Global social justice at the WTO? The role of NGOs in constructing global social contracts

Over the past decade, international non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) have been contesting the neo‐liberal economic order in international politics by campaigning for normative conditions to bring about what Richard Falk calls ‘humane governance’. However, the degree to which NGOs have contributed to the formation of global social contracts remains controversial. While NGO activists and various scholars advocate the establishment of such contracts, empirical testing of this normative argument is underdeveloped. Drawing upon this lack of empirical support, critics dismiss the global social contract concept and question the roles played by NGOs in international politics. This article addresses the controversy through a review, refinement and application of global social contract theory and an empirical study of two prominent international NGO campaigns directed at the World Trade Organization (WTO), an institution that represents a ‘hard test case’. It explores the ways in which NGOs and their networks are challenging the neo‐liberal basis of WTO agreements and contributing to the emergence of global social contracts. The article concludes that in some circumstances, NGOs have the capacity to inject social justice into international economic contracts and there is some basis for optimism regarding the formation of global social contracts involving NGOs, nation‐states and international organizations.     

Progress in Canadian Geomorphology and Hydrology 1996–2000

Since 1996, a broad range of publications has been produced by Canadian geomorphologists and hydrolo‐gists. These publications have been distributed in journals with national and international circulations. Although there remains a major focus on the study of observable processes in fluvial, aeolian, coastal and slope environments there is also a strong, historical component to explanations oflandforms, landform assemblages and sedimentary sequences. Some of these histories have incorporated the effects of high‐magnitude (catastrophic) events, some of which may have no modern analogues. Perspectives on the interactions among microclimatic variables, including changes induced by human actions, continue to evolve. Forest clearance and its effects on evaporation rates, water‐table levels and timing ofsnowmelt, the human use of wetlands and release of methane and carbon dioxide, will continue to demand the attention of scholars interested in explaining future climatic scenarios. Depuis 1996, un large éventail de publications a été produit par les géomorphologues et hydrologues du Canada. Ces travaux ont été diffusés dans des revues nationales et internationales. Bien qu'il y ait encore une attention privilégiée portée à l'étude des processus observables dans des environnements fluviaux, éoliens, côtiers et de pente, il existe aussi une importante composante historique dans l'explication des formes du paysage et de leurs assemblages ainsi que des séquences sédimentaires. Certaines de ces reconstitutions historiques ont incorporé les effets d'événements de haute magnitude (catastrophique), dont certains n'ont peut‐être pas d'analogues modernes. Les points de vue sur les interactions entre les variables microclimatiques, et notamment les changements d'origine anthropique, continuent d'évoluer. Le recul des forêts et ses effets sur les taux d'évaporation, le niveau des nappes phreatiques et le calendrier de la fonte des neiges, l'utilisation humaine des zones humides et l'émission de méthane et de gaz carbonique, continueront d'exiger l'attention des spécialistes qui se penchent sur l'explication des scénarios climatiques futurs.     

THE DATE AND SEQUENCE OF USE OF NEOLITHIC FUNERARY MONUMENTS: NEW AMS DATING EVIDENCE FROM THE COTSWOLD-SEVERN REGION

Summary.   In this paper we discuss 26 new Neolithic AMS dates obtained from human and animal bone from four previously undated funerary monuments in the Cotswold-Severn region. By strategically targeting particular portions of these skeletal assemblages, a number of valuable inferences are made concerning the extent of variation in apparently co-existing burial practices both within and between monuments. Of particular interest is the observation that variations in the extent to which interments have become disarticulated cannot necessarily be equated with chronological relationships regarding their deposition. This project has also obtained dates from cremated bone, which establish that the range of funerary treatments in practice during the earlier Neolithic also included cremation. Additionally it is observed that whilst some, apparently primary, deposits may in fact be later insertions, other material in apparently secondary contexts may actually return earlier Neolithic dates.     

The Consequences of Early Food Production: Three Recent Contributions

This essay reviews three books on food production, including the emergence, spread, and strategies of agriculture. As a group, the books draw on ethnographic, linguistic, archaeological, and biological anthropological approaches and sources of evidence. Combining multiple sources of evidence and theoretical approaches—even when these compete with one another or appear to conflict—provides the safest answers to anthropological questions on the consequences of the shift from foraging to agriculture.