'International community' after Iraq

One frequently hears statements about the damage done to the 'international community' by disagreements about the invasion and occupation of Iraq. It is clear from the general nature and frequency of its use that the term 'inter‐national community' has an important political function in generating legiti‐macy for those who act in its name. It is also clear from its popular usage that 'international community' means very different, and often quite opposed, things to different people. Why is the strong term 'community' chosen when 'inter‐national society' might be more useful? Longstanding debates within political theory and the English school provide helpful insights into why people use this term in the ways that they do. This article will argue that international community implies a deep and robust sharing of identity, and that in relation to the Iraq war, the most important meaning of it equates broadly with the West. The authors look at the effect of the war on the western international com‐munity through its impact on NATO, the EU, the UN, the WTO and public opinion. They further argue that the evidence from these sources does not yet suggest that the western international community has been fatally damaged.     

Economic Development,Social Identity and Community Empowerment in the Central and Western Amazon

A multi-dimensional and multi-scalar perspective is used to contrast different experiences with community development involving new settlers, the historic riverine peasantry and Amerindians on and beyond the advancing frontier in the Brazilian Amazon. Local development is shown to occur only when a compromise is reached between the economic development of individual farmers, common social background and community political empowerment. However, the local development of communities does not necessarily result in regional development because contradictions present between political actors can cancel out gains in one dimension or scale vis-à-vis others and so frustrate wider processes.     

Critical perspectives on CSR and development: what we know, what we don't know, and what we need to know

The May 2005 issue of International Affairs addressed the theme of critical perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the developing world. The aim of this article is to take the debate a step further. Five researchers and practitioners on corporate social responsibility and development in various regions in the developing world—Central America, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Argentina and India—using knowledge gained by their empirical research, argue that the management-oriented perspective on CSR and development is one-sided. While recognizing that critical approaches to the question have emerged, there is still a need to know which issues should form part of a critical research agenda on CSR and development.
In this article the authors seek to fill this gap in order to facilitate a more in-depth investigation of what CSR initiatives can or cannot achieve in relation to improving conditions of workers and communities in the global South. They suggest that a critical research agenda on CSR and development should encompass four areas: a) the relationship between business and poverty reduction; b) the impact of CSR initiatives; c) governance dimensions of CSR; and d) power and participation in CSR. Such an alternative critical approach focuses on society's most vulnerable groups and adopts a 'people-centred' perspective as a counterbalance to the dominant 'business case' perspective. The authors conclude that this has significant implications for CSR practice.     

LEGACIES OF CHANGE: THE SHAPING OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPES IN A MARGINAL MEDITERRANEAN MOUNTAIN RANGE,THE GARRAF MASSIF,NORTH‐EASTERN SPAIN

Human conceptions of landscape have influenced the shaping of landscapes as much as landscape configurations have modelled human perceptions. In this article a new theoretical approach to long‐term cumulative landscape change is tested on the Garraf Massif (Baix Llobregat, north‐eastern Spain). Thanks to its ancient occupation, physical character and location near to the city of Barcelona, the area provides a good illustration of how human‐induced landscape change has shaped new, and sometimes conflicting, landscape perceptions. These perceptions then play an equally active role in altering the previously ‘inherited landscape’ in a long‐term cyclical process that can be studied through the combined use of historical, palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records.