whether the recent assertion of an international right to development by leading human rights scholars from Africa and elsewhere may mark the beginning of a local, grassroots hijacking of managerial development discou

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00172.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Based on the premise that cultural forces are at work in positively determining and sustaining the development process, this paper seeks to delineate the nature, dynamics and modalities of these forces and in so doing interrogate the tendency in development studies to dismiss culture as either a neutral factor or an impediment to the development process. The paper argues that the nonrecogni‐tion and dismissal of cultural forces as positive elements in development limit proper and meaningful articulations of project design in the same way that disciplinary limitations in the definition and articulation of notions such as “development,”“achievement,” and “progress” preempt proper and full accounting of African women's achievements. In grounding its arguments, the paper draws from the insightful elaboration of the behavioral aspect of cultural forces as contained in research on the economic psychology of African ethnic groups but goes further to focus on the structural and institutionalized aspects in the form of indigenous women's associations. Ultimately, by focusing attention on the cultural imperatives that guarantee successes in the development enterprise, the paper argues for a reimagining of social change (in theory and practice) not so much in terms of introducing and establishing new paradigms and structures but in terms of the intelligent refashioning of old structures to respond to new ideas and chart new directions. Although the paper focuses on African women and programs in Africa, the fundamental argument that undergirds it has a wider and more global application

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00173.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article examines the applicability and relevance of the collective international right to development to poor women of color in the United States. It posits that alternative, sustainable forms of development may be as relevant to subordinated groups in the United States as they are to non‐western peoples. The article argues, however, that implementing the right to development in this imagined context requires a grassroots approac

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00174.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Of all the various programs and policies formulated in an attempt to find a quick route to modernization, none has been as detrimental to the development process in Africa as technology transfer from developed countries. The process of technology transfer was facilitated by the international intellectual property system which enabled owners of intellectual goods in developed countries to control access by developing countries to technology while also exacting from these countries huge transaction costs and licensing fees. African countries, as other developing countries, participated in the international intellectual property system in part because indigenous innovation and economic growth were promised fruits of intellectual property protection as evidenced by the experience of the Western Hemisphere. The recognition of intellectual property rights by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights gave legitimacy to the efforts of developed countries and international institutions to encourage developing countries to recognize intellectual property rights and to join the international intellectual property system. However, after more than three decades of experimenting with Western‐styled intellectual property laws and an inordinate emphasis on technology from developed countries as an agent of development, African countries remain mired in the trenches of underdevelopment. This article looks at the failed promise of intellectual property systems in developing countries in general, with Africa as its specific concern. The author argues that the human right to intellectual property must be understood in context with the right to development and self‐determination. Such an approach would delegitimize the myth of a universally valid intellectual property system and protect the right of developing countries to establish intellectual property regimes that reflect their unique socioeconomic and cultural norms and that are consistent with development objectives. Nevertheless, the author insists that nothing short of a comprehensive economic and social reform package nurtured and implemented in a politically stable environment under the rule of law will release Africa's potential for developm

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00175.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Paul Simon's popular lyric about these being “the days of lasers in the jungle” reflects the stark contrast, contradiction, or even exploitativeness of conventional strategies of development. Once paraded as the ultimate recipe for progress and the solution for poverty, the idea of development itself is now being criticized for its poverty of substance, as well as for its impoverishing and regressive propensities. Apparently, development as we know it has been indicted for the social production of poverty because it can only exist in symbiosis with conditions of underdevelopment. Within its capitalist framework, it is impossible for all to be “developed” and there can be no rational distribution of resources across the board; massive one‐sided accumulation and the co‐existence of surplus wealth with severe poverty are more consistent with the present process and reality of development. Increasingly, people are questioning the very paradigm of development and its dominant blueprint which is predicated on a presumption of the superiority of the Western system of production and signification. Some critics advocate alternative development and others reject the concept entirely, arguing instead for alternatives to development. My reading of the controversy surrounding development suggests that it is largely a critique of the discrepancy inherent in its unidimensional conceptualization and implementation.Even as oppositions to established discourses and practices of development are gaining ground, the most (dis)affected, the so‐called lesser developed countries (LDCs), are agitating for redress through the recognition of a right to development. How do we interpret, and respond to, this initiative or subversive act by those who were never given the option to elect out of (mal) development, but were forced to put up with its effect? Do we continue to disregard it or do we engage it as a forward to a tentative proposal ‐ a point of entry for inclusion, or as an invitation to begin to explore what development should be by revisiting and revising problematic orthodox models and modes? Can we see it as a challenge to idealized conceptions of human rights and a case for harnessing the human rights regime to make it more actualizable and sustainable? At the very least, can we approach claims about the right to development as seeking to secure the dignity and well‐being of the human subject? If seen in the light of conquering poverty and protecting the physical environment for the general good of humanity, would the right to development be better appreciated as a prerogative of and a mandate for both the North and South. After all, communities in these places that once “marginalized the economy” and achieved relative equilibrium are now violently compelled to contend with the colossal hunger, scarcity and social disintegration dictated by their place of insertion in the world economic structure? Could the right to development be seen as espousing the entitlement of the dislocated and disempowered to a reciprocation of the benefits of development and/or to compensation for the sins of (mal) development? What are the possibilities for the emergence of a concept, devoid of the baggage traditionally associated with development, that caters to the aspirations of the “LDCs” to equitably compete and exercise their full potentials in the context of the modern world; how do we facilitate the development of an under‐developed concept?Several reasons have been proferred to explain why the right to development has failed to attain definitive status and effectiveness as a rule of law. By and large, it appears that the right to development has not been widely embraced because of concerns which, while valid, are not beyond containment. Meaningful implementation of the right to development requires committed clarification and strengthening of its conceptual framework. Primarily, a feasible paradigm of development must go beyond simplistic dichotomizations, polarizations or prioritizations. At the same time, it must celebrate the realities and possibilities of reciprocity and dependence among processes and phenomena. In this article, the resounding argument revolves around the reciprocity of paradigms, relations, rights and responsibilities. It posits the principle of reciprocity as rudimentary for (re) interpretations and (re) appropriations of the idea of development, and as both a norm and a justification for the recognition of development as a human rights ideal. The over‐arching thesis is that conceptualizing and analyzing development from the perspective of the metaphor of reciprocity attenuates many of the problems of articulating it in terms of the conventional rhetoric and politics of rights. With particular emphasis on the norm and functioning of reciprocity within the context of gift and return, the article ultimately delineates the ubiquity of varied ranges of reciprocity as an anch

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00176.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Tracking the feminist legal reform movement in India from its initial focus on rape in the late 1970s to recent efforts to address sexual harassment, the author chronicles Indian feminists' struggle to develop indigenously authentic approaches to modernity and development through law. The author explicates sexual harassment in India as a crime related to women's everyday struggle to challenge traditional boundaries and reformulate identities: Sexual violence is often used to thwart these challenges and lock Indian women into traditional roles. The resulting “process‐based” Indian analysis of sexual harassment, which departs from traditional victim‐based analyses of the crime in the West, serves as one example of Indian feminists self‐consciously creating a legal reform movement that both engages international dialogue on sexual harassment, and integrates that dialogue with its own particular history to create a distinct leg

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00177.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY