International Discussion Research Articles

Exceptions to compliance clauses in international economic law from an ecocentric approach and from the global south

This article intends to carry out an analysis that concerns the dynamics whit which International Economic Law, based on some provisions contained in its own regime, intends to exclude obligations that have been interpreted from other perspectives and that have been interpreted from other perspectives and that, over time, have gained prominence in international law discussion forums. The specific cases are limited to those settled in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and the ICSID Appellate Body, all in relation to the interpretation generated in other systems from an alternative perspective and that may have a final impact for Europe, to finally seek a precedent-setting relationship such as the ICJ Whaling Convention (Australia v. Japan). It will seek to define from the CILT, the spirit whit which the exceptions contained in Article XX of the GATT emerged., which allows us to see an approach to the ecocentric approach that prevails today in a part of the world and that will soon be the dominant paradigm.

Analysis of the Influence of Western Philosophy on the Development of Chinese Environmental Philosophy Theory and Its Future Direction.

Western environmental philosophy was born out of the environmental movement that emerged in the second half of the 20th century, and it is fundamentally practical in orientation. However, over the past 50 years, the study of environmental philosophy has become increasingly abstract and theoretical and seems to have drifted away from the practice of environmental protection. At the beginning of the 21st century, Western environmental philosophy began to take a policy turn, with an increasing number of philosophers actively participating in national and international environmental policy discussions. This turn is the latest development in environmental pragmatism. However, the philosophy embodied in this turn is still weak and lacks sufficiently strong theoretical roots. An environmental philosophy that truly achieves a policy turn, i.e., one that can exert a truly significant influence in environmental policy making, must be based on a unified and robust theoretical paradigm. This paper takes the goals and tasks of environmental philosophy research as an entry point, analyzes the deviation of the development of environmental philosophy in China to the problem of the intrinsic value argument, and explores the new direction of environmental philosophy research by focusing on the central argument of environmental pragmatism. In order to deeply explore this issue, this paper takes the Marxist concept of development as the theoretical guide and mainly adopts the methods of inductive research, comparative research, and theory to practice. This paper summarizes the foundation of contemporary environmental philosophy into four basic questions of center, value, ethics, and survival and seeks answers to these questions in philosophical thought. To construct the basic framework of modern Chinese environmental philosophy, through the comparative study of environmental ethics in different periods, this paper explores the relationship between environmental ethics in the perspective of Marxist concept of development, so as to further clarify the development direction of environmental ethics in China in the future.

Apartheid, authoritarianism and anticolonial struggles viewed from the Right

After his commitment to the eventually failed defence of segregation in the United States during the 1960s, political scientist A. James Gregor (1929-2019) created an extensive oeuvre on the history of Fascism and its ideology. While personally remaining an éminence grise, his ideo-centric approach proved influential in international academic discussions. He helped foster an approach centred on the representation of ideological aspects of Fascism at the expense of the critical analysis of other historical elements, thus obscuring Fascism’s societal roots. Moreover, Gregor’s definition of Fascism, intrinsically linked to his understanding of a developmental dictatorship, blurs the line between colonialism and anticolonial struggles. In his works on Fascism in the Global South, written during the Cold War, Gregor does not find developmental regimes akin to the Mussolini dictatorship among the largely pro-Western right-wing authoritarianisms that emerged in the Tricont, but rather within the largely left-wing national liberation fronts and the political systems they built up. This peculiar verdict is linked to Gregor’s own apologia of historical Italian Fascism and more recent right-wing dictatorships in the so-called Third World, like, for instance, the Apartheid regime, and to his simultaneous denigration of anticolonial struggle as it was pursued i.a. by the anti-Apartheid movement. Through a critique of ideology which delineates and analyses Gregor’s argument evolving around these themes, this article contests his political compass in his search for Fascism in a historical-critical manner and offers an alternative proposition on how to identify the historical and contemporary role of far-right politics in the world system of capitalism.

Revisiting Carbon Leakage

This paper estimates the carbon leakage rate across countries, arguably a key parameter in the international climate policy discussion including on border carbon adjustment, but which remains subject to significant uncertainty. We propose innovations along two lines. First, we exploit recently published data on sector-country-specific changes in energy prices to identify changes in domestic carbon emissions and other flows (rather than the historically limited variation in carbon prices or adherence to international climate agreements). Second, we present a simple accounting framework to derive carbon leakage rates from reduced-form regressions in contrast to existing papers, thereby making our results directly comparable to model-based estimates of carbon leakage. We show that carbon leakage rates differ across countries and could be larger than what existing estimates suggest.

Novas e velhas leituras sobre a corrupção: o caso da “rachadinha”

The matter concerning what is known as “rachadinha” in Brazil has increasingly occupied the attention of public opinion and the courts. Nevertheless, the legal opinion still diverge as to the response to be offered to this kind of practice. The present article investigates the tendency of punishing “rachadinha” agreements under the crimes of articles 317 and 333 of the brazilian Penal Code. The analysis was guided by a broader reflection on the current political-criminal trends on corruption. Taking as a parameter the international discussions on the subject, especially in German legal theory, the article concludes against the understanding of rachadinha agreements as a corruption offense.

Editor's Note

Editor's Note Craig Howes When George Simson started this journal in 1978, in addition to declaring it would be an interdisciplinary quarterly—which in those days pretty much meant literary, historical, and psychological—he also hoped to make it a forum for international discussions of what he definitely thought of as "biography," but which over the years has come to take on the contours associated with "life writing"—the same thing etymologically, of course, but something now very different in the critical and theoretical realm. George pursued this goal of international relevance relentlessly. The first conference and proceedings publication sponsored by the journal, New Directions in Biography (1981), brought together biographers and subjects ranging from Japan, Great Britain, Africa, France, the United States, Canada, and the former Yugoslavia. Shortly after the creation of the Center for Biographical Research at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa in 1988, another conference and proceedings volume, Biography East and West (1989), leaned heavily into biographical research dealing with or emerging from Japan, China, India, and the "Third World"—South Africa, Palestine, and Oceania—as well as essays dealing with European observers looking East. One of George's last initiatives before his retirement as director of the Center in 1997 was a conference (1995) and proceedings on Life Writing from the Pacific Rim: Essays from Japan, China, Indonesia, India, and Siam, with a Psychological Overview (1997), part of an initiative—never realized—to create a Histories of Asian Biography series under the Center's monograph imprint. Over the past twenty-five years, the journal's and the Center's commitment to global inclusion has resulted in the International Auto/Biography Association's conference on Life Writing and Translations, held in Honolulu in 2008, with a special issue of Biography devoted to the topic in 2009, and in such Biography Monographs as Locating Life Stories: Beyond East-West Binaries in (Auto)Biographical Studies (2012), edited by Maureen Perkins, containing essays from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, South Africa, and Hawai'i. And any glance through the tables of contents for the past hundred or so issues of the journal will also encounter a very substantial number of articles not emerging from subjects or writers located within the Western Europe/North American corridor, and even entire special issues devoted to such subjects as "Baleful Postcoloniality" (2013), or "Caste and Life Narratives" (2017), later published as an edited collection by Primus Books in Delhi in 2019. Finally, under the able editorial direction of John [End Page v] David Zuern, for the past few years our International Year in Review feature has offered brief overviews of interesting developments in a host of countries and regions. I am mentioning this constant in the life of Biography and the Center because when considering the contents of this "regular" issue, I realized that what began as an aspiration has with great effort become the norm. The five articles in this installment feature writers and subjects from South Africa, Uganda, Lebanon, India, and France, representing an equally diverse range of approaches to life writing—whether through fashion, documentaries, oral histories, photographs, memoirs, biographies, or "anti-biographies." I believe that George would find some of the theoretical approaches or topics puzzling—certainly far afield from biography as he understood and loved it. But I know he would be very happy that his dream of a journal that made its best effort to be international has been realized. And it will continue to do so. [End Page vi] Copyright © 2022 The George and Marguerite Simson Biographical Research Center

A broad view of pharmaceutical services in multidisciplinary teams of public Primary Healthcare Centers: a mixed methods study in a large city in Brazil.

This study aims to describe how the pharmaceutical services are performed in Primary Healthcare Centers of the Brazilian Public Health System in a large city. Background: There is extensive international discussion about the role of pharmacists in health care teams, particularly in Primary Health Care (PHC). However, in Brazil, there is still no consensus on what services the pharmacist should perform in multidisciplinary teams in PHC. This study used mixed methods research, and it was conducted with 200 pharmacists who work in PHC Centers of the public health system in São Paulo. The study was conducted using a focus group and an online survey, and qualitative and quantitative data were obtained. The analysis of the data from the focus group showed two central themes: (i) pharmaceutical services go beyond medicines and (ii) the contributions of the pharmacist to a multidisciplinary team work in PHC. The survey explored 29 services provided by pharmacists, 7 of which were provided daily. It is important to emphasize that pharmacists do not differentiate the relevance attributed to services considered clinical from those that are managerial or more related to access to medicines. This is an opportunity to develop their teamwork skills. Hence, it is necessary to consolidate the professional identity of the pharmacist and to organize their work processes in a multidisciplinary team. PHC is a space that allows a wide development of pharmaceutical services.

Crowd-based Open Online Education as an alternative to the Covid-19 educational crisis

Abstract The suspension of face-to-face classes in universities and schools derived from the current health crisis related to Covid-19 has prompted a process of migration of academic activities to virtual environments. This has revealed a general lack of understanding in both the family and academic environments regarding the relationship between distance and virtual Education, generating tensions between families and educational institutions. This article presents some theoretical insights about Open Educational Practices (OEP) from an emerging perspective by revising their connections with Distance Education and E-learning. The current international discussion on OEP is mainly focused on technological integration and expanding free access to knowledge, while today’s inter-connected world requires more flexibility, sharing, collaborative feedback and autonomy in learning. A fresh perspective on Open Educational Practices based on the participation of students in crowd-based collaborative learning communities is proposed as an alternative to face in-house confinement context challenges.

Novas e velhas leituras sobre a corrupção: o caso da “rachadinha”

The matter concerning what is known as “rachadinha” in Brazil has increasingly occupied the attention of public opinion and the courts. Nevertheless, the legal opinion still diverge as to the response to be offered to this kind of practice. The present article investigates the tendency of punishing “rachadinha” agreements under the crimes of articles 317 and 333 of the brazilian Penal Code. The analysis was guided by a broader reflection on the current political-criminal trends on corruption. Taking as a parameter the international discussions on the subject, especially in German legal theory, the article concludes against the understanding of rachadinha agreements as a corruption offense.

Lowering the Discount Rate Will Speed up the Economy without Increasing Inflation. Ukraine’s Economy is a Car Running on a Handbrake

The public was misled by the National Bank that the main tool for managing inflation is the discount rate. In fact, the most important factor is the money supply, and the discount rate plays an auxiliary role in fine-tuning inflation relative to the level established under the influence of the money supply. A false exaggeration of the ability of the discount rate to influence prices regardless of the behavior of money has led to the fact that attempts to achieve target inflation by raising the rate are neutralized by the more powerful action of the money supply. On the other hand, simultaneously with the failure to curb inflation, side negative effects of the rate, such as overestimation of the cost of lending to the economy, were “successfully” achieved. At the same time, the very principle of the NBU to keep the interest rate no lower than inflation caused serious questions from international experts. At the same time, this does not mean the basic inability of the discount rate to influence prices, but it means that the condition for the launch of the “inflationary” function of the rate is the preliminary approximate achievement of the target inflation with the help of the main instrument – the money supply. And while the fluctuations of the emission and money supply have not yet subsided, and the necessary monetary background has not yet been created, it is quite possible to reduce the rate without consequences for inflation. The main thing is to overcome the stereotype of the irresponsibility of reducing the interest rate and come to the revelation that the discount rate does not dictate, but prepares inflation dictated by money. Specifically, the reduction of the rate from 25 percent to zero is justified. This analysis can be used to complement the Ten Steps proposed by Yu. Svyridenko in the article “What kind of economy are we building?” (URL: https://www.pravda. com.ua/columns/2022/07/8/7357 131/). It is proposed that the clause on “increasing lending by Ukrainian banks on the basis of state guarantees” should be expanded with the following paragraph: “Before this measure, increase crediting by Ukrainian banks by abandoning the erroneous version of the inflation targeting policy adopted in Ukraine, and returning to the NBU discount rate its main role of influencing the cost of commercial banks’ loans in such a way as to contribute not to the decline, but to the flourishing of the economy. To do this, move from the current discount rate of 25% to a rate close to zero. This will help reduce the cost of loans, increase credit resources, and increase the share of bank loans in the sources of financing capital investments.” And this can also be considered as a publication in continuation of the international discussion “The post-war reform plan: is there an opportunity for a civilizational leap?” conducted based on the materials of the abovementioned article by Yu. Svyridenko.

Respon Negara-negara Asia Pasifik atas Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan pada Masa Pandemi Covid-19

Non-traditional security issues are increasingly relevant in international relations discussions nowadays. Threats do not only come from the military aspect but could also come from the climate crisis, terrorism and global pandemic. As happened recently, countries in the Asia Pacific are facing a non-traditional threat, namely Covid-19, which threatens all aspects of human security, especially health security. At the same time, several countries have implemented lockdown, but this policy has resulted in violence against women. This is certainly an issue that must be resolved by countries in the Asia Pacific region, as well as UN Women as an international organization that is responsible for issues concerning basic rights for women. In this study, the authors analysed the response that shown by countries in the Asia Pacific. The results of this study indicate that violence against women in the Asia Pacific was triggered by, among others: (1) the increasing interaction between victims and perpetrators, (2) environments that trigger acts of violence, and (3) limited support services. Thus, the authors examined how the policy responses of Asia Pacific countries in resolving the violence against women that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Identifying Scientific Practices in a Science, Technology and Society Themed Workshop

"Abstract: Recent international documents and educational standards have recommended Science Education be based on three dimensions (Scientific Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas). This has resulted in an increased interest in research involving Scientific Practices in Science Education. The objectives of this article are to: I) Identify the scientific practices that high school students engaged in during a thematic workshop; and II) Discuss the use of thematic workshops as an approach to promote Scientific Practices. The workshop was developed based on the Science, Tecnhology and Society approach and aimed at discussing the composition, properties and effectiveness of male contraceptives. The workshop was conducted in a public school in Southern Brazil and the workshop footage and student questionnaires were analyzed according to Content Analysis. Three transcriptions of classroom situations are presented to discuss the promotion of Scientific Practices in specific classroom contexts. The analyses show that students engaged in six of the eight Scientific Practices discussed by the National Research Council. The results contribute to international discussions on Scientific Practices and discussions regarding the use of thematic workshops as an approach to promote Scientific Practices. "

DIGITAL IDENTITY

The text aims to bring forward a topical issue, that of digital identity. Based on a series of international discussions (Davos Forum, EU) but also in the context of recent announcements in the field of new technologies (the announcement made by M. Zuckerberg on the metaverse), I proposed a socio-anthropological approach of the identity phenomenon today. At least in the documents consulted, the classic social identity is doubled by a virtual social identity and the latter has different names: digital wallet, Good Health Pass, global identity. From a phenomenological perspective and placed in the context of the distinction between utopia and heterotopia (M. Foucault) we can say that digital identity is revealed to us as a heterotopic identity that places our entire system of perception and identity construction in a new paradigm.

Communication regimes in Central Asian countries: a scientific discussion

The article contains the main ideas expressed by Russian and foreign participants in the international scientific discussion on the topic «Communication regimes in Central Asian countries». The discussion was held by National Research Institute for Communications Development. Studies of communication regimes conducted on the basis of the author’s methodology revealed: (1) asymmetry of actor models of communication regimes in Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan); (2) pronounced etatism and policy of state regulation and control of processes and structures of public communication; (3) specifics of social engineering of communication regimes based on securitization of issues of ethnic cultural and national identity; (4) attempts to update communication regimes that have not yet attained serious success. In the course of discussions, scientists from Central Asian countries offered their research materials and keynoted: the role of cultural and religious factors in the formation of communication regimes; the influence of the financial basis of mass media on their structure and media discourse; frequent borrowings of the content from foreign information channels. Russian experts noted: artificially accentuated problems of «historical trauma» in the information space in the Central Asian countries; changes in communication formats within the context of COVID-19; the importance of studying communication regimes in the context of ensuring collective information security, the need to develop common terms and concepts for Russia and Central Asian countries in the drawing up the legislation on communication and information.

Pediatric neurology and telehealth before and during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Telehealth has been known in medicine for over 70 years. Until the year 2020 it has been utilized in a limited setting to provide long-distance care for individuals residing in areas lacking health facilities. SARS-CoV-2 pandemic shifted the priorities of healthcare system towards COVID-19 infections, which resulted in the transition of non-emergency consultations to telemedicine in many countries. Since pediatric neurology requires frequent follow-up and multidisciplinary care, the purpose of our work is to determine the spectrum of use of telehealth in pediatric neurology before and during the pandemic. Secondly, we would like to discuss the differences of focus in tele-neurology for children patients between the pre-pandemic and during pandemic timeframes.Within 171 articles of PubMED database, 36 substantial articles on the introduction of telehealth to pediatric neurology were included in the review. 30.5% of the articles have included the implementation of telemedicine before the pandemic, 69.5% of the articles discussed improvements made after the pandemic started. The spectrum of disorders and interventions considered for telehealth included epilepsy, cerebral palsy, rare diseases, teleneuropsychology and teleneurorehabilitation. Among major differences between pre-pandemic and pandemic research, increase in international cooperation and discussion of not only medical, but also scientific and academic impact of the pandemic could be noted.Telehealth offers sustainable alternatives to many interventions which cannot be performed in-person during public health emergency such as SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Despite high satisfaction of caregivers and healthcare professionals from the virtual visits, solutions are still far from perfection and need improvements to provide more support for the patients with various disorders, cover the concerns of privacy and confidentiality, as well as support patients from low-income and lack of electronic techology backgrounds.

Governance of Access in Biobanking: The Case of Telethon Network of Genetic Biobanks.

The discussion concerning the measure of the quality of a biobank should focus not only on the number of stored samples and their quality but also on the assessment of their access arrangements and governance. This article aims at contributing to the ongoing debate on samples and data access governance in biobanking by presenting the case of the Telethon Network of Genetic Biobanks (TNGB). We attempt to contribute to the need for clear and available access criteria and harmonization in access arrangements to maximize the influence of biobanks in the progress of biomedical research. We reviewed all the sample requests submitted to the TNGB from 2008 to 2020, focusing on those rejected by the Access Committee and the reasons behind the rejections. The analysis of the reasons behind the rejected requests allowed us to analyze how those relate to the issues of scientific misconduct, prioritization, and noncompliance with the biobank's mission. We discuss those issues in light of the actions and motivations used by TNGB in the access decision-making process. Based on this analysis, we suggest that a cross-implementation of a checklist for access assessment would improve the whole access process, ensuring a more transparent and smoother governance. Finally, we conclude that the TNGB's Charter and approach toward access governance could contribute as an important reference point to deal with the issues that have emerged in the international discussion on the topic.

How to overcome barriers to publication in low- and middle-income countries: Recommendations from early career psychiatrists and researchers from around the world.

There is an increasing movement toward international collaboration and global discussion in mental health. If provided with the right opportunities, early career psychiatrists (ECPs) and researchers in mental health can contribute meaningfully to this discussion. However, they often experience multiple barriers when attempting to add their voices via academic publications. We represent a diverse group of ECPs and researchers from all six World Health Organization regions. In this piece, we discuss these barriers, grounded in our first-hand experiences, and put forth a series of recommendations. The most potentially beneficial and immediate way forward is ensuring a much-needed mentorship and support, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. In this regard, international organizations, especially those with a particular focus on education, such as the Section on Education in Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association, can play a pivotal role.

The state of Australian performance design: A roundtable discussion on scenographic practice, education and research through the lens of the Prague Quadrennial

As the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2019 (PQ19) drew to a close, Australian designers, researchers and educators gathered to discuss the impact of PQ on our scenographic communities while querying the evolutions and challenges facing design practice. Australia’s vast geography made this event a unique opportunity to bring together leading experts from multiple states and capture contemporary perspectives. At the midpoint between the 2019 and 2023 gatherings – a time of global pandemics, political unrest and educational transformation – this article offers the outcomes of this roundtable as a unique snapshot of the state of design practice within Australia through the lens of the Quadrennial. The roundtable was themed around Australia’s presence at PQ19, the effects of PQ19 on those present and the ripples to be felt by those at home, and what attendance illuminated about current developments and concerns in practice, teaching and research. Led by practitioner-researchers Tessa Rixon and Madeline Taylor, the roundtable featured both the curators of Australia’s country and student exhibits; award-winning set, costume and lighting designers with diverse experiences from national opera to independent theatre; and educators and researchers from the nation’s top universities. The resulting discussion presents a unique perspective on the gaps and weaknesses in the design education, practice and research; first-hand insights on the challenges and opportunities available in both exhibiting and participating in the PQ; and the need to actively promote and privilege diverse voices and a multiplicity of representations in the process of claiming a ‘national’ scenographic identity. The roundtable was the first to capture multiple expert first-person Australian perspectives on the PQ while simultaneously contributing to the ongoing international discussion of performance design through the lens of artists, educators and researchers.

Review of engagement activities to promote awareness of radiation and its associated risk amongst the Japanese public before and after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, many radiation experts directly experienced a vast gap between ideal and real public understanding (PU) of radiation in risk communication. Therefore, this study collated and reviewed information about PU activities for radiation and its risk that six Japanese academic societies—which seem to be socially neutral expert communities—related to radiation and radiation risk conducted before and after the accident. Activities these radiation-related societies provided to the general public were discussed from the following perspectives: (a) difficulties in two-way communication due to resources, motivation and public interest and concerns; (b) balance between academic research and PU activities; (c) academic societies’ building trust with the public while ensuring member experts’ neutrality and independence; and (d) discussions among academic societies to prepare for public engagement. We hope that this paper encourages experts and academic societies in radiation protection to hold more national and international discussions about their roles in public communication and outreach.

Local spatial policy in Ukraine and Poland

The article aims to compare the local tools of Ukrainian and Polish spatial policy. It includes legal solutions (with a particular emphasis on the basics of development restrictions) and problems related to their application diagnosed in the literature on the subject. Based on the analysis of the spatial management systems of both countries, the similarities and differences were determined, referring them to the international discussion and suggesting directions for further research (on the spatial management systems of Central and Eastern European countries). Ukraine and Poland were selected for analysis in terms of similarities (partially similar historical conditions, location) and differences (status of a European Union Member State, spatial planning traditions).