Author Archives: oneditor
Transnational Federalism: Problems and Prospects of Allocating Public Authority Beyond the State
Today it is widely accepted that the international system is undergoing rather dramatic changes—changes that have a strong impact on the status and role of the state as the once-sole political entity vested with the power to exercise sovereign public … Continue reading
The Art and Science of Genetic Modification: Re-Engineering Patent Law and Constitutional Orthodoxies
As a lawyer interested in biotechnology, I find it difficult to restrict myself to any one of the many interconnected areas in which law and biotechnology intersect. Administrative law, constitutional law, criminal law, employment law, environmental law, evidence, family law, … Continue reading
From Empire to Globalization…and Back? A Post-Colonial View of Transjudicialism
From Empire to Globalization: The New Zealand Experience presents a picture of a government at a fascinating historical moment—achieving full status as an independent sovereign, ridding itself of the last vestiges of colonialism, just as the forces of globalization are … Continue reading
Federalism Through a Global Lens: A Call for Deferential Judicial Review
This article examines the effects of judicial review in federalism cases on governmental flexibility and creativity at the national level. It argues that the global era in which we now live and the New Deal of the 1930s and beyond … Continue reading
Lessons from Stockholm: Evaluating the Global Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
On May 22, 2001, representatives from over 120 countries signed a new treaty in Stockholm, Sweden, regulating the “dirty dozen” persistent organic pollutants (POPs)—some of the most dangerous chemicals in the world. POPs are hardy, toxic chemicals that persist in … Continue reading
Reconciling Human Rights and Sovereignty: A Framework for Global Property Law
In the wake of the massive destruction and notorious human rights abuses of World War II, the nations of the world made a widely supported commitment to protecting human rights. Fundamental to this agreement was the understanding that nation-states, previously … Continue reading
From Reluctant Champion to Development Ringmaster: Managing the Expanding Mission of the World Bank
In the last decade, the World Bank has catapulted from relative obscurity in its work to alleviate global poverty to centrality in the latest controversies over development, economic interdependence, and the global economy. Since its inception at the Bretton Woods … Continue reading
Normative Creativity and Global Legal Pluralism: Reflections on the Democratic Critique of Transnational Law
The globalization process has changed the nature of the “social.” Social interactions have become much more varied and flexible—transgressing traditional political and cultural boundaries (and expectations). The emergence of new forms of global law, which evolve and operate across these … Continue reading
Prescriptive Jurisdiction over Internet Activity: The Need to Define and Establish the Boundaries of Cyberliberty
Globalization occurs at the nexus of politics, culture, technology, finance, national security, and ecology.“Globalization” refers to the increasingly “complex, dynamic legal and social processes” occurring throughout the world. It is the development of a global mindset that challenges the traditional … Continue reading
Changing Identities and Changing Law: Possibilities for a Global Legal Culture
The 2002 World Cup provided a symbolic moment in the evolving relationship of identity and the nation-state. The source was the Polish squad, one of the teams hoping to create a stir in that summer of fine football. Still emerging … Continue reading
Examining the (Non-)Status of NGOs
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly influential players on the international scene. Since the end of the Cold War, NGOs have enjoyed increasingly easy access to, and better possibilities to affect, political processes taking place above the national level. In fact, … Continue reading
Mitigating Human Rights Risks Under State- Financed and Privatized Infrastructure Projects
Infrastructure projects undertaken in developing countries and transition societies are presently sites of intense human rights struggles. For instance, public outcry resulting from a well-orchestrated non-governmental campaign led the World Bank to withdraw support for a series of state-sponsored dam … Continue reading
A Critical Methodology of Globalization: Politics of the 21st Century?
With international protests against globalization occurring almost as frequently as the term “globalization” is uttered, the fundamental question of what globalization is seems to have been eclipsed by promulgations of its arrival. Globalization, as proponents and protesters alike proclaim, is … Continue reading
Globalization and Governance: The Prospects for Democracy
The contours of public law are changing rapidly, and judges, practitioners, and academic writers are anxiously seeking a guide to the new frontiers. Reference has been made by some American observers to the “profound changes brought about by deregulation, commercialization, … Continue reading
The Participation of States and Citizens in Global Governance
The pursuit of global democratic governance cannot be confined to global institutions; national state institutions and nation-based citizens need to be part of this project. In this lecture, I want to map a variety of mechanisms and dynamics that can … Continue reading
Contract of Mutual (In)Difference: Governance and the Humanitarian Apparatus in Contemporary Albania and Kosovo
In his book Le malheur des autres, Bernard Kouchner, the founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and the former French Health Minister, wrote that “[h]umanitarian activities have become customary.” Kouchner’s statement points to the new forms of globally organized power and … Continue reading