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From: The Law and Politics Book Review
BOOK NOTICES: Vol 24 (8): 427-444
As a service to subscribers, the REVIEW provides this brief summary of the contents of recent reference works, anthologies of previously published materials, textbooks and collected readings designed for students, casebooks designed for undergraduate and law school use, later editions of books previously reviewed in this journal, and other specialized publications. Unless noted, the comments are taken from the book's jacket cover or the publisher's webpage.
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Ashgate
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Wang, Wei. China’s Banking Law and the National
Treatment of Foreign-Funded Banks.
Ashgate Publishing, 2013. 324 pp. $134.95. ISBN: 987-0-7546-7084-1.
This book assesses new developments in and reform of China's banking law system following its accession of the WTO. It focuses on the relationship between GATS/WTO national treatment obligations and China's banking law. Tracing the history of national treatment in China, the book compares the treatment of foreign-funded banks with the treatment of Chinese-funded banks and examines the structure and shortcomings of the existing banking law framework in China. Offering suggestions as to how the framework could be restructured and analysing the economic and political bases of an integrated banking law framework, the book argues that reorganization would bring about greater consistency with GATS/WTO national treatment requirements. The book also explores the ambiguous definition of prudential carve-out, the subtle relationship between GATS national treatment and market access based on WTO cases, national treatment clauses in China’s bilateral investment treaties, and special treatment on banking in China’s free trade agreements.
[*428]
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Tänzler, Dirk (Editor). The Social Construction of Corruption in Europe. Ashgate Publishing, 2012. 346 pp. $124.95. ISBN: 978-1-4094-0297-8.
The volume demonstrates the suitability of the theory of social constructivism in portraying and analyzing the diversity of the phenomenon of corruption. The approach of social constructivism taken in this volume is able to reconstruct the 'construction of corruption' both from a societal perspective, by assessing it as generally accepted or tolerated behaviour in more or less standardized rule-governed social situations, and from the perspective of actors who perceive corrupt behaviour as problem solving in everyday life. The volume proves the usefulness of a social construction perspective for empirical research. It contains case studies of social definitions of corruption in eleven European countries that contribute in different ways to establishing a grounded theory of the phenomenon of corruption.
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Contiades, Xenophon (Editor). Constitutions in the Global Financial Crisis: A Comparative Analysis. Ashgate Publishing, 2013. 316 pp. $129.95. ISBN: 978-1-4094-6631-4.
This book is the first to address the multi-faceted
influence of the global financial crisis on the national constitutions of
the countries most affected. By tracing the impact of the crisis on formal
and informal constitutional change, sovereignty issues, fundamental rights
protection, regulatory reforms, jurisprudence, the augmentation of
executive power, and changes in the party system it addresses all areas of
the current constitutional law dialogue and aims to become a reference
book with regard to the interaction between financial crises and
constitutions.
The book includes contributions from prominent experts on Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and the USA
providing a critical analysis of the effects of the financial crisis on
the constitution. The volume’s extensive comparative chapter pins down
distinct constitutional reactions towards the financial crisis, building
an explanatory theory that accounts for the different ways constitutions
responded to the crisis. How and why constitutions formed their reactions
in the face of the financial crisis unravels throughout the book.
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Paquin, Julie. Legal Reform and Business Contracts in Developing Economies: Trust, Culture and Law in Dakar. Ashgate Publishing, 2013. $119.95. 174 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4094-4488-6.
[*429]
This book examines the prospects for business law reform to
drive economic development in developing countries. It argues that,
despite statements to the contrary, cultural factors and other local
conditions in developing countries are not properly taken into account in
current business law reform programs. Utilizing the city of Dakar as an
example, this book investigates the consequences of this lack of fit
between local needs and transplanted legal models by examining the
potential and actual impact of the OHADA program of law reform on local
business practices. Focusing on how managers make decisions and apply
appropriate norms in routine business operations, the book documents how
contractual disputes arise and are solved in Dakar and the role played by
formal law in these processes.
By examining imported law from the point of view of the end-users of legal
reforms, the book reveals the complex relationship between formal law,
local cultural norms and the activities of SMEs operating in developing
economies, and calls for a reconsideration of current law and development
theory as well as the role of contract law in business decisions. It will
be relevant to all developing countries seeking to align their laws with
‘best practice’ as identified by aid institutions.
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Cambridge University Press Back to Top ______________________________________________________________________________
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Branch, Jordan. The Cartographic State: Maps, Territory, and the Origins of Sovereignty. Cambridge University Press, 2014. 242 pp. $90.00. ISBN: 978-1-1070-4096-0.
Why is today's world map filled with uniform states separated by linear boundaries? The answer to this question is central to our understanding of international politics, but the question is at the same time much more complex – and more revealing – than we might first think. This book examines the important but overlooked role played by cartography itself in the development of modern states. Drawing upon evidence from the history of cartography, peace treaties and political practices, the book reveals that early modern mapping dramatically altered key ideas and practices among both rulers and subjects, leading to the implementation of linear boundaries between states and centralized territorial rule within them. In his analysis of early modern innovations in the creation, distribution and use of maps, Branch explains how the relationship between mapping and the development of modern territories shapes our understanding of international politics today.
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Nafziger, James A.R., Robert Kirkwood Paterson, and Alison Dundes Renteln. Cultural Law: International, Comparative, and Indigenous. Cambridge University Press, 2010. 1042 pp. $167.00. ISBN: 978-0-5218-6550-0.. Paperback, 2014, $95.00. ISBN 9781107613096.
[*430]
New in paperback this year. Cultural law is a new and exciting field of study and practice. The core themes of linguistic and other cultural rights, cultural heritage, traditional crafts and knowledge, the performing arts, sports, and religion are of fundamental importance to people around the world, engaging them at the grass roots and often commanding their daily attention. The related legal processes are both significant and complex. This unique collection of materials and commentary on cultural law covers a broad range of themes. Opening chapters explore critical issues involving cultural activities, artifacts, and status as well as the fundamental concepts of culture and law. Subsequent chapters examine the dynamic interplay of law and culture with respect to each of the core themes. The materials demonstrate the reality and efficacy of comparative, international, and indigenous law and legal practices in the dynamic context of culture-related issues. Throughout the book, these issues are presented at multiple levels of legal authority: international, national, and subnational.
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Mershon, Carol and Olga Shvetson. Party System Change in Legislatures Worldwide. Cambridge University Press, 2013. 237 pp. $90.00. ISBN: 978-0-5217-6583-1.
In this book, Carol Mershon and Olga Shvetsova explore one
of the central questions in democratic politics: How much autonomy do
elected politicians have to shape and reshape the party system on their
own, without the direct involvement of voters in elections? Mershon and
Shvetsova's theory focuses on the choices of party membership made by
legislators while serving in office. It identifies the inducements and
impediments to legislators' changes of partisan affiliation, and
integrates strategic and institutional approaches to the study of parties
and party systems. With empirical analyses comparing nine countries that
differ in electoral laws, territorial governance, and
executive-legislative relations, Mershon and Shvetsova find that strategic
incumbents have the capacity to reconfigure the party system as
established in elections. Representatives are motivated to bring about
change by opportunities arising during the parliamentary term, and are
deterred from doing so by the elemental democratic practice of elections.
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Brummer, Chris. Soft Law and the Global Financial System: Rule Making in the 21st Century. Cambridge University Press, 2012. 308 pp. $34.99. ISBN: 978-0-5211-8167-9.
The global financial crisis of 2008 has given way to a
proliferation of international agreements aimed at strengthening the
prudential oversight and supervision of financial market participants. Yet
how these rules operate is not well understood. Because international
financial
rules are expressed through informal, non-binding accords, scholars tend
to view them as either weak treaty substitutes, or by-products of national
power. Rarely, if ever, are they cast as independent variables that can
inform the behavior of regulators and market participants alike. This book
explains how international financial law works - and [*431] presents an
alternative theory for understanding its purpose, operation, and
limitations. Drawing on a close institutional analysis of the post-crisis
financial architecture, it argues that international financial law is
often bolstered by a range of reputational, market, and institutional
mechanisms that make it more coercive than classical theories of
international law predict. As such, it is a powerful, though at times
imperfect tool of financial diplomacy, and poses novel opportunities and
challenges for the evolving global economic order.
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Schiff, Jade Larissa. Burdens of Political Responsibility: Narrative and the Cultivation of Responsiveness. Cambridge University Press, 2014. 174 pp. $159.95. ISBN: 978-1-1070-4162-2.
How can human beings acknowledge and experience the burdens of political responsibility? Why are we tempted to flee them, and how might we come to affirm them? Jade Larissa Schiff calls this experience of responsibility 'the cultivation of responsiveness'. In Burdens of Political Responsibility: Narrative and the Cultivation of Responsiveness, she identifies three dispositions that inhibit responsiveness - thoughtlessness, bad faith, and misrecognition - and turns to storytelling in its manifold forms as a practice that might facilitate and frustrate it. Through critical engagements with an unusual cast of characters (from Bourdieu to Sartre) hailing from a variety of disciplines (political theory, phenomenology, sociology, and literary criticism), she argues that how we represent our world and ourselves in the stories we share, and how we receive those stories, can facilitate and frustrate the cultivation of responsiveness.
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Carolina
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Anawalt, Howard. Complete IP Guide: Intellectual Property in the 21st Century. Carolina Academic Press, 2011. 290 pp. $30.00. ISBN: 978-1-5946-0313-6.
Idea Rights presents a concise and accurate view of United
States intellectual property law for the interested general reader, for
attorneys, and for classes that introduce or otherwise cover the material.
It contains seven chapters: 1) Intellectual property in general, 2)
Patents,
3) Copyrights, 4) Trademarks, 5) Trade Secrets, 6) Other Legal Theories,
and 7) Policy. The book includes an Appendix that presents a special
Internet case study. Each chapter examines major statutes and cases,
making the reader fully aware of context, then concludes with a one-page
reference table summarizing the law. The book presents numerous relevant
photos, exhibits from legal documents, and other illustrations relevant
[*432] to understanding the issues. This book emphasizes application of
the law in actual situations. Its coverage follows the analytical thinking
done by lawyers in all phases of intellectual property problem solving.
Each chapter analyzes the development of the law and areas of application,
such as protection of software and controversies over the use of the
Internet. Reading Idea Rights will demonstrate the power of intellectual
property in the United States and the world.
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Black, Robert Ray. Local Counsel: First Women at The Citadel. Carolina Academic Press, 2012. 352 pp. $45.00. ISBN: 978-1-6116-3032-9.
This personal account of the first women at The Citadel uses Faulkner’s and veteran women’s lawsuits filed in the early 1990s to write about the good ole boy way of life in South Carolina. It is as much about how the state operates as it is about the litigants and a failure of leadership at The Citadel. Faulkner’s suit is notable as a high-profile advance in women’s equal protection under the law, but it makes sense only within a larger context of political, economic, and social life unique to the state. During litigation, The Citadel often described itself as the last dinosaur for its efforts to preserve an ancien régime in its male-only admissions policy to the Corps of Cadets. Local Counsel is the day-in-the-life story of the eight years of a sole practitioner's dinosaur hunt.
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Berman, Daniel M. and Victoria J. Haneman. Making Tax Law. Carolina Academic Press, 2014. 282 pp. $40.00. ISBN: 978-1-6116-3280-4.
This book explores the process of making U.S. tax law and examines the ways in which considerations of tax policy, tax politics, and tax administration intersect and contribute to the development of law through the legislative process, the promulgation of regulations and other administrative guidance, and the negotiation and ratification of tax treaties. The book provides detailed information regarding the legislative process that has not been published in other resources. This insider’s look into the workings of the government is derived from Berman’s twenty-five-year career as a Washington, D.C. tax attorney. The book uses tax legislation as a substantive backdrop for considering the legislative process and is suited for use in J.D.- or LL.M.-level courses such as Making Tax Law, Legislation, or Federal Regulatory and Legislative Practice Seminar.
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Kuszler, Patricia C. and Christy Thompson Ibrahim (Editors). Discussions on Disability Law and Policy. Carolina Academic Press, 2014. 470 pp. $53.00. ISBN: 978-1-6116-3395-5.
More traditional casebooks contain fragments of cases
clumped together by statute, while this text contains interesting,
multidisciplinary articles categorized by disability studies [*433]
topics. The topics are cutting-edge and were chosen based on demonstrated
student interest over the years. Issues like the disability rights
movement, deinstitutionalization, public transportation, inclusion,
homelessness, immigration, the International Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, and supported employment will engage students
and introduce them to the diverse and intriguing issues of disability law
and rights.
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Banakar, Reza and Max Travers (Editors). Law and Social Theory. Hart Publishing, 2013. 378 pp. £25.00. ISBN: 978-1-8494-6381-2.
There is a growing interest within law schools in the
intersections between law and different areas of social theory. The second
edition of this popular text introduces a wide range of traditions in
sociology and the humanities that offer provocative, contextual views on
law and legal institutions.
The book is organised into six sections, each with an introduction by the
editors, on classical sociology of law, systems theory, critical
approaches, law in action, postmodernism, and law in global society. Each
chapter is written by a specialist who reviews the literature, and
discusses how the approach can be used in researching different topics.
New chapters include authoritative reviews of actor network theory, new
legal realism, critical race theory, post-colonial theories of law, and
the sociology of the legal profession. Over half the chapters are new, and
the rest are revised in order to include discussion of recent literature.
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Gillespie, Alexander. The Causes Of War Volume 1: 3000 BCE to 1000 C.E. Hart Publishing, 2013. 284 pp. $85.00. ISBN: 978-1-8494-6500-7.
This is the first volume of a projected four-volume series charting the causes of war from 3000 BCE to the present day, written by a leading international lawyer, and using as its principal materials the documentary history of international law largely in the form of treaties and the negotiations which led up to them. These volumes seek to show why millions of people, over thousands of years, slayed each other. In departing from the various theories put forward by historians, anthropologists and psychologists, Gillespie offers a different taxonomy of the causes of war, focusing on the broader settings of politics, religion, migrations and empire-building. These four contexts were dominant [*434] and often overlapping justifications for the first four thousand years of human civilisation, for which written records exist.
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Williams-Elegbe, Sope. Fighting Corruption in Public Procurement: A Comparative Analysis of Disqualification or Debarment Measures. Hart Publishing, 2012. 356 pp. £82.00 ($164). ISBN: 978-1-8494-6020-0.
Anti-corruption measures have firmly taken centre stage in the development agenda of international organisations as well as in developed and developing countries. One area in which corruption manifests itself is in public procurement and, as a result, States have adopted various measures to prevent and curb corruption in public procurement. One such mechanism for dealing with procurement corruption is to debar or disqualify corrupt suppliers from bidding for or otherwise obtaining government contracts.
This book examines the issues and challenges raised by the debarment or
disqualification of corrupt suppliers from public contracts. Implementing
a disqualification mechanism in public procurement raises serious
practical and conceptual difficulties, which are not always considered by
legislative provisions on disqualification. Some of the problems that may
arise from the use of disqualifications include determining whether a
conviction for corruption ought to be a pre-requisite to disqualification,
bearing in mind that corruption thrives in secret, resulting in a dearth
of convictions. Another issue is determining how to balance the tension
between granting adequate procedural safeguards to a supplier in
disqualification proceedings and not delaying the procurement process. A
further issue is determining the scope of the disqualification in the
sense of determining whether it applies to firms, natural persons,
subcontractors, subsidiaries or other persons related to the corrupt firm
and whether disqualification will lead to the termination of existing
contracts.
The book compares and contrasts the legal, practical and institutional
approaches to the implementation of the disqualification mechanism in the
European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Republic of
South Africa and the World Bank.
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Ringe , Wolf-Georg and Peter M. Huber (Editors). Legal Challenges in the Global Financial Crisis: Bail-Outs, the Euro and Regulation. Hart Publishing, 2014. 288 pp. $120.00. ISBN: 978-1-8494-6439-0.
The global financial and economic crisis which started in 2008 has had devastating effects around the globe. It has caused a rethinking in different areas of law, and posed new challenges to regulators and private actors alike. One of the emerging issues is the apparent eclipse of boundaries between different legal disciplines: financial and corporate lawyers have to learn how public law instruments can complement their traditional governance tools; conversely, public lawyers have had to come to understand the specificities of the financial markets they intend to regulate. [*435]
While commentary on financial regulation and the global financial crisis
abounds, it tends to remain within disciplinary boundaries. This volume
not only brings together scholarship from different areas of law
(constitutional and administrative law, EU law, financial law and
regulation), but also from a variety of backgrounds (academia, practice,
policy-making) and a number of different jurisdictions.
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Niglia, Leone. Pluralism and European Private Law. Hart Publishing, 2013. 294 pp. $100.00. ISBN: 978-1-8494-6337-9.
European private law has hitherto tended to be conceptualized firmly around ideas of unity and harmony. Yet the discourse within other areas of European law, notably constitutional law scholarship, visibly adopts pluralist perspectives. This book seeks to bridge the gap between 'public' and 'private' law by looking at European private law from various pluralist positions and by investigating old and new ways in which to understand legal pluralism in general. It fills a gap in the wide literature on legal pluralism, as the first book entirely dedicated to offering an insight into legal pluralism from the vantage point of the private law domain. The book addresses critically issues such as what pluralism really means in private law and what conceptions of pluralism it embodies, including discussion about the outer boundaries of any of the pluralist understandings. Contributions address comparative, critical, historical, theoretical and normative aspects. The book provides an opportunity to engage innovatively with problematic conceptual issues which inform the work of European private law scholars, including the debate on the Common Frame of Reference Project of the European Commission.
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Talmon, Stefan and Bing-Bing Jia (Editors). The South China Sea Arbitration: A Chinese Perspective. Hart Publishing, 2013. 180pp. $60.00. ISBN: 978-1-8494-6547-2.
On January 22, 2013, the Republic of the Philippines instituted arbitral proceedings against the People's Republic of China (PRC) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with regard to disputes between the two countries in the South China Sea ('South China Sea Arbitration'). On February 19, 2013, the PRC formally expressed its opposition to the institution of proceedings, making it clear from the outset that it will not have any part in these arbitral proceedings and that this position will not change. It is thus to be expected that, over the next year and a half, the tribunal will receive written memorials and hear oral submissions by the Philippines only. The Chinese position will go unheard. However, the tribunal is under an obligation, before making its award, to satisfy itself, not only that it has jurisdiction over the dispute, but also that the claims brought by the Philippines are well founded in fact and law (UNCLOS Annex VII, Art. 9). Bringing together scholars of public international law from mainland China, Taiwan, and Europe, and united by a common interest in the law of the sea and disputes in the South China Sea, this book offers a Chinese perspective on some of the issues to be decided by the tribunal and thus to assist the tribunal in meeting its obligations under the Convention. The book does not set out the official position of the [*436] Chinese government, but is rather to serve as a kind of amicus curiae brief, advancing possible legal arguments on behalf of the absent respondent. It does not deal with the merits of the disputes between the Philippines and the PRC, but focuses on the questions of jurisdiction, admissibility, and other objections which the tribunal will have to decide as a preliminary matter. The book shows that there are insurmountable preliminary objections to the tribunal deciding the case on the merits, and that the tribunal would be well advised to refer the dispute back to the parties in order for them to reach a negotiated settlement.
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NYU
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Levinson, Sanford, Joel Parker, and Paul Woodruff (Editors). Loyalty: Nomos LIV. NYU Press, 2013. 204 pp. $65.00. ISBN: 978-0-8147-8593-5.
Few topics are more ubiquitous in everyday life and, at the same time, more controversial in practice, than that of one's moral obligation to loyalty. Featuring essays by scholars working in a variety of subjects from law to psychology, Loyalty presents diverse perspectives on dilemmas posed by potential conflicts between loyalties to specific institutions or professional roles and more universalistic conceptions of moral duty. The volume begins with a philosophical exploration of theories of loyalty, both Eastern and Western, then moves to examine several problematic situations in which loyalty is often a factor: partisan politics, the armed forces, and lawyer-client relationships. A fair and balanced analysis from a wide range of disciplinary and normative viewpoints, Loyalty infuses new life into an oft-tread avenue of scholarly inquiry.
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Oxford
University Press
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Matthews, Michael D. Headstrong: How Psychology Is Revolutionizing War. Oxford University Press, 2013. 288pp. Hardcover $29.95. ISBN: 978-0-1999-1617-7.
Psychology is the science that will determine who wins and who loses the wars of the 21st century, just as physics ultimately led the United States to victory in World War II. Changes in the world's political landscape coupled with radical advances in the technology of war will greatly alter how militaries are formed, trained, and led. [*437] Leadership under fire - and the traits and skills it requires - is also changing. Grant, Lee, Pershing, Patton - these generals would not succeed in 21st century conflicts.
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Meyer, Philip N. Storytellingfor Lawyers. Oxford University Press, 2014. 256 pp. $19.95. ISBN: 978-0-1953-9663-8.
Good lawyers have an ability to tell stories. Whether they are arguing a murder case or a complex financial securities case, they can capably explain a chain of events to judges and juries so that they understand them. The best lawyers are also able to construct narratives that have an emotional impact on their intended audiences. But what is a narrative, and how can lawyers go about constructing one? How does one transform a cold presentation of facts into a seamless story that clearly and compellingly takes readers not only from point A to point B, but to points C, D, E, F, and G as well? In Storytelling for Lawyers, Phil Meyer explains how. He begins with a pragmatic theory of the narrative foundations of litigation practice and then applies it to a range of practical illustrative examples: briefs, judicial opinions and oral arguments. Intended for legal practitioners, teachers, law students, and even interdisciplinary academics, the book offers a basic yet comprehensive explanation of the central role of narrative in litigation. The book also offers a narrative tool kit that supplements the analytical skills traditionally emphasized in law school as well as practical tips for practicing attorneys that will help them craft their own legal stories.
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Polity
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Montero, Alfred P. Brazil: Reversal of Fortune. Polity Press, 2014. 288 pp. $69.95. ISBN: 978-0-7456-6165-0.
Once deemed a “dysfunctional” democracy with a “feckless” set of political institutions and a “drunk” economy, today’s Brazil has undergone a complete reversal of fortune. Now in its third decade of democracy, the economy is blossoming and large–scale development projects are underway, including the exploitation of massive, off–shore oil reserves, a nationwide effort to modernize infrastructure, and preparations for the hosting of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Inequality and poverty are reducing and even Brazil’s political institutions are more governable and are producing a higher–quality democracy than most observers once thought possible. Alfred P. Montero’s timely and wide–ranging book explores Brazil’s amazing “turnaround” – from improvements to the working of its political institutions and judiciary, to the renewal of economic growth, the advent of innovative social policy, and the emergence of a new foreign policy agenda. Unpacking both overly optimistic as well as pessimistic views of [*438] Brazilian politics and development, Montero offers illuminating insights into the country’s transformation and its increasing significance on the international stage.
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Coker, Christopher. Can War Be Eliminated? Polity Press, 2014. 120 pp. $40.00. ISBN: 978-0-7456-7923-5.
Throughout history, war seems to have had an iron grip on humanity. In this short book, internationally renowned philosopher of war, Christopher Coker, challenges the view that war is an idea that we can cash in for an even better one - peace. War, he argues, is central to the human condition; it is part of the evolutionary inheritance which has allowed us to survive and thrive. New technologies and new geopolitical battles may transform the face and purpose of war in the 21st century, but our capacity for war remains undiminished. The inconvenient truth is that we will not see the end of war until it exhausts its own evolutionary possibilities.
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West, David. Social Movements in Global Politics. Polity Press, 2013. 224 pp. $24.95. ISBN: 978-0-7456-4960-3.
In the face of impending global crises and stubborn
conflicts, a conventional view of politics risks leaving us confused and
fatalistic, feeling powerless because we are unaware of all that can be
achieved by political means. By contrast, a variety of recent social
movements, ranging from those of women, gays and lesbians and
anti-racists, to environmentalists, the Occupy movement and the Arab
Spring, demonstrate the enormous potential of political action beyond the
institutional sphere of politics. At the same time, religious
fundamentalists, racial supremacists and ultra-nationalists make clear
that movements are not necessarily progressive and are often at odds with
one another.
West highlights the many ways in which national and global institutions
depend on a broader context of extra-institutional action or what is, in
effect, the formative dimension of politics. He explores some of the major
contributions of social movements: from the genealogy of liberal
democratic nation-states, sixties’ radicalism and the ‘new social
movements’ to the politics of sexuality, gender and identity, the
politicization of nature and climate, and alter-globalization. The book
also considers current theoretical approaches and sets out the basis for a
critical theory of social movements. This is a fresh and original account
of social movements in politics and will be essential reading for any
students and scholars interested in the challenges and the unpredictable
potential of political action.
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Kane, M. Thomas. Strategy: Key Thinkers. Polity Press, 2013. 224 pp. $69.95. ISBN: 978-0-7456-4353-3. [*439]
Over twenty two centuries ago, the Greek general Pyrrhus
questioned the real gains of military victory. Today we might reflect on
the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in much the same way. War is not
only cruel but capricious; its outcomes are often bitter and frustrating,
even for the winning side.
Strategy: Key Thinkers expertly introduces the ideas of major
strategic thinkers whose work explores the complex challenges associated
with the use of military force. Early chapters deal with the foundational
work of Sun Tzu (Sunzi), Thucydides, Vegetius, Machiavelli and Carl von
Clausewitz and their relevance to problems facing Western militaries
today. The book then considers broader issues, such as the distinctive
importance of air and maritime operations, the difficulty of waging
offensive land warfare in the face of modern firepower, the implications
of nuclear weapons, and the potential of irregular warfare. It concludes
by highlighting key themes which connect - and distinguish - the works
under consideration, noting how these similarities and differences can
inform the strategic debates of the early twenty-first century.
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Dauvergne, Peter and Genevieve Lebaron. Protest Inc.: The Corporatization of Activism. Polity Press, 2014. 200 pp. $64.95.ISBN: 978-0-7456-6948-9.
Mass protests have raged since the global financial crisis
of 2008. Across the world students and workers and environmentalists are
taking to the streets. Discontent is seething even in the wealthiest
countries, as the world saw with Occupy Wall Street in 2011.
Protest Inc. tells a disturbingly different story of global activism. As
millions of grassroots activists rally against capitalism, activism more
broadly is increasingly mirroring business management and echoing calls
for market-based solutions. The past decade has seen nongovernmental
organizations partner with oil companies like ExxonMobil, discount
retailers like Walmart, fast-food chains like McDonald’s, and brand
manufacturers like Nike and Coca-Cola. NGOs are courting billionaire
philanthropists, branding causes, and turning to consumers as wellsprings
of reform.
Are “career” activists selling out to pay staff and fund programs? Partly.
But far more is going on. Political and socioeconomic changes are
enhancing the power of business to corporatize activism, including a
worldwide crackdown on dissent, a strengthening of consumerism, a
privatization of daily life, and a shifting of activism into
business-style institutions. Grassroots activists are fighting back. Yet,
even as protestors march and occupy cities, more and more activist
organizations are collaborating with business and advocating for
corporate-friendly “solutions.” This landmark book sounds the alarm about
the dangers of this corporatizing trend for the future of transformative
change in world politics.
[*440]
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Quid
Pro Books
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Llewellyn, Karl N. The Bramble Bush. Quid Pro Books, 2012. 202 pp. $16.99. ISBN: 978-1-6102-7134-9.
Written over 80 years ago, but highly relevant today, "The Bramble Bush" remains one of the books most recommended for students to read when considering law school, just before beginning its study, or early in the first semester. Its first edition began as a collection from a series of introductory lectures given by legal legend Karl Llewellyn to new law students at Columbia University. It still speaks to law, legal reasoning, and exam-taking skills in a way that makes it a classic for each new generation. The new Quid Pro "Legal Legends" Edition includes an extensive 2012 Introduction by Stewart Macaulay, a senior law professor at the University of Wisconsin. Macaulay updates the modern reader on the book's current relevance and application, offers a practical perspective to new law students, and places the original edition in its historical context. Simply put, Macaulay writes, this "is a book that anyone interested in law schools or law should read." Llewellyn's pointed and clear explanations of case briefing before class, visualization of case facts, active learning in class, the use of precedent, exam formats, and the limits of logic have proved timeless and highly practical. They remain excellent advice for current students to consider and implement in their own journey into the law. This is no Chamber of Commerce speech of mere platitudes about law practice and the grandeur of the bar. To be sure, Llewellyn believed in law school and legal education, and in dreaming big about a life in the law. But he was-famously-a realist above all, and this book gets to the nuts and bolts of studying law successfully in traditional legal education. Whether from the enduring nature of his hands-on advice, or from the reality that the first year of law study and its classroom method simply have not changed very much over the years, the book remains, by all accounts, targeted to the way 'thinking like a lawyer' continues in the modern law school. Now in a high-quality new edition from Quid Pro, "The Bramble Bush" is part of the "Legal Legends" Series.
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Temple
University Press
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Park, John S. W. Illegal Migrations and the Huckleberry Finn Problem.
Temple University Press, 2013. 278 pp. $28.95. ISBN: 978-1-4399-1047-4.
Throughout American history, citizens have encountered people who are "illegal" - that is, people who have no legal right to be in the United States or to freedom of movement [*441] because of their immigration status or race. Like Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, these citizens face the conflict between sympathy for the unlawful other and the force of the law. In Illegal Migrations and the Huckleberry Finn Problem, John Park explores recurring problems of status and illegality in American law and society by examining on-going themes in American legal history, comparative ethnic studies, and American literature. He observes that in reconsidering racially discriminatory laws, Americans have celebrated persons who were "out of status," as well as the citizens who had helped them avoid American law. Similarly, in confronting illegal immigrants in our own time, many Americans have chosen to ignore or to violate federal laws in favor of assisting such persons. In light of these experiences, Park insists that the U.S. ought to rethink policies that have criminalized millions of immigrants, as the injustice of such rules has encouraged people to disobey the law, thereby undermining broader commitments to principles of equality and to the rule of law itself.
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University
of Chicago Press
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Thorpe, Rebecca U. The American Warfare State: The
Domestic Politics of Military Spending.
University of Chicago Press, 2014. 246 pp. $25.00. ISBN:
978-0-2261-2407-0.
In The American Warfare State, Rebecca U. Thorpe argues that there are profound relationships among the size and persistence of the American military complex, the growth in presidential power to launch military actions, and the decline of congressional willingness to check this power. The public costs of military mobilization and war, including the need for conscription and higher tax rates, served as political constraints on warfare for most of American history. But the vast defense industry that emerged from World War II also created new political interests that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate. Many rural and semirural areas became economically reliant on defense-sector jobs and capital, which gave the legislators representing them powerful incentives to press for ongoing defense spending regardless of national security circumstances or goals. At the same time, the costs of war are now borne overwhelmingly by a minority of soldiers who volunteer to fight, future generations of taxpayers, and foreign populations in whose lands wars often take place.
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University
of Georgia Press
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Gentry, Caron E. and Amy E. Eckert (Editors). Future of Just War: New Critical Essays. The University of Georgia Press, 2014. 200 pp. $75.00. ISBN: 978-0-8203-4560-4
Just War scholarship has adapted to contemporary crises and
situations. But its adaptation has spurned debate and conversation—a
method and means of pushing its thinking forward. Now the Just War
tradition risks becoming marginalized. This concern may seem out of place
as Just
War literature is proliferating, yet this literature remains welded to
traditional conceptualizations of Just War. Caron E. Gentry and Amy E.
Eckert argue that the tradition needs to be updated to deal with substate
actors within the realm of legitimate authority, private military
companies, and the questionable moral difference between the use of
conventional and nuclear weapons. Additionally, as recent policy makers
and scholars have tried to make the Just War criteria legalistic, they
have weakened the tradition’s ability to draw from and adjust to its
contemporaneous setting. The essays in The Future of Just War seek to
reorient the tradition around its core concerns of preventing the unjust
use of force by states and limiting the harm inflicted on vulnerable
populations such as civilian noncombatants. The pursuit of these
challenges involves both a reclaiming of traditional Just War principles
from those who would push it toward greater permissiveness with respect to
war, as well as the application of Just War principles to emerging issues,
such as the growing use of robotics in war or the privatization of force.
These essays share a commitment to the idea that the tradition is more
about a rigorous application of Just War principles than the satisfaction
of a checklist of criteria to be met before waging “just” war in the
service of national interest.
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Vasquez, Patricia L. Oil Sparks In The Amazon: Local Conflicts, Indigenous Populations, And Natural Resources. University of Georgia Press, 2014. 187 pp. $25.00. ISBN: 978-0-8203-4562-8.
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UBC
Press
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Krikorian, Jaqueline D. International Trade Law and Domestic Policy: Canada, the United States, and the World Trade Organization. UBC Press, 2013. 290pp. Hardcover $99.00 ISBN 978-0774823067 Paperback $35.95. ISBN: 978-0-7748-2307-4.
Critics of the World Trade Organization argue that its binding dispute settlement process imposes a neoliberal agenda on its member states with little to no input from their citizenry or governments. If this is the case, why would any nation agree to participate? In "International Trade Law and Domestic Policy, " Jacqueline Krikorian explores this question by examining the impact of the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism on domestic policies in the United States and Canada. She demonstrates that the WTO's ability to influence domestic arrangements has been constrained by three factors: judicial deference, institutional arrangements, and strategic decision making by political elites in Ottawa and Washington. In this groundbreaking assessment of whether supranational courts are now setting the legislative agenda of sovereign nations, Krikorian brings the insights of law and politics scholarship to bear on a subject matter traditionally addressed by international relations scholars. By doing so, she shows that the classic division between these two fields of study in the discipline of political science, though suitable in the postwar era, is outdated in the context of a globalized world.
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Larsen, Mike and Kevin Walby. Brokering Access: Power,
Politics and Freedom of Information Process in Canada. UBC Press,
2012. 400pp. Hardcover $95.00. ISBN: 9780774823227. Paperback $34.95.ISBN:
9780774823234
Is the business of public officials any of the public's business? Most
Canadians would argue that it is - that we citizens are entitled to
enquire and get answers about our government's actions. Access to
information (ATI) is widely regarded as a fundamental right, consistent
with the notion that a democratic government should be open, accountable,
and citizen-driven. Yet, on a practical level, there still exists a
struggle between the public's pursuit of transparency and the government's
persistent culture of secrecy. Drawing together the unique perspectives of
social scientists, journalists, and ATI advocates, Brokering Access
explores the policies and practices surrounding access [*444] to
information at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. The book's
four sections each explore a different aspect of ATI within a theoretical
or practical framework. Beginning with a look at the history of ATI
mechanisms and a summary of the key features of contemporary ATI laws,
Brokering Access goes on to tackle issues of security and information
control; illustrates how ATI can be used as a data production method in
the social sciences; and finally chronicles the experiences of some of
Canada's most prominent journalistic users of ATI. This volume sheds new
light on a subject that affects all Canadians.
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