The securitisation of migrant smuggling in Australia and its consequences for the Bali Process

This article analyses the Bali Process in the context of Australia’s securitised approach to migrant smuggling, and the consequences this has for both the Australia–Indonesia diplomatic relationship and the Bali Process overall. The Bali Process is the premier regional forum for combating migrant smuggling and is well placed to discuss and develop regional cooperation policies on irregular migration within the region. In particular, the Bali Process remains a key domain where Australia and Indonesia can contest and amend the norms and practices around the human rights of refugees and asylum-seekers. This article traces and analyses the emergence of Australia’s bilateral agreements for offshore processing and resettlement between 2011 and 2014, which Australian political elites aligned rhetorically to the Bali Process, but which the authors argue remain in tension with stated Bali Process objectives in terms of rights and protections for asylum-seekers and refugees. This article identifies that Australia’s security-driven policies and regional disagreements over humanitarian responsibility remain an ongoing tension within Bali Process states, and provides commentary on the implications of this for future Australian policy relating to regional cooperation on irregular migration.     

North Korea’s participation in the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights

North Korea’s participation in the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR)—a peer review in which states make recommendations to one another for improving human rights implementation—is a notable exception to its rejection of other human rights mechanisms. What explains North Korea’s willing participation in the UPR? This essay analyses North Korea’s participation in the first (2008–11) and second (2012–15) UPR cycles through its written submissions, responses to recommendations, and recommendations to other states. It finds that North Korea has consistently accepted weak recommendations, rejected more specific policy changes, and implemented accepted recommendations on a limited basis, allowing it to claim compliance with human rights at minimal cost. The UPR’s reliance on states’ self-reports and its inability to adjudicate competing factual claims allow North Korea to reject claims of egregious abuses, openly advocate for a radically state-centric vision of human rights, and challenge the legitimacy of human rights mechanisms like the Commission of Inquiry and Special Rapporteur while building support from other states with similar views. Notably, the Commission of Inquiry appears to have motivated North Korea to increase its cooperation with the UPR, demonstrating that the UPR complements but cannot replace other UN human rights mechanisms.     

Masculinity under the knife: Filipino men,trafficking and the black organ market in Manila,the Philippines

The Philippines has recently achieved notoriety as one of the top five source countries for commercially provided organs, particularly kidneys, globally. The vast majority of commercial organ providers are economically marginal men, thus throwing into question conventional wisdom regarding the gendered nature of human trafficking in which most trafficked persons are presumed to be female. This article examined the motives of men who sell kidneys in Manila's black organ market and their ongoing negotiations when their aspirations are not fulfilled. I suggest that family considerations figure prominently amongst many of the men, who attempt to use the money from the sale of a kidney as a livelihood or family security strategy. Narratives of economically marginal men in the Philippines about the commercial value of their body parts are situated in discourses of traditional Philippines ideas about masculinity, particularly concerning the male breadwinner and also about heroism. Thus, although an emotionally and relationally complex decision, selling a kidney nonetheless allows these men to attempt to reclaim their masculine roles, but often with contradictory outcomes.     

By the People,for the People. The Case of a Community Museum of Traumatic Greek Heritage

Abstract

This article will delineate the history and activities of the Museum of Political Exiles of Ai Stratis in Greece. The museum was founded in the 1980s by a group of former inmates who were banished in the North Aegean island of Ai Stratis, a site of political confinement between 1920s and 1960s. Since its inception, the museum has aspired to be a platform of communication, a place of healing that is by the people for the people. The aim here is to examine how this was achieved and what lessons have been learned from the endeavours of an organization that deals with a rather traumatic chapter of modern Greek history. Emphasis will be placed especially on what role the subjects of history have assumed in the design of the permanent exhibition and the educational and cultural activities.     

From the bottom of the bottle: justice,prison and social control in the Italian transition

The ‘conflict between politics and justice’ has been a central feature of the Italian ‘transition’ for reasons that touch on the essence of the so-called Second Republic. Apparently dominating the political agenda, it also functioned as a cover for a resurgence of coercive forms of social control in Italy. In response to the social transformations taking place throughout the western world, from the late 1980s the Italian prison system had been expanding and was used to target social marginal groups, especially foreigners and drug addicts. This paper examines how these changes took place, the juridical measures that gave rise to them and their political motivations in the period from the crisis of the First Republic to the declaration of a ‘state of emergency’ in the prison system which (at least for now) seems to have brought to a close the openly populist use of the criminal justice system.     

Sustainable management of metallurgical forest on Mont Lozère (France) during the Early Middle Ages

Mont Lozère, located in the French Massif Central region, provides an exceptional context in which to research the impact that charcoal production and metallurgy had on woodlands, along with the role that these activities played in changing the mountain landscape. This study provides an insight into the land use, forest management methods and metallurgical practices in the area during the Middle Ages (11th to 15th centuries). Medieval charcoal burning platforms, archaeological remains that have often been neglected in the past as a source of historical information, along with nearby smelting sites, were identified, sampled and analysed. In this paper, spatial analyses, radiocarbon dating and anthracological and dendro-anthracological studies have been combined in a unique manner. The results reveal that charcoal burners practiced beech coppicing, where the species and diameter of wood used remained the same over a period of four centuries. It is proposed that this form of metallurgical forest management be considered an early example of a sustainable utilisation of natural resources.     

Providing Cultural Context for ‘Sacrifice of the Social Outcasts’

In ‘Sacrifice of the Social Outcasts’, C.L. Kieffer proposes that the disabled formed a socially marginal group that might have been preferentially targeted for human sacrifice in ancient Maya society. Extensive ethnohistoric and iconographic evidence exists that the disabled and deformed held high status in pre‐contact Mesoamerica precisely because of their physical disabilities and played well‐defined social roles. Several incidences of the sacrifice of these individuals are produced, but they are associated with extraordinary events. The actual cultural context suggests that the sacrifice of a disabled individual may have larger social implications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cribra orbitalia: a non‐human primate perspective

Cribra orbitalia, a porous lesion involving the orbital roofs, is one of the most‐studied skeletal pathologies in bioarchaeology, and yet uncertainty still exists regarding its aetiology and significance. In contrast to the hundreds of reports of cribra orbitalia in human skeletal remains, little is known of this condition in non‐human primates. Previously, cribra orbitalia has only been reported in catarrhines, with just two cases in cercopithecoids. To provide a broader, phylogenetic perspective on cribra orbitalia, a sample of primate skeletal material was examined to evaluate the occurrence of this condition. The taxonomically diverse sample consists of 380 non‐hominoid (non‐ape) modern primates from both wild and captive populations. Cribra orbitalia is present in 16 individuals, including cercopithecines, colobines, platyrrhines and a prosimian, substantially expanding the known taxonomic range of this condition. Modern primates—with their varied habitats, diets, levels of parasitism, etc.—provide a set of natural experiments regarding conditions and physiologies which may influence the aetiology and impact of cribra orbitalia. More generally, it is suggested here that studies of non‐human primate skeletal pathologies have the potential for providing significant insight on human paleopathologies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metropolis on the margins: talent attraction and retention to the St. John's city‐region

The objective of this research is to examine the factors that influence the attraction and retention of creative and highly educated workers in a small‐sized Canadian city. The study examines two hypotheses: that the social dynamics of city‐regions constitute the foundations of economic success in the global economy; and, that talented, highly educated individuals will be attracted to those city‐regions that offer a richness of employment opportunity, a high quality of life, a critical mass of cultural activity and social diversity. The hypotheses are explored through in‐depth interviews with creative and highly educated workers, employers and intermediary organizations. The evidence from the interviews suggests mixed support for the hypotheses. In view of these findings, we contend that the specificities of place must be more carefully theorized in the creative class literature and be more carefully considered by policy‐makers designing policies directed towards attracting and retaining talented and highly educated workers.     

NORBERT ELIAS,THE CIVILIZING PROCESS: SOCIOGENETIC AND PSYCHOGENETIC INVESTIGATIONS—AN OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT

Norbert Elias's The Civilizing Process, which was published in German in 1939 and first translated into English in two volumes in 1978 and 1982, is now widely regarded as one of the great works of twentieth‐century sociology. This work attempted to explain how Europeans came to think of themselves as more “civilized” than their forebears and neighboring societies. By analyzing books about manners that had been published between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, Elias observed changing conceptions of shame and embarrassment with respect to, among other things, bodily propriety and violence. To explain those developments, Elias examined the interplay among the rise of state monopolies of power, increasing levels of economic interconnectedness among people, and pressures to become attuned to others over greater distances that led to advances in identifying with others in the same society irrespective of social origins. Elias's analysis of the civilizing process was not confined, however, to explaining changing social bonds within separate societies. The investigation also focused on the division of Europe into sovereign states that were embroiled in struggles for power and security. This article provides an overview and analysis of Elias's principal claims in the light of growing interest in this seminal work in sociology. The analysis shows how Elias defended higher levels of synthesis in the social sciences to explain relations between “domestic” and “international” developments, and changes in social structure and in the emotional lives of modern people. Elias's investigation, which explained long‐term processes of development over several centuries, pointed to the limitations of inquiries that concentrate on short‐term intervals. Only by placing short‐term trends in long‐term perspective could sociologists understand contemporary developments. This article maintains that Elias's analysis of the civilizing process remains an exemplary study of long‐term developments in Western societies over the last five centuries.