bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Border Control, Privatisation, and the State
Authors: Zedner Lucia , Bosworth Mary
Published: December 2022

This opening chapter introduces the collection of twelve essays, which explore the increasing role of the private sector and private actors in border control and its implications for state sovereignty and citizenship. It sets out the Editors’ main aims, questions posed to contributors, and the collection’s overall structure and key themes. It describes a first section on the limits of state sovereignty, whose essays examine complex interactions between public and private actors in controlling the border. It explains how essays in the second section explore the implications of privatisation for legitimacy and the rule of law at the border. It describes those in the third section that consider whether privatisation is better understood as outsourcing, expanding, or undermining state authority, and assess its impact on those subject to detention and deportation. It then introduces the final set of essays that examine differing practices of privatisation at the border, involving a cast of actors ranging from private citizens and civil society organisations to corporate actors and data managers. The chapter concludes by observing that, collectively, the essays disclose what privatising border control reveals about the limits of the sovereign state.
The Legal Concept of Work
Authors: Adams Zoe
Published: December 2022

Drawing on a Marxian-inspired theoretical framework, The Legal Concept of Work develops an analysis of the legal constitution, conceptualization, and regulation of work as a lens through which to explore the emancipatory potential of law, and to understand whether, and if so how, law can be used to further struggles for structural and not merely surface-level change. The book explores how productive activities of various sorts come to be conceptualized as work; how they, the capacities required to perform them, and the persons who possess those capacities, come to be valued, or devalued, in various contexts; and how, and why, perceptions of these matters change over time. In exploring these questions, the book focuses specifically on the role of law and legal concepts in this process, how the law comes to constitute some forms of human labour as work and some forms of human labour as non-work; and how this legal constitution impacts upon the way in which work comes to be regulated, organized, and valued. As part of this analysis, the book presents a series of case studies, including of the publishing industry, academia, medicine, and retail, with a view to illustrating some of the distinctive regulatory challenges to which different types of work give rise, depending on their function in the context of capitalism.
The Legal Constitution of Work
Authors: Adams Zoe
Published: December 2022

This chapter explores the theoretical framework underpinning the book in more depth. It develops a Marxian inspired social ontology of capitalism with a view to shedding more light on law’s structural relationship with capitalist social relations. This allows it to develop a preliminary understanding of the law’s role in the construction, and regulation, of work, and, in particular, the relationship between this and what we commonly refer to as labour law. This allows us to gain an insight into the particular way in which questions of employment status, and the problem of exploitation, come to be conceptualized in law, as a result of the constraints imposed on legal analysis by the legal form.
Work and Employment Status Juridical Conceptions of Dependent Working Relations
Authors: Adams Zoe
Published: December 2022

This chapter traces the development of the law’s conceptualization of the wage-relation, exploring the techniques used by the courts and legislators when deciding matters of employment status. In so doing, it seeks to shed new light on how certain factors come to be associated in law with the wage-relation, and how these factors influence the scope of the protective labour legislation that has gradually developed to regulate it. It shows how the courts’ approach, as seen in modern cases involving the gig-economy, relate to shifting understandings forged through pre-capitalist labour legislation, the master and servant legislation, the Truck Acts, and the National Insurance Acts of 1911 and 1946, while relating these shifts to wider transformations in the legal form throughout the development of Capitalism.
Retail Work
Authors: Adams Zoe
Published: December 2022

This chapter explores the nature of retail work through the lens of the work of shop assistants. The purpose of this is to explore how the function of realization to which this work contributes influences the orientation, organization, and management of retail work, and the implications of this for the way in which retail work comes to be valued, regulated, and conceived. The chapter traces the gradual deskilling of the shop assistant, but shows how this has gone hand in hand with a growing emphasis on the importance placed on emotional and affective labour as a way for retailers to maintain a competitive advantage. This leads to certain contradictions in the organization and regulation of retail work, which helps to explain some of the features of the way in which it is organized and regulated, today.
Comments on Rachel Barney, ‘Intellectualism and the Method of Hypothesis in Plato’s Early Dialogues’
Authors: Irwin Terence
Published: December 2022

The main topics of these comments on Rachel Barney’s paper are: (1) Aristotle’s treatment of Socratic Intellectualism. (2) Socrates’ conditions for affirming a specific view as his doctrine. (3) Does Socrates regard intellectualism as his doctrine? (4) How does Plato understand ‘hypotheses’? What sorts of hypotheses are also affirmed as doctrine? (5) What sort of hypothesis is Socratic Intellectualism? (6) The relation of Socratic virtue to some contemporary moral conflicts.
Courage and Pleasure in Aristotle’s Ethics
Authors: Woolf Raphael
Published: December 2022

According to Aristotle the happy life is the life of virtue, specifically the life in which we actively exercise our virtue. The happy life is also, for Aristotle, a pleasant life. Yet the virtue of courage might indicate a tension in his position, since its exercise seems to bring with it a substantial risk to the agent of suffering pain and fear. This chapter argues that Aristotle conceives of the courageous agent as feeling little or no fear in the performance of their courageous activities, and that these activities even produce a certain pleasure for the agent. This conception is best explained by Aristotle’s conviction that the good life must be a pleasant one. Since he holds that the good life consists in the exercise of one’s virtues, his strategy is to present this exercise, with courage a paradigm case, in the most pleasant light that he can.
Phoretic Active Matter
Authors: Golestanian Ramin
Published: December 2022

The force-free nature of interfacial transport processes that are collectively terms as phoretic mechanisms (such as diffusiophoresis, electrophoresis, thermophoresis, etc) affords the possibility of designing self-propelled particles, e.g. Janus particles with built-in sources that arise from catalytic activity or light-induced heating. A key aspect of the nonequilibrium phoretic mechanisms that are used to design self-propulsion is that they lead to the creation of thermodynamic fields (such as concentration field, electrostatic potential, temperature profile, etc) that mediate effective long-range interactions by the very nature of their nonequilibrium activity. The existence of such long-range fields implies that theoretical descriptions of self-propelled particles with short-range equilibrium-type interactions might be unrealistic when it comes to systems that rely on phoretic mechanisms for self-propulsion. Here, a comprehensive account of the theory of phoretic active matter is presented, covering a wide range of length scales, from chemically active molecules such as enzymes to active colloids and chemotactic cells.
Introduction
Authors: Duke-Evans Jonathan
Published: December 2022

For centuries—in fact since the time of Daniel Defoe—British people have claimed that theirs is the land of fair play. This book argues that there is indeed a culture of fair play in Britain, and that while some have attributed it to the influence of gentlemanly ideals in the formative period of our national sports, in fact it goes back much further, to the Anglo-Saxon period, and that it is to be credited at least as much to the ordinary people of the country as to its elites. Fair play has its opposite, reflected in the picaresque culture which celebrates the panache shown by the trickster, and this too has been a strong tradition in Britain, though never one which has been felt to define the national character as fair play has. There is an instinct for fairness among the more intelligent animals, not only among humans, and sociobiologists have shown how it can be squared with the realities of the survival of the fittest: but we need to be able to explain why such instincts are so often overridden by selfishness. The problem of fair play is to establish whether it was indeed a British, or alternatively an English, characteristic; if it was not, why so many people have claimed otherwise; and if it was, how that came about; what influence it has had on our national life; how those belonging to other cultures think about issues of fairness; and whether fair play still matters today.
Christianity and chivalry
Authors: Duke-Evans Jonathan
Published: December 2022

Important as the classical tradition is, the origins of the modern idea of fair play lie in the fusion of the éistian ethic with the warrior traditions of the Dark Ages. The Christian injunction to treat others, even enemies, with the consideration we would expect for ourselves is essential to the idea of fair play. As early as the 8th century we can see this attitude clearly in Beowulf’s approach to his fights with the monsters. Chrétien de Troyes’s insistence that warriors must act fairly marks the true beginning of the literature of chivalry. Its culmination in the Middle Ages is Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, where we find an ethic of competition we still recognise: no cheating, no ganging up, no hitting a man when he is down. But chivalry in the Middle Ages was not just a literary cult; in the tournament practical rules were developed over the centuries to produce the first example of a sporting activity governed by clear rules of fair play. The literary tradition of chivalry adapted itself to changing tastes and times. Spenser started to show ways in which chivalry could be made to yield more democratic implications. Shakespeare showed how the fellowship of chivalry could become the basis for new ideas which transcended the distinctions between the knightly and the lower classes. Its implications for fair play lay ready to be used once again when Sir Walter Scott rediscovered the cult of knighthood for the common reader at the turn of the 19th century.
Fair play—the popular strand
Authors: Duke-Evans Jonathan
Published: December 2022

The suggestion that fair play was particularly associated with the lower orders of England, which we first meet in the work of Daniel Defoe in 1705, was expressed many times in the 18th century. We have occasional references to fair treatment of foreigners by the English populace, and there is much evidence that ideas of fairness were integral to the reactions of crowds to food shortages and to public executions. But the explicit evidence for a popular conception of fair play is strongest in the context of spontaneous fighting. Often when people called for fair play when a brawl broke out they were looking forward to the spectacle, but their commitment to the belief that the rules must be observed was genuine. We find confirmation of this in the cult of the outlaw. Between his emergence in the later Middle Ages and the work of Joseph Ritson at the end of the 18th century Robin Hood embodied a particular kind of fair play, one that encapsulated perfectly the more popular element in the tradition: not so much the righter of wrongs at this stage as the good-humoured and boisterous hero who was always up for a fair fight.
The rise of the gentleman
Authors: Duke-Evans Jonathan
Published: December 2022

While several 18th-century writers described fair play as the mark of the common people, we seldom find anyone in that century expressing the view that it was a characteristic of the gentleman. But the steadily rising number of references to it, in a wide variety of contexts, leaves no doubt that by this time fair play was recognised as an important value by the middle and upper classes as well as their social inferiors. The English gentleman was not the absolutely central figure in the fair play tradition that some might have assumed: it was too firmly embedded in popular culture for that to be true. We have, not two different traditions of fair play, but two strands of the same tradition. Three of the activities which characterised the gentleman—hunting, horse-racing, and duelling—offered plenty of scope for the rhetoric of fair play. Hunters spoke of fair play for the fox, but ultimately it was the thrill of the chase that mattered; racehorse owners might call their thoroughbreds “Fair Play” and impose handicaps to even up the chances, but winning money was the dominant aim during these formative years of the sport. Duellists however fought their combats under a code of fair play that was taken from the judicial ordeal of the Middle Ages, even if the reasons why they fought came from a different tradition.
The great appropriation
Authors: Duke-Evans Jonathan
Published: December 2022

The gentlemen who promulgated the first written rules of cricket, boxing, and football did not invent these games: they appropriated them from the common people who had long played them. Elaborate codes of fair play were involved in wrestling and in particular in Cornish hurling. Cricket became the quintessential game of fair play, owing largely to its being a relatively non-violent team sport. By the 1760s aristocrats were playing on all but equal terms with the men of Hambledon. Amateurs and professionals played together in first-class cricket, but the professionals were kept firmly in their place. The ostentatious fair play often associated with cricket seems to have been the legacy of the amateurs, while the professionals were happy to play to the umpire’s decision. Boxing developed from a popular tradition of fighting which had its own strong traditions of fair play. The importance of the Queensberry Rules in this civilising process can be overstated. Football too was a popular sport long before it was taken up in the public schools, played robustly but according to traditional rules. The need of public-school men for a common code was the main incentive for the creation of written rules for football defining fair play. In England there had for centuries been a tradition of fair play embodied in popular games, and relatively low status barriers which allowed members of the upper classes to appropriate these games, each of them finding its own path when negotiating the difficult question of amateurism against professionalism.
The expanding circle
Authors: Duke-Evans Jonathan
Published: December 2022

Only from the 18th century was the idea of fair play applied to the duties of decency which powerful people owed to others, an aspect of the humanitarian revolution, the revulsion against cruelty which became the guiding principle of the Enlightenment. Sociobiological theory helps explain how empathy can spread outwards from kin to all compatriots, and ultimately all humankind. From the later 18th century people recognised the need to show fair play to the poor, and in the 19th workers themselves began to demand it. The establishment of democracy and the secret ballot in the 19th and early 20th centuries were part of this process. Enlightenment reformers used the language of fair play from the late 18th century in calling for justice between the sexes; even before then, however, early feminists had appealed implicitly to the sense of fair play when detailing the injustices suffered by women. The campaigners who eventually achieved equal voting rights for women stood squarely in this tradition. From the 19th century, too, fair play was invoked by British writers on behalf of the Irish, European peoples struggling for self-determination, and the non-white peoples of the Empire. Britons were slow to realise the incompatibility of slavery with their cult of fair play, but voices from the Empire took up and applied the tradition to their own circumstances to devastating effect. The demand for fair play was an important element in the changes which took place in all these unequal relationships in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The wider world
Authors: Duke-Evans Jonathan
Published: December 2022

The claim that a regard for fair play is a distinctive trait in British culture needs to be backed up as far as possible with evidence on how far similar features can be found in comparable societies. Many British writers claimed that the French had little or no conception of fair play. French sympathy with the underdog has often been noted, but that on its own does not equate to a tradition of fair play, which may well have been inhibited by the very strong social and legal barriers between the aristocracy and the non-noble classes. In Germany Realpolitik was a conscious rejection of any fair play in international relations. We find relatively little interest in fair play in Spain, home of the picaresque novel, in Italy, where Machiavelli’s influence has been baleful, or in Russia, despite the sympathy of many of its writers with the cause of the downtrodden. The United States of course shares much of its cultural heritage with Britain, and the Americans, like the British, consider themselves exponents of fair play, without necessarily putting it at the centre of their pantheon of values, where self-reliance and entrepreneurialism are far more prominent than in the United Kingdom. There has been a tendency to see the Japanese bushido code as being akin to chivalry, but the elements they have in common have been overemphasised. More study is needed, but these conclusions do appear to support the view that the place of fair play in British culture was unique.
Introduction
Authors: Holm Isak Winkel
Published: December 2022

The Introduction presents the central concept of prophetic noir as it is evoked in the description of Abraham’s three-day journey to Mount Moriah in Fear and Trembling. According to the pseudonymous author Johannes de silentio, the father of faith has ‘sorrow before him’ while approaching the locus of the future sacrifice. Kierkegaard’s approach to mood in general—anxiety, irony, boredom, indolence, melancholy, and earnestness, among others—is contrasted with Hegel’s concept of mood, the conceptual background for Kierkegaard’s affect theory. The chapter locates Kierkegaard’s recurring notion of a miraculous strength of soul in the face of the coming disaster—his ‘noir optimism’—in a discussion of Jonathan Lear’s concept of ‘radical hope’ and Lauren Berlant’s concept of ‘cruel optimism’.
Not Just a Future Language
Authors: Holm Isak Winkel
Published: December 2022

Chapter 2 homes in on the mood of prophetic noir, a specific pattern of affective response first established by the Hebrew prophets. Drawing on contemporary Biblical exegesis and the essay ‘Prophetic Speech’ by Maurice Blanchot (1955), the chapter explores the sombre mood in the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. The chapter’s main hypothesis is that prophetic noir raises a question of normative force rather than normative content. At stake is the capacity of ethical ideals to apply themselves to the given world. The link between noir affect and normative force is illustrated in a brief analysis of the HBO crime series True Detective.
Aesthetic Testimony
Authors: Robson Jon
Published: December 2022

Aesthetic judgements formed on the basis of testimony are commonly held to be defective, illegitimate, or otherwise problematic. This first book-length treatment of the debate surrounding aesthetic testimony argues for the surprising conclusion that this widespread view is mistaken. Aesthetic testimony is in no way inferior as a source of judgement when compared to either first-hand aesthetic judgement, or testimony concerning non-aesthetic matters. Alongside establishing this position (an extreme form of ‘optimism concerning aesthetic testimony’) this work also responds to the most prominent arguments for the opposing view (‘pessimism concerning aesthetic testimony’). Along the way, it also re-examines our understanding of the norms which govern both judgement and assertion in aesthetics.
Optimism and Pessimism
Authors: Robson Jon
Published: December 2022

The main purpose of this chapter is to get clear on precisely what claim the pessimist is making (and the optimist denying) with respect to aesthetic testimony. After clarifying some key aspects of the pessimist’s claim, it goes on to distinguish between two competing contemporary versions of pessimism. The first, unavailability pessimism, claims that we cannot achieve aesthetic knowledge on the basis of testimony. The second, unusability pessimism, allows that aesthetic judgements formed on the basis of testimony can sometimes attain the status of knowledge but maintains that there is some additional (non-epistemic) norm which still renders such judgements illegitimate. Finally, it introduces some details of my own preferred optimistic view.
Constitutive Pessimism
Authors: Robson Jon
Published: December 2022

This chapter focuses on some prominent defences of pessimism which take this view to be entailed by the very nature of aesthetic judgement, with the result that it is impossible (rather than impermissible) to form aesthetic judgements on the basis of testimony. In particular, it focuses in detail on attempts to motivate this ‘constitutive pessimists’ view by appeal to expressivist accounts of the nature of aesthetic judgement as well as to accounts which link such judgements very closely to some form of appreciation. It is argued that each of these defences either proves unconvincing or else renders the constitutive pessimist’s view (virtually) trivial. The chapter concludes, then, that we must look beyond constitutive motivations if we are going to find a compelling reason to endorse pessimism.
Pessimism and the Appeal to Cases
Authors: Robson Jon
Published: December 2022

This chapter focuses on a common motivation for pessimism which comes via an appeal to intuitions concerning various cases. The pessimist will describe some situation where they claim that (i) an individual forms an aesthetic judgement on the basis of testimony, (ii) the standard conditions for testimonial knowledge (in non-aesthetic cases) are met, and (iii) the individual’s aesthetic judgement is intuitively illegitimate. This chapter offers two lines of argument against using such appeals to motivate pessimism. First, it briefly highlights some reasons for being sceptical as to whether these ‘pessimistic intuitions’ really carry much epistemic weight. Second, it argues that (even granting the force of these intuitions) it is possible to construct an optimistic view which can incorporate many of these intuitions. In order to demonstrate this, the majority of the chapter is spent outlining an account of this kind (one which draws on some insights from contextualist theories in epistemology).
Optimism and the Appeal to Cases
Authors: Robson Jon
Published: December 2022

This chapter argues that a large portion of the apparent intuitive appeal of pessimism comes from a tendency to focus on a very narrow range of cases, and that consideration of a wider range of cases quickly unearths a great deal of intuitive support for optimism. This chapter considers a wider range of intuitions about certain kinds of aesthetic judgement (such as those concerning lost works) as well as appeals to various aspects of our aesthetic practice which are best explained by an appeal to optimism. It then moves on to ask which view of the epistemology of aesthetic testimony is best able to account for the full range of cases. It concludes that standard versions of optimism fare better here than either unavailability or unusability versions of pessimism, but that even these perform less well than my own preferred optimistic view.
Introduction
Authors: Conley Bridget , de Waal Alex , Murdoch Catriona , Jordash Wayne
Published: December 2022

In this chapter, the editors of this volume present the case for why it is important to advance understanding of the available legal tools to address starvation. They argue that despite having international laws on the book that were drafted to address such acts that cause mass starvation, there has to date been little effort to expose and prosecute the crimes. However, the law can and should be applied to starvation crimes. Recent experience indicates both the widespread recognition that the law needs to be strengthened and applied more firmly and that the political obstacles to doing so are formidable. The chapter provides an overview of the key concepts, questions, and cases addressed throughout the book, arguing that the international community requires a taxonomy for the acts that constitute starvation and a will to respond to these acts as prosecutable crimes. The time is ripe, they argue, to consider these issues, especially given recent indicators of momentum in international practices and laws, and new threats of mass starvation. The authors further introduce the volume’s fifteen chapters, and suggest ways in which policy and politics should be developed.
What is Starvation?
Authors: Conley Bridget , de Waal Alex
Published: December 2022

This chapter presents the historical and conceptual framework for ‘starvation’ that informs this volume. Contextualizing mass starvation within famine definitions, the authors argue that the term ‘starvation’ captures a key element often missed in ‘famine’. ‘Starvation’ is a process of deprivation that occurs when actors impede the capacity of targeted persons to access the means of sustaining life, during which pre-existing vulnerabilities interact with policies that create starvation conditions. The term ‘starvation crimes’ is presented as a means to capture the way various legal regimes already criminalize an array of acts and omissions that move populations from conditions of need to life-threatening catastrophe. The authors detail how starvation has been used to by various military and political actors to achieve strategic and tactical goals, illustrating them with historical examples from the nineteenth century until today, ranging across every continent.
‘The Right to Food in Armed Conflict’
Authors: Hutter Simone
Published: December 2022

This chapter presents guidance on the right to food as pertains to states’ obligations, as opposed to individual criminal responsibility articulated in ICL and IHL. It elaborates on how the framework of human rights law includes provisions to prevent starvation in armed conflicts. With a focus on the right to food, the chapter scrutinizes the human rights-based obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil, which impose clear duties on states with respect to famines. It discusses the importance of the right to food in times of armed conflict and dissociates its concepts from the distinct concepts of IHL, the Sustainable Developments Goals, and ICL. It highlights the advantages of the broad scope of the right to food and its ‘progressive realization’ which provides a long-term perspective and aims at an adequate standard of food. In addition, the essential function of the right to food in conflict prevention is emphasized, as human rights already apply before the outbreak of an armed conflict. The right to food is not only indivisibly linked to the survival of populations but also to the inherent dignity of individuals. Access to food, water, and other indispensable objects is a precondition for the fulfilment of other human rights. Finally, this chapter presents the procedural advantages to the complementary application of IHRL and IHL and reviews what avenues for accountability flow specifically from IHRL violations.
Sanctions as a Mechanism for Accountability for Starvation Crimes
Authors: Spatz Benjamin J. , Windridge Oliver , Murdoch Catriona
Published: December 2022

This chapter addresses sanctions as an accountability mechanism for starvation crimes. The sole mechanism referenced in UN Resolution 2417 is sanctions, specifically targeted against individuals and entities that obstruct humanitarian assistance. This reflects the contemporary preference for targeted sanctions, which differ markedly in their design and outcomes from national-level sanctions and are designed to avoid negative humanitarian consequences. The chapter examines the evolution of sanctions regimes at the UN, including mandated investigative and reporting functions, and by the European Union, United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, and their potential use in the case of starvation crimes, with goals that may include exposing and punishing perpetrators, bringing pressure to bear to end such violations, and as a step towards other forms of accountability such as prosecutions
Fire
Authors: Lal Rattan
Published: December 2022

Jagarnath comes to visit the family of Nandlal and his wife Shobavati in the refugee camp at Jammu. There is Nand Lal’s son Chand and the latter’s wife Chuni, and their daughter Daali. Their room is cramped for space. Their son Lal Ji has disappeared. Jagarnath tells them that an acquaintance of his has seen Lal Ji in Kashmir. But this seems to be a piece of fake news. The actual intention of Jagarnath is to prompt the refugee family to sell their house in Kashmir. This intention of Jagarnath psychologically disturbs the refugee family.
Air
Authors: Lal Rattan
Published: December 2022

Omkar Nath is living in Jammu as a refugee. When the story begins, he is returning from Kashmir to Jammu in a bus. The trip of his group to Kashmir was organized by an independent organization from Kolkata. In Kashmir, they were taken to various tourist spots. He also meets his friend Assadullah in the Assembly of people. Assadullah asks him to come to his home and meet his family members. Omkar refuses and promises to come next year. The word ‘home’ resonates in his mind. He returns to Jammu and is lost in thoughts. The incidents like ‘civil curfew’ and announcements from mosque loudspeakers, around the time of his migration, haunt him.
Water
Authors: Lal Rattan
Published: December 2022

Kishan Lal and his wife Duura return to Kashmir after ten years. They have come to meet Rasheed’s daughter Tasleema. Tasleema is mentally distraught ever since her brother Rafiq got killed with a bullet. Rasheed takes them towards Dal and tells the story of Rafiq’s tragic death. He asks them to stay back in Kashmir, if only for the sake of Tasleema. The couple is caught on the horns of a dilemma, not knowing whether to stay in Kashmir or leave for Jammu.
Environmental Law and Policy in India
Authors: Divan Shyam , Rosencranz Armin
Published: December 2022

This book studies environmental law and policy in India, which affects all sections of society. Those most deeply affected by it are the poor. They are the first victims of poor sanitation, polluted air, and contaminated water. Since the 1970s, efforts to protect environmental quality have met with limited success, posing enduring challenges for policy designers and decision-makers entrusted with protecting and preserving natural resources. This third edition retains the familiar analytical structure of the second edition and includes all major developments since then. It focuses on Indian environmental law, policy, problems, and needs. The book covers air and water pollution, forests, wildlife, noise pollution, common property resources and tribal communities, environmental impact assessment, coastal regulations, large projects, urban problems, the National Green Tribunal, hazardous substances, transnational environmental policies, and international environment law. In addition, It identifies and analyses emerging conflicts in Indian environmental jurisprudence with a focus on environmental justice.
National Green Tribunal
Authors: Divan Shyam , Rosencranz Armin
Published: December 2022

This chapter evaluates the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which is the primary environmental dispute resolution forum in India. Potentially, the NGT can develop into a world class institution which improves environmental law enforcement and the quality of the environment enjoyed by citizens. The provisions of the National Green Tribunal Act of 2010 create a Tribunal with immense jurisdiction that can wield this power to great effect to meet the daunting challenges. However, several factors — political, administrative, budgetary, and personality-related — impinge upon the growth of this forum into a dynamic agent of change. Nevertheless, with the necessary vision and leadership, the NGT could emerge as a forceful adjudicator that uses the cases before it to enhance ‘green governance’. The chapter then looks at the constitution and jurisdiction of the NGT; the changes brought about by the Finance Act of 2017; the suo motu jurisdiction and judicial review; and illustrative decisions by the NGT.
Public Interest Litigation
Authors: Divan Shyam , Rosencranz Armin
Published: December 2022

This chapter assesses Public Interest Litigation (PIL), which has played, and continues to play, a crucial role in the development of environmental law in India. Indeed, public discourse on the environment began in the 1980s when the Supreme Court responded to a series of PILs concerning river and air pollution. The constitutional courts have since used PILs to shine a harsh light on neglected environmental problems. They have worked to improve environmental governance, enhance the quality of the environment and protect forests and wildlife. Where legislative gaps persisted, PILs have even been used to nudge in place regulation. All this is in addition to the usual business of courts laying down legal principles applicable to environmental law. The chapter explains how public interest litigations differ from traditional cases and critiques this branch of judicial business. It also examines the right to access information as a facet of procedural environmental rights.
Air Pollution Control
Authors: Divan Shyam , Rosencranz Armin
Published: December 2022

This chapter describes air pollution control in India. It covers issues that impair the quality of the air we breathe — dust, vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, and fireworks during the Diwali festival. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981 was enacted by invoking the Central Government’s power under Article 253 to make laws implementing decisions taken at international conferences. Although a central statute, executive functions under the Air Act are carried out in the states by state pollution control boards. Procedurally, the Air Act follows the basic structure of the Water Act — with a Central board and state boards administering a system of consent orders, monitoring activities, and enforcement through fines and criminal prosecutions. The chapter then looks at Air Act cases, the preservation of the Taj Mahal, and noise pollution.
Wildlife Protection
Authors: Divan Shyam , Rosencranz Armin
Published: December 2022

This chapter studies wildlife protection in India. Wildlife law is about accommodating other species, protecting their habitats and preserving biodiversity. The Indian Forest Act of 1927 included provisions for hunting restrictions in reserved or protected forests and authorized the establishment of sanctuaries. In 1972, India adopted a comprehensive national law, the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972, intended solely to protect wildlife. The Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972 provides the statutory framework for protecting wild animals, plants, and their habitats. The Act adopts a two-pronged conservation strategy: specified endangered species are protected regardless of location, and all species are protected in designated protected areas called national parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserves, or community reserves. The chapter then looks at eco-centrism and the issue of endangered species and poaching.
Biodiversity Litigation in Canada
Authors: Perron-Welch Frederic , Tollefson Chris , Ginsberg Joshua
Published: December 2022

Although Canada began negotiating and ratifying modern international biodiversity agreements in the 1970s, biodiversity litigation has mostly focused on the implementation of laws and regulations linked to the commitments Canada made when ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Areas of particular focus have included species at risk, protected areas, and the customary sustainable use of biological resources by Canada’s indigenous peoples. Canada’s courts and tribunals have traditionally shown deference for the actions of other branches of government, but this deference is being challenged where government actions conflict with Canada’s international commitments or with prevailing science. Public interest litigation has shown how courts can grapple with CBD implementation despite traditionalist objections to reliance on international law arguments, and concerns about transforming courtrooms into ‘academies of science’. It remains to be seen whether Canada can reconcile its international commitments to biodiversity and constitutional obligations to its indigenous peoples while it staunchly reaffirms its commitment to resource-based development and the fossil fuel economy. Although this is primarily a political question, litigation offers an avenue to promote change.
Biodiversity Litigation in China
Authors: Zhu Mingzhe
Published: December 2022

China at the same time enjoys mega-biodiversity and suffers from degradation. In the context of China’s commitment to build ‘ecological civilization’, the growing awareness of biodiversity conservation has produced legislative, institutional, and judicial developments. In effect, the political momentum created by EC is so vast that the enterprise of conservation can be seen in different kinds of process, including public interest litigation, criminal justice, and even civil adjudication. Biodiversity litigation in China is not symbolized by a handful of high-profile landmark cases, but by a large number of ordinary judgments rendered by local-level courts. Although the judicial value of international treaties remains ambiguous, international biodiversity law (IBL) serves as a source of inspiration in both the drafting of laws and judicial practice. This chapter proposes that better elaboration of IBL can help to improve China’s judicial practice in conservation, and that future research will shed more light on the use of scientific arguments and the contribution from some often-neglected actors, such as prosecutors.
Biodiversity Litigation in the UK
Authors: Stookes Paul
Published: December 2022

International biodiversity law (IBL) and litigation play a key role in UK environmental law and policy. However, the UK has a complex legal and regulatory landscape and, arguably, it is becoming more complex as parts of the UK distance themselves from the EU post-Brexit. Domestic law is informed by international treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992, although, given the dualist constitutional system in the UK, the direct impact of IBL can only ever be said to be influential (often very influential) but ultimately not binding due to the concept of parliamentary sovereignty. That said, the indirect influence of IBL is evident and is likely to increasingly play a role as the UK seeks to place itself as a global leader on the international environmental stage. This chapter explores the influence of IBL in UK litigation in the context of the emerging socio-political and legal landscape but struggles to make sense of a complex environmental law system set in a diverging and fragmented society. It concludes that, although there is the opportunity for the UK to meet its aspiration to become an environmental world leader, whether there is increased reliance on IBL remains to be seen.
International Biodiversity Litigation
Authors: Maljean-Dubois Sandrine , Morgera Elisa
Published: December 2022

As a result of the growth of international environmental law and the increasing awareness of the threats to biodiversity, international case law addressing biodiversity issues has so far developed before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization, as well as before arbitral tribunals. Relevant international cases have also arisen in the fields of human rights and investment protection. The comparative study of international case law shows that international biodiversity law has been increasingly invoked before international courts and tribunals, the decisions of which demonstrate a gradual opening-up to address science and uncertainty related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. However, the observable influence of international biodiversity law is still quite limited, operating mainly in indirect ways. A better understanding of the range of available remedies in international law could pave the way for different litigation strategies to emerge in the future, including for more ‘prospective’ litigation, aiming at inducing substantive compliance with international biodiversity law, rather than providing reparation for injury.
India-Pakistan Relations during the UPA Rule
Authors: Saint-Mézard Isabelle
Published: December 2022

At first sight, India-Pakistan relations during the two UPA governments display a familiar pattern—brief moments of bonhomie superseded by suspended ties. However, a closer look reveals some unique features. Sustaining talks and exploring avenues for normalizing ties were the hallmarks of the first UPA government’s approach towards Pakistan. Another feature was UPA’s deliberate choice to maintain a posture of military restraint in response to cross-border terrorism. This chapter is organized into four sections. The first section traces the trajectory of conflict between India and Pakistan. The second section highlights the attempts made by the first UPA government to push multiple formats of negotiations with Pakistan. The third section underlines the reluctance of the UPA governments to resort to the use of force in response to Pakistan-based terrorist attacks. The final section assesses India’s Pakistan policy under the UPA rule, identifying the main factors that hindered the improvement in relationship.
Integrating into the Global Nuclear Order as a Responsible Nuclear-Armed State
Authors: Thakur Ramesh
Published: December 2022

Since May 1998, when India openly proclaimed itself a nuclear-weapon possessing state, India’s nuclear diplomacy has focussed on integrating India into the global nuclear order as a non-NPT de facto nuclear-armed state. This chapter examines India’s nuclear diplomacy during the decade 2004–14 when the two United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments were in the office with Manmohan Singh as the prime minister. The chapter argues that there has been a fundamental continuity in India’s nuclear diplomacy across the NDA and UPA governments based on the pursuit of essentially the same goals despite differences in nuances. The chapter begins with a brief background to establish the continuities until 2004, documents in detail the main thrust of the country’s nuclear diplomacy during 2004–14 and concludes with a comment on the same thrust being maintained by the Narendra Modi government since 2014.
India’s Energy Diplomacy during the UPA Rule, 2004–14
Authors: Kissane Carolyn
Published: December 2022

As India grew economically, energy diplomacy became an important, even critical part of its diplomacy. The decade 2004–14 proved to be an especially challenging period for India’s energy diplomacy due to its development imperative and commitment to reducing energy poverty. This chapter studies India’s energy diplomacy during 2004–14 when the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments were in office. It specifically examines the UPA governments’ strategies to secure oil, gas and coal, nuclear fuel, and technologies from foreign countries to meet the burgeoning energy needs of India’s rapidly growing economy. The chapter starts by examining India’s burgeoning energy needs amidst rising global prices during the period. It provides an in-depth look at the diplomatic strategies for securing energy resources and technologies employed by India during the same period. The chapter concludes by summarizing its findings.
Data Governance
Authors: Obendiek Anke Sophia
Published: December 2022

This book investigates the governance of digital data as a site of fundamental normative and political ordering processes that unfold in light of ever-increasing inter- and transnational linkages. Data governance is characterized by frequent jurisdictional overlap: regulatory efforts in one jurisdiction are likely to affect the conduct of others. How do different actors resolve overlapping claims? Existing literature has identified the impact of institutional processes and power struggles but has underestimated—and undertheorized—prevailing normative differences. This book argues that actors in the field are united by the perception of common stakes but clash about their conflicting visions of what data governance should achieve or avoid and, in fact, what data actually are. Theoretically, it combines Bourdieusian field theory with the concept of value orders drawing on Boltanski and Thévenot. Based on the analysis of five key conflicts in data governance between the EU, the US, and private companies, the book proposes four distinct normative visions of data governance. These visions articulate calls for action depending on their conceptualizations of data as a governable object and the moral justifications for their governance. First, the idea of liberal protection links human rights with the promotion of sovereignty. Second, proponents of a security partnership promote global security cooperation. Third, a vision of the digital economy endorses progress and innovation. Fourth, a vision of global cooperation emphasizes globally interoperable standards of data governance. In sum, this book offers a novel account of how actors negotiate normative differences in a central policy field.
Being and Possibility
Authors: van Inwagen Peter
Published: December 2022

Our discourse commits us to the existence of possibilities—that is, ways things might be. A possibility x includes a possibility y if, necessarily, y is realized if x is. A possibility x is identical with a possibility y if each includes the other. A possibility x is maximal if x is the only possibility that includes x. A maximal possibility is a possible world (or simply a world). A world is said to be actual if it is realized. There is exactly one actual world. Possible worlds are a useful but in principle dispensable device in modal reasoning. A proposition is true in a world if that world includes the possibility of its truth, and an object exists in a world if that world includes the possibility of its existence. Non-actual objects, objects that exist only in non-actual worlds, by definition do not exist.
The Central Doctrine of the Mean
Authors: Hursthouse Rosalind
Published: December 2022

Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean, understood traditionally, can no more be applied fruitfully in his ethics than in his scientific work. The traditional quantitative interpretation (defended by Urmson and Curzer) produces bizarre results; a preferable interpretation of achieving ‘right action, right people, right circumstances’ and so on is illuminating, but emerges as the idea of hitting the centre of a target rather than anything to do with traditional understandings of the mean. As applied to the emotions, the idea of the mean in the medical sense of achieving balance between extremes illuminates ethical education in the virtues.