This thesis provides a new approach to the Ethiopian Land Law debate. The basic argument made in this thesis is that even if the Ethiopian Constitution provides and guarantees common ownership of land (together with the state) to the people, this right has not been fully realized whether in terms of land accessibility, enjoyability, and payment of fair compensation in the event of expropriation. Expropriation is an inherent power of the state to acquire land for public purpose activities. It is an important development tool in a country such as Ethiopia where expropriation remains the only method to acquire land. Furthermore, the two preconditions of payment of fair compensation and existence of public purpose justifications are not strictly followed in Ethiopia. The state remains the sole beneficiary of the process by capturing the full profit of land value, while paying inadequate compensation to those who cede their land by expropriation. Secondly, the broader public purpose power of the state in expropriating the land for unlimited activities puts the property owners under imminent risk of expropriation.

There is a broad consensus among scholars that the idea of human rights was a product of the Enlightenment but that a self-conscious and broad-based human rights movement focused on international law only began after World War II. In this narrative, the nineteenth century's absence is conspicuous--few have considered that era seriously, much less written books on it. But as Jenny Martinez shows in this novel interpretation of the roots of human rights law, the foundation of the movement that we know today was a product of one of the nineteenth century's central moral causes: the movement to ban the international slave trade. Originating in England in the late eighteenth century, abolitionism achieved remarkable success over the course of the nineteenth century. Martinez focuses in particular on the international admiralty courts, which tried the crews of captured slave ships. The courts, which were based in the Caribbean, West Africa, Cape Town, and Brazil, helped free at least 80,000 Africans from captured slavers between 1807 and 1871. Here then, buried in the dusty archives of admiralty courts, ships' logs, and the British foreign office, are the foundations of contemporary human rights law: international courts targeting states and non-state transnational actors while working on behalf the world's most persecuted peoples--captured West Africans bound for the slave plantations of the Americas. Fueled by a powerful thesis and novel evidence, Martinez's work will reshape the fields of human rights history and international human rights law.

The authors explore the outlook of Rwanda in the context of development of East Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. They examine Rwanda's vision, achievements and uncertainties in terms of national unity, institutional leadership, the spectre of industrial policy and economic development, perceptions of civil society engagement, etc.

Will the British retain the monarchy and the English church establishment into the 21st century? The preservation of the monarchy and of the establishment of the church of England is a matter that cuts deep in fact and theory. The monarchy and the church are symbols of civil liberty, and as such they carry the freight of British national identity. Yet it is difficult to take those institutions seriously now because Britons give too little consideration to serious reforms of any kind for the monarchy or the church. This book suggests possible reforms.

Recognition lies at the heart of multiple contests around citizenship rights, identity politics, claims for material re-distribution, and demands for past harms to be acknowledged. This book seeks to consider where various contemporary contests over recognition are taking us. By looking at disputes around disability, race and ethnicity, nationalism, class, sexuality and ownership of the past, it explores the contemporary significance of recognition claims. In reflection of the global contexts of such disputes, the book draws on accounts from Europe, the USA, Latin America, the Middle East and Australasia. In doing so the book explores the following questions: Do we live in a moment where recognition is opening up to allow for greater space for varied or hybrid forms of living and mutual valuation, provided with rights and protection? Or is recognition paradoxically a means to narrow down options to more restrictive categories of acceptable ways of living and legitimate access to rights?

Volume 56 of "Studies in Law, Politics, and Society" presents the latest scholarship on human rights. The work contained in this volume examines both the theoretical dimensions and dilemmas of human rights in the modern world and particular cases in which the problems and possibilities of human rights are examined. Taken together the contributions point to a need for more searching examination of the way human rights work and highlight the contribution of human rights to the advancement of claims for justice. "Studies in Law, Politics, and Society" is a leading socio-legal publication that truly embraces innovative, theoretically informed, interdisciplinary legal scholarship.

Endangered Peoples of Oceania: Struggles to Survive and Thrive introduces a wide range of Pacific Islanders and indigenous and migrant cultures in Australia and New Zealand and the challenges they face today. This volume focuses on 16 endangered peoples, from Micronesians and Melanesians to Samoans in New Zealand. Students and other readers will become knowledgeable about the contemporary impacts and responses to such factors as nuclear testing, migration for jobs, uncontrolled development, and ecotourism. The chapters are written by anthropologists based on their recent fieldwork, which guarantees unparalleled accuracy and immediacy. The peoples of Oceania are struggling to be economically independent and autonomous while maintaining their distinctive cultural traditions. Each chapter in Endangered Peoples of Oceania: Struggles to Survive and Thrive is devoted to a specific people, including a cultural overview of their history, subsistence strategies, social and political organization, and religion and world view; threats to their survival; and their response to these threats. A section entitled "Food for Thought" poses questions that encourage a personal engagement with the experience of these peoples, and a resource guide suggests further reading and lists films and videos as well as pertinent organizations and web sites. As the curriculum expands to include more multicultural and indigenous peoples, this unique volume will be valuable to both students and teachers.

This fully revised and extended edition of James Nickel's classic study explains and defends the contemporary conception of human rights. Combining philosophical, legal and political approaches, Nickel explains international human rights law and addresses questions of justification and feasibility.
New, revised edition of James Nickel's classic study.
Explains and defends the conception of human rights found in the" Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (1948) and subsequent treaties in a clear and lively style.
Covers fundamental freedoms, due process rights, social rights, and minority rights.
Updated throughout to include developments in law, politics, and theory since the publication of the first edition.
New features for this edition include an extensive bibliography and a chapter on human rights and terrorism.

This book uniquely depicts the preeminent role that African trade unions played in ousting dictatorships and bringing democracy to many African countries in the 1990s. In the analytical introduction and case studies of major African countries, leading scholars relate how democratic trade unions were critical in launching and sustaining democratization. Working with other societal groups and parties, unions continue to represent the popular classes and invigorate democratic life in these otherwise elite-dominated countries.

Who is entitled to be a citizen? What rights and duties does citizenship involve? These political questions are being asked today with a renewed urgency, both by practising politicians and by scholars. These essays by distinguished contributors examine the changing frontiers of modern citizenship. They look at the way citizenship is being reshaped within the nation state, in relations between women and the state, under the impact of economic crisis and recession, and in the face of new multinational political forces.

This book defends the thesis that Kant's normative ethics and his practical ethics of sex and marriage can be valuable resources for people engaged in the contemporary debate over same-sex marriage. It does so by first developing a reading of Kant's normative ethics that explains the way in which Kant's notions of human moral imperfection unsocial sociability inform his ethical thinking. The book then offers a systematic treatment of Kant's views of sex and marriage, arguing that Kant's views are more defensible than some of his critics have made them out to be. Drawing on Kant's account of marriage and his conception of moral friendship, the book argues that Kant's ethics can be used to develop a defense of same-sex marriage.

"The New India" looks critically at various constructions of the Indian citizen from 1991 to 2007, the period when economic liberalization became established government policy. Liberalization generated complex social and economic tensions, and Chowdhury reveals howthese tensions shaped images of the citizen in cultural narratives of the time--in films, literary texts, corporate advertisements, political documents, and citizens' responses to the privatization of public space. Examining differing images of citizenship and its rules and rituals in these narratives, Chowdhury sheds light on the complex interactions between culture and political economy in the New India.

In September 1993 a unique dialogue took place. Humanists from around the country gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, to exchange ideas with Mormons on the topics of feminism, freedom of conscience, academic freedom in Mormon universities, and clashes between "dissident intellectuals" and Mormon church authorities. Of particular concern in the discussion was the recent excommunication of members of the Mormon church and the departure of two professors from Brigham Young University for allegedly expressing ideas at variance with church teachings. Ironically, despite such conflicts, Mormons officially and individually endorse freedom of conscience; the dignity of the human right to exercise free agency is a principle rooted in the Mormon as well as the humanist tradition. On this basis for mutual understanding, the dialogue between the two diverse cultures of Mormonism and humanism proceeded. George D. Smith has collected twelve essays, all but one of which were presented at the Utah conference, for this thought-provoking volume. Among the subjects covered are ecclesiastical abuse and the excommunicated "September Six", academic freedom at Brigham Young University, the politics of exclusivity, and free inquiry in a religious context. Paul Kurtz, editor of Free Inquiry, introduces the discussion with an overview of "Humanism and the Idea of Freedom". The volume concludes with a 1939 essay by noted American journalist Walter Lippmann entitled "The Indispensable Opposition".

This book is devoted to the study of the interplay between religious rules and State law. It explores how State recognition of religious rules can affect the degree of legal diversity that is available to citizens and why such recognition sometime results in more individual and collective freedom and sometime in a threat to equality of citizens before the law. The first part of the book contains a few contributions that place this discussion within the wider debate on legal pluralism. While State law and religious rules are two normative systems among many others, the specific characteristics of the latter are at the heart of tensions that emerge with increasing frequency in many countries. The second part is devoted to the analysis of about twenty national cases that provide an overview of the different tools and strategies that are employed to manage the relationship between State law and religious rules all over the world.

The collapse of socialist regimes across Southeastern Europe changed the rules of the political game and led to the transformation of these societies. The status of women was immediately affected. The contributors to this volume contrast the status of women in the post-socialist societies of the region with their status under socialism.

Black conservatism is no oxymoron. Recent polls have indicated that an increasing number of black Americans identified themselves as conservatives, favoring smaller government, lower taxes, tougher crime laws, welfare reform, and personal initiative. While applauding the moral and legal victories of the Civil Rights Movement, the conservative spokespeople in this dynamic new collection reject the claims of inequities and what they consider to be the self-serving agenda of the present civil rights establishment. National leaders such as Justice Clarence Thomas and former Representative Gary Franks and writers such as Shelby Steele and Glenn Loury appear either as contributors or as subjects in this volume. They emphasize the grassroots aspects of black conservatism with a reliance on common sense and common humanity. The strength of the black conservative voice lies in the growth of its numbers and social influence. As more African-Americans shift to the right and embrace conservative ideology, they are signalling what may be one of the most politically significant trends in American public life as the 20th century draws to a close. This provocative collection of essays shatters the myth that black Americans are uniformly left of center and that conservatism is an ideology with a white face. Unique in its personal and political portrait of black conservatives in America, this book shows the remarkable diversity of ideas from one of the most talked-about political movements to emerge in recent years.

"A very readable book containing the best arguments thus far opposing campaign finance reform."
-- "Choice"

"Martin Redish's accomplishment is that he not only has written a strong critique of te proposals to extend governmental regulation of free speech, but he has also given First Amendment defenders a base from which to attack existing restrictions on communication. Money Talks illustrates and upholds why the Founders prohibited Congress from making any law thta abridges the freedom of speech."--"Regulation"

Many have argued that soft money and special interests are destroying the American electoral system. And yet the clarion call for campaign finance reform only touches on the more general belief that money and economic power have a disastrous impact on both free expression and American democracy. The nation's primary sources of communication, the argument goes, are increasingly controlled by vast corporate empires whose primary, or even exclusive motive is the maximization of profit. And these conglomerates should simply not be granted the same constitutional protection as, say, an individual protester.

And yet neither the expenditure of money for expressive purposes nor an underlying motive of profit maximization detracts from the values fostered by such activity, claims Martin H. Redish. In fact, given the modern economic realities that dictate that effective expression virtually requires the expenditure of capital, any restriction of such capital for expressive purposes will necessarily reduce the sum total of available expression. Further, Redish here illustrates, the underlying motive of those who wish to restrict corporate expression is disagreement with thenature of the views they express.

Confronting head-on one of the sacred cows of American reformist politics, Martin H. Redish here once again lives up to his reputation as one of America's most original and counterintuitive legal minds.

It is an undeniable fact that corporations participate in human rights abuses throughout the world. Yet there is disagreement among scholars, politicians and business actors about the best approaches to preventing and responding to those abuses and whether it would be feasible to adopt a treaty on the matter.This book explores the potential adoption of a treaty on business and human rights, first proposed by Ecuador and South Africa. Would such a treaty be practicable and what should its content be - should it regulate direct corporate obligations or extraterritorial obligations? How can experiences of other international legal regimes and developments in regional systems inform the global debate on business and human rights?The Future of Business and Human Rights informs the reader - academics, practitioners and policy makers - about the current debate that is at centre of legal and diplomatic discussion.

This book addresses key transformations in citizenship politics in the EU, ember states. The contributors argue that the anti-discrimination agenda set out in the Treaty of Amsterdam has had an impact on traditional patterns of national integration of ethnic minorities and migrants in Europe. Comparing transformations in French and British politics of citizenship, the book focuses in particular upon the religious dimension of discrimination and Islam in Europe.

Too often lost in our understanding of the American Cold War crisis, with its nuclear brinkmanship and global political chess game, is the simultaneous crisis on the nation's racial front. "Reckoning Day" is the first book to examine the relationship of African Americans to the atom bomb in postwar America. It tells the wide-ranging story of African Americans' response to the atomic threat in the postwar period. It examines the anti-nuclear writing and activism of major figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Lorraine Hansberry as well as the placement (or absence) of black characters in white-authored doomsday fiction and nonfiction. Author Jacqueline Foertsch analyzes the work of African American thinkers, activists, writers, journalists, filmmakers, and musical performers in the "atomic" decades of 1945 to 1965 and beyond. Her book tells the dynamic story of commitment and interdependence, as these major figures spoke with force and eloquence for nuclear disarmament, just as they argued unstintingly for racial equality on numerous other occasions.

Foertsch also examines the location of African American characters in novels, science fiction, and survivalist nonfiction such as government-sponsored forecasts regarding post-nuclear survival. In these, black characters are often displaced or absented entirely: in doomsday narratives they are excluded from executive decision-making and the stories' often triumphant conclusions; in the nonfiction, they are rarely envisioned amongst the "typical American" survivors charged with rebuilding US society. Throughout "Reckoning Day," issues of placement and positioning provide the conceptual framework: abandoned at "ground zero" (America's inner cities) during the height of the atomic threat, African Americans were figured in white-authored survival fiction as compliant servants aiding white victory over atomic adversity, while as historical figures they were often perceived as "elsewhere" (indifferent) to the atomic threat. In fact, African Americans' "position" on the bomb was rarely one of silence or indifference. Ranging from appreciation to disdain to vigorous opposition, atomic-era African Americans developed diverse and meaningful positions on the bomb and made essential contributions to a remarkably American dialogue.

During the transition to democracy, states have used various mechanisms to address previous human rights abuses including domestic trials, truth and reconciliation commissions and internationalized tribunals. This volume analyzes the transitional justice choices made by four countries: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), Sierra Leone and East Timor. For each country, there is a chapter which provides a historical overview concerning the causes of the conflict and two subsequent chapters which highlight a different method of transitional justice implemented. The volume highlights the opportunities and the constraints faced by states and the international community to provide accountability for human rights violations.