Transition and Justice: Negotiating the Terms of New Beginnings in Africa

Transition and Justice examines a series of cases from across the African continent where peaceful ‘new beginnings’ were declared after periods of violence and where transitional justice institutions helped define justice and the new socio-political order. Offers a new perspective on transition and justice in Africa transcending the institutional limits of transitional justice Covers a wide range of situations, and presents a broad range of sites where past injustices are addressed Examines cases where peaceful ‘new beginnings’ have been declared after periods of violence Addresses fundamental questions about transitions and justice in societies characterized by a high degree of external involvement and internal fragmentation

Transition and Justice: An Introduction

Since the end of the Cold War, political new beginnings have increasingly been linked to questions of transitional justice. The contributions to this collection examine a series of cases from across the African continent where peaceful ‘new beginnings’ have been declared after periods of violence and where transitional justice institutions played a role in defining justice and the new socio-political order. Three issues seem to be crucial to the understanding of transitional justice in the context of wider social debates on justice and political change: the problem of ‘new beginnings’, of finding a foundation for that which explicitly breaks with the past; the discrepancies between lofty promises and the messy realities of transitional justice in action; and the dialectic between logics of the exception and the ordinary, employed to legitimize or resist transitional justice mechanisms. These are the particular focus of this Introduction.

Melodrama and Narrative Fiction: Towards a Typology

Recent research on melodrama has stressed its versatility and ubiquity by approaching it as a mode of expression rather than a theatrical genre. A variety of contexts in which melodrama is at work have been explored, but only little scholarly attention has been paid to the relationship between melodrama and novels, short stories and novellas. This article proposes a typology of melodrama in narrative prose fiction, examining four different categories: Melodrama and Sentimentalism, Depiction of Melodramatic Performances in Narrative Prose Fiction, Theatrical Antics and Aesthetics in Narrative Prose Fiction and Meta-Melodrama. Its aim is to clarify the ways in which melodrama, ever since its early days on the stages of late eighteenth-century Europe, has interacted with fictional prose narratives, thereby shaping the literary imagination in the Anglophone world.

Effectiveness of Justice-Based Measures in Managing Trust and Privacy Concerns on Social Networking Sites: Intercultural Perspective

The unprecedented success of social networking sites (SNSs) has been recently overshadowed by concerns about privacy risks. As SNS users grow weary of privacy breaches and thus develop distrust, they may restrict or even terminate their platform activities. In the long run, these developments endanger SNS platforms’ financial viability and undermine their ability to create individual and social value. By applying a justice perspective, this study aims to understand the means at the disposal of SNS providers to leverage the privacy concerns and trusting beliefs of their users—two important determinants of user participation on SNSs. Considering that SNSs have a global appeal, empirical tests assess the effectiveness of justice measures for three culturally distinct countries: Germany, Russia and Morocco. The results indicate that these measures are particularly suited to address trusting beliefs of SNS audience. Specifically, in all examined countries, procedural justice and the awareness dimension of informational justice improve perceptions of trust in the SNS provider. Privacy concerns, however, are not as easy to manage, because the impact of justice-based measures on privacy concerns is not universal. Beyond theoretical value, this research offers valuable practical insights into the use of justice-based measures to promote trust and mitigate privacy concerns in a cross-cultural setting.

"An attentive Ear, a watchful Eye, and a Calm judicious Pen": William Samuel Johnson, the Colonial Agents, and the Transformation of the British Atlantic World

By looking at Great Britain and the American colonies in conjunction with the larger British Atlantic Empire, historians can better understand the political, social, and cultural transformations that occurred when transatlantic actors met. William Samuel Johnson is an example of an "ordinary" agent who nonetheless had extensive contacts with numerous British and American thinkers. While acting on Connecticut's behalf in London between 1767 and 1771, he sent reports back to Connecticut governors Jonathan Trumbull and William Pitkin on parliamentary proceedings while corresponding with the people who traveled around the Atlantic world during this critical period-merchants, seafarers, emigrants, soldiers, missionaries, radicals and conservatives, reformers, and politicians. He is also representative of the late eighteenth-century empire writ large. Agents, who had once been a source of stability in the far-flung colonies, became a destabilizing force as confusion and conflict grew over conceptual ideas of what constituted "the empire" and who was included in it. Johnson was a sane observer in the midst of the ideological and administrative upheaval of the 1760's and 1770's. His subsequent loyalism and political obscurity during the war years was in many ways a result of his attempts to reconcile various factional interests during his tenure as an agent. Although he did his best to resolve these divisions and provide an accurate account of the powerful nationalistic forces gathering on both sides of the Atlantic on the eve of the American Revolution, the agents' collective failures as transatlantic mediators helped bring about the collapse of an imperial community. This disintegration had dramatic effects on the whole of the Atlantic world.

Instituciones territoriales, orden público y una ciudadanía en construcción : El Estado nacional y la formación de la Pampa Central (1884-1922)

La obra vincula las instituciones, el orden público y la construcción de una ciudadanía en la Pampa Central con la extensión de propiedades de construcción del Estado que el gobierno federal intentaba concretar en los territorios nacionales -fines del siglo XIX-. Se analizan las instituciones, su constitución, funcionamiento e inconvenientes. Se reconstruyen las relaciones de la incipiente sociedad civil que estaba adquiriendo rasgos de "ciudadanía", pese a la limitación del derecho a la soberanía y representación política, por cuya razón se abocó al reducido poder local, a la conversión del Territorio en provincia y a la presión sobre las instituciones del Estado. Ciertos sectores sociales -vecinos propietarios- participaron en el poder y pudieron incidir en la disposición de un determinado orden público. Se descubre este entramado a través de la cuestión política, la constitución de la esfera pública, el papel de la prensa, y el accionar de sectores gubernamentales y particulares, especialmente en los conflictos sociales. Estas cuestiones se analizan con mayor profundidad en el estudio particular de una institución: la justicia letrada nacional con marcado poder en el Territorio. Se demuestra que esta institución ejerció un papel importante en la extensión de las propiedades que caracterizaron la construcción y consolidación del Estado. El protagonismo judicial a nivel nacional tuvo su correlación en el poder de los jueces y de los juzgados letrados territoriales, basado en: el carácter nacional de estos tribunales, el perfil profesional de sus miembros, una red social y política de los magistrados a nivel nacional y, la debilidad de las demás instituciones del Territorio. Este poder era reconocido y consolidado por la prensa y los vecinos -propietarios, comerciantes y profesionales- interesados en jerarquizar el papel de la justicia.

Instituciones territoriales, orden público y una ciudadanía en construcción : El Estado nacional y la formación de la Pampa Central (1884-1922)

La obra vincula las instituciones, el orden público y la construcción de una ciudadanía en la Pampa Central con la extensión de propiedades de construcción del Estado que el gobierno federal intentaba concretar en los territorios nacionales -fines del siglo XIX-. Se analizan las instituciones, su constitución, funcionamiento e inconvenientes. Se reconstruyen las relaciones de la incipiente sociedad civil que estaba adquiriendo rasgos de "ciudadanía", pese a la limitación del derecho a la soberanía y representación política, por cuya razón se abocó al reducido poder local, a la conversión del Territorio en provincia y a la presión sobre las instituciones del Estado. Ciertos sectores sociales -vecinos propietarios- participaron en el poder y pudieron incidir en la disposición de un determinado orden público. Se descubre este entramado a través de la cuestión política, la constitución de la esfera pública, el papel de la prensa, y el accionar de sectores gubernamentales y particulares, especialmente en los conflictos sociales. Estas cuestiones se analizan con mayor profundidad en el estudio particular de una institución: la justicia letrada nacional con marcado poder en el Territorio. Se demuestra que esta institución ejerció un papel importante en la extensión de las propiedades que caracterizaron la construcción y consolidación del Estado. El protagonismo judicial a nivel nacional tuvo su correlación en el poder de los jueces y de los juzgados letrados territoriales, basado en: el carácter nacional de estos tribunales, el perfil profesional de sus miembros, una red social y política de los magistrados a nivel nacional y, la debilidad de las demás instituciones del Territorio. Este poder era reconocido y consolidado por la prensa y los vecinos -propietarios, comerciantes y profesionales- interesados en jerarquizar el papel de la justicia.

Instituciones territoriales, orden público y una ciudadanía en construcción : El Estado nacional y la formación de la Pampa Central (1884-1922)

La obra vincula las instituciones, el orden público y la construcción de una ciudadanía en la Pampa Central con la extensión de propiedades de construcción del Estado que el gobierno federal intentaba concretar en los territorios nacionales -fines del siglo XIX-. Se analizan las instituciones, su constitución, funcionamiento e inconvenientes. Se reconstruyen las relaciones de la incipiente sociedad civil que estaba adquiriendo rasgos de "ciudadanía", pese a la limitación del derecho a la soberanía y representación política, por cuya razón se abocó al reducido poder local, a la conversión del Territorio en provincia y a la presión sobre las instituciones del Estado. Ciertos sectores sociales -vecinos propietarios- participaron en el poder y pudieron incidir en la disposición de un determinado orden público. Se descubre este entramado a través de la cuestión política, la constitución de la esfera pública, el papel de la prensa, y el accionar de sectores gubernamentales y particulares, especialmente en los conflictos sociales. Estas cuestiones se analizan con mayor profundidad en el estudio particular de una institución: la justicia letrada nacional con marcado poder en el Territorio. Se demuestra que esta institución ejerció un papel importante en la extensión de las propiedades que caracterizaron la construcción y consolidación del Estado. El protagonismo judicial a nivel nacional tuvo su correlación en el poder de los jueces y de los juzgados letrados territoriales, basado en: el carácter nacional de estos tribunales, el perfil profesional de sus miembros, una red social y política de los magistrados a nivel nacional y, la debilidad de las demás instituciones del Territorio. Este poder era reconocido y consolidado por la prensa y los vecinos -propietarios, comerciantes y profesionales- interesados en jerarquizar el papel de la justicia.

Process of Expropriation of Buildings for the Construction of the New Dock of the Port of Cartagena (Spain) in the 18th Century

The need of the Bourbon monarchy to build a Naval Base in the Bay of Cartagena (Spain) during the eighteenth century, implied performing various actions on the environment which allowed the construction of the new dock. One of the priority actions was the transformation of the watershed of the streams that flowed into Mandaraches´s sea. For this reason, a dike was designed and constructed in the northern part of the city. The design of this great work, which was designed as a fortification of the city, was subject to considerable uncertainties. Its proximity to the city involved the demolition of several buildings in the San Roque´s neighborhood. The greater or lesser number of affected buildings and the value of the just indemnification for the expropriation of them, become decisive factors to determine if the work was viable for the Royal Estate or not.

Justice, emotions and satisfaction in complaint behavior in services

This study proposes a marketing approach to service recovery (SR) models in order to help to explain what factors affect cumulative satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth following complaint behavior. The model has its base on the definition of perceived justice and its influence on satisfaction with service recovery (SSR) and on emotions (positive and negative). Trust acts as a central construct in the model, receiving influence from the affective and cognitive aspect and mediating the relationship between SSR and cumulative satisfaction and between positive/negative emotions and loyalty. The sample for this study consists of 303 Spanish B2C-EC users who made a complaint after an electronic transaction. Results from the analysis show the influence of perceived justice ?mainly interactional justice and procedural justice? on SSR, and the relevance of positive emotions as a key factor in SSR processes, in contrast to the major role which negative emotions have traditionally played in these models. Furthermore, trust mediates the relation between SSR and cumulative satisfaction, and is the factor which has a higher influence on loyalty, whilst cumulative satisfaction becomes the more relevant factor affecting WOM.

Background Checks for Firearms Sales and Loans: Law, History, and Policy

This article examines past and present systems requiring that a person receive permission before buying or borrowing a firearm. The article covers laws from the eighteenth century to the present. Such laws have traditionally been rare in the United States. The major exceptions are antebellum laws of the slaves states, and of those same states immediately after the Civil War, which forbade gun ownership by people of color, unless the individual had been granted government permission. Today “universal background checks” are based on a system created by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his “Everytown” lobby. Such laws have been enacted in several states, and also proposed as federal legislation. Besides covering the private sale of firearms, they also cover most loans of firearms and the return of loaned firearms. By requiring that almost all loans and returns may only be processed by a gun store, these laws dangerously constrict responsible firearms activities, such as safety training and safe storage. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California are among the jurisdictions which have enacted less restrictive, more effective legislation which create controls on private firearms sales, without inflicting so much harm on firearms safety.

Sustainable Development and its Discontents

Sustainable development (or sustainability) is a decision-making framework for maintaining and achieving human well-being, both in the present and into the future. The framework requires both consideration and achievement of environmental protection, social justice and economic development. In that framework, environmental protection must be integrated into decisions about social and economic development, and social justice and economic viability must be integrated into decisions about environmental quality. First endorsed by the world’s nations in 1992, this framework is intended to provide an effective response to the twin global challenges of growing environmental degradation and widespread extreme poverty. Sustainability provides a framework for humans to live in harmony with nature, rather than at nature’s expense. It may therefore be one of the most important ideas to come out of the 20th century. In the last two decades, the framework has become a touchstone in nearly every economic sector and at every level of government, unleashing an extraordinary range of creativity in all of those realms. Sustainable development is having a significant effect on the practice of law and on the way in which laws are written and implemented. Understanding the framework is increasingly important for law makers and lawyers. As sustainable development (or sustainability) has grown in prominence, its critics have become more numerous and more vocal. Three major lines of criticism are that the term is “too boring” to command public attention, “too vague” to provide guidance, and “too late” to address the world’s problems. Critics suggest goals such as abundance, environmental integrity, and resilience. Beginning with the international agreements that shaped the concept of sustainable development, this Article provides a functional and historical analysis of the meaning of sustainable development. It then analyzes and responds to each of these criticisms in turn. While the critics, understood constructively, suggest ways of strengthening this framework, they do not provide a compelling alternative. The challenge for lawyers, law makers, and others is to use and improve this framework to make better decisions.

John Winthrop's proposal respecting electrical globes and jars, ca. 1758

In this proposal, John Winthrop explains the need to replace damaged "electric globes" used in the College's collection of scientific apparatus. He states that Benjamin Franklin, at the time residing in London, was willing to seek replacement globes for the College's collection. Winthrop then proceeds to assert that the College should acquire "square bottles, of a moderate size, fitted in a wooden box, like what they call case bottles for spirits" instead of the large jars included in the scientific apparatus, because those jars cracked frequently.

Mathematical notebook, and commonplace book, circa 1689-1769

Manuscript notebook, possibly kept by Harvard students, containing 17th century English transcriptions of arithmetic and geometry texts, one of which is dated 1689-1690; 18th century transcriptions from John Ward’s “The Young Mathematician’s Guide”; and notes on physics lectures delivered by John Winthrop, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard from 1738 to 1779. The notebook also contains 18th century reading notes on Henry VIII, Tudor succession, and English history from Daniel Neal’s “The History of the Puritans” and David Hume’s “History of England,” and notes on Ancient history, taken mainly from Charles Rollin’s “The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Grecians.” Additionally included are an excerpt from Plutarch’s “Lives” and transcriptions of three articles from “The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle,” published in 1769: “A Critique on the Works of Ovid”; a book review of “A New Voyage to the West-Indies”; and “Genuine Anecdotes of Celebrated Writers, &.” The flyleaf contains the inscription “Semper boni aliquid operis facito ut diabolus te semper inveniat occupatum,” a variation on a quote of Saint Jerome that translates approximately as “Always good to do some work so that the devil may always find you occupied.” In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Harvard College undergraduates often copied academic texts and lecture notes into personal notebooks in place of printed textbooks. Winthrop used Ward’s textbook in his class, while the books of Hume, Neal, and Rollin were used in history courses taught at Harvard in the 18th century.