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New Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Shipping Law in the 21st Century (Maritime and Transport Law Library)
by Bar 305 351 Professor Soyer Andrew TettenbornNew Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Shipping Law in the 21st Century consists of edited versions of the papers delivered at the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law’s 14th International Colloquium at Swansea Law School in September 2018. Written by a combination of top academics and highly experienced legal practitioners, these papers have been carefully co-ordinated to give the reader a first-class insight into the issues surrounding new technology and shipping. The book is set out in three parts: Part I offers a detailed and critical analysis of issues that are emerging, and those that are likely to emerge, from the use of advanced computer technology, particularly at the contracting process and in the context of issuing trading documents. Part 2 focusses on artificial intelligence and discusses the contemporary issues that will emerge once autonomous ships and similar crafts are put to use in the world’s oceans. As well as this, the legal impact of ports utilising artificial intelligence and computer technology will also be considered. Part 3 analyses how the increasing use of legal technology is changing insurance underwriting and shipping litigation. An invaluable guide to the recent technological advances in shipping, this book is vital reading for both professional and academic readers.
Women, Sustainable Entrepreneurship and the Economy: A Global Perspective (Women and Sustainable Business)
by K 305 ymet Tunca Çalı Yurt Liliane SeguraWhen a woman decides to become an ‘entrepreneur,’ she starts her business with a sense of excitement, freedom, wealth, happiness, prestige; however, these feelings can soon turn to fears over debt, difficulties, unpaid invoices, stress, and uncertainty. Being an entrepreneur means taking risks, making decisions, adapting management styles in line with developmental needs, clashing with rivals, being more agile than competitors, negotiating risky scenarios, following business trends, capturing new opportunities before, and being better than the competition. If a woman wants to be successful as an entrepreneur, she needs to have a business education, undergo continued professional development, and have patience and emotional intelligence. Supporting women in their entrepreneurial activities has been shown to positively affect the economy, which is why governments pay special attention to opening new funding opportunities and training programs for women who want to start or develop a business. Female entrepreneurship has individual characteristics because of those aspects of the business which are affected by cultural, technological, legislative, social, and historical developments. This book discusses the relationship between female entrepreneurship and the economy, and academic authors from developing countries such as Brazil, Turkey, Albania, Kosovo, Portugal, and Malaysia analyze the developments encompassing women and entrepreneurship in their respective countries. The authors discuss the regulatory frameworks of each country to show how these either help or hinder female entrepreneurship, and consequently, the place of women in the economy. Women and entrepreneurship is an emerging theme, and this book is a must-read for researchers from both developing and developed countries.
Confidential Source Ninety-Six: The Making Of America's Preeminent Confidential Informant
by C. S. 96A HARROWING JOURNEY INSIDE THE HIDDEN WORLD OF DRUG CARTELS BY ONE OF THE TOP CRIMINAL INFORMANTS IN U.S. LAW ENFORCEMENT HISTORY.The men he put behind bars know him as Roman Caribe or one of the dozens of other aliases he has used undercover. His handlers in the DEA, ICE, and FBI know him as Confidential Source Ninety-Six, or C.S. 96, named for the year he confronted the sins of his life atop a massive drug distribution ring and flipped, becoming law enforcement's secret weapon. In Confidential Source Ninety-Six, Caribe tells the extraordinary story of his transformation into America's most successful informant in terms of total narcotics seized--from the years of trafficking cocaine and marijuana across the U.S. for a terrifying drug lord, eventually becoming that man's number two, to his decision to defect and trade sides. In his first mission, Caribe set his sights on his onetime boss's brutal operation. In his next, he broke all protocol and made a daring foray into the notorious Fuentes Cartel, where he took down a family that was smuggling tons of drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.As Caribe launched his career as a confidential source, finding his faith and seeking to finally do right by his stoic wife, Inez, and his four children, his marriage became stressed in new ways, the risks to his family unimaginable if he made a single mistake on the job. He found himself looking over his shoulder every day, knowing that with each drug ring or kingpin he destroyed, he made another dangerous enemy. For as long as he continued the high stakes work, he would survive on the cunning of his tradecraft and his ability to improvise in the most terrifying circumstances. Unfolding in Southern California mansions, makeshift DEA trailers deep in the redwood forest, drug fronts in Spanish Harlem, fast-food parking lots where kilograms of cocaine and heroin change hands, and around the dinner table where Caribe began mentoring at-risk youth to help them avoid the mistakes he made, Confidential Source Ninety-Six is the epic saga of one man's quest to redeem himself and a thrilling look at the law enforcement battle that rages in the shadows of our nation.
Constitutional Politics: Essays on Constitution Making, Maintenance, and Change
by A. Barber & Robert P. GeorgeWhat does it mean to have a constitution? Scholars and students associated with Walter Murphy at Princeton University have long asked this question in their exploration of constitutional politics and judicial behavior. These scholars, concerned with the making, maintenance, and deliberate change of the Constitution, have made unique and significant contributions to our understanding of American constitutional law by going against the norm of court-centered and litigation-minded research. Beginning in the late 1970s, this new wave of academics explored questions ranging from the nature of creating the U.S. Constitution to the philosophy behind amending it. In this collection, Sotirios A. Barber and Robert P. George bring together fourteen essays by members of this Princeton group--some of the most distinguished scholars in the field. These works consider the meaning of having a constitution, the implications of particular choices in the design of constitutions, and the meaning of judicial supremacy in the interpretation of the Constitution. The overarching ambition of this collection is to awaken a constitutionalist consciousness in its readers--to view themselves as potential makers and changers of constitutions, as opposed to mere subjects of existing arrangements. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Walter F. Murphy, John E. Finn, Christopher L. Eisgruber, James E. Fleming, Jeffrey K. Tulis, Suzette Hemberger, Stephen Macedo, Sanford Levinson, H. N. Hirsch, Wayne D. Moore, Keith E. Whittington, and Mark E. Brandon.
Conceptions and Misconceptions of Legislation (Legisprudence Library #5)
by A. Daniel Oliver-LalanaThis volume brings together an international group of legal scholars to discuss different approaches to lawmaking. As well as reflecting the diversity of legisprudence as a re-emerging academic field, it offers a broad overview of current developments and challenges in the theory of legislation, and aspires, moreover, to counterbalance some questionable ideas or misconceptions, widespread among jurists, on what making laws entails. The book is organized into three parts. The first comprises a sample of ‘ways and models of legislation’, ranging from classic legislative ideals to contemporary forms of regulation. The essays in this part, variances of focus notwithstanding, revolve around the notions of legislative rationality, quality, effectiveness, and legitimacy, which may be regarded as the cornerstones of legisprudence. Interwoven with these notions is another core legisprudential concern: the justification of laws. We address it separately in the next part by exploring the connection between lawmaking, argumentation and constitutional democracy: under the heading ‘legislation in a culture of justification’, a number of aspects of this connection are tackled that have not been sufficiently considered so far in legisprudential literature, such as the intricacies of legislative reasoning and balancing, or the justificatory problems posed by special-interest legislation. The under privileged status of legisprudence in legal studies and the need for socially attentive and citizen-oriented legislative research come to the fore in the third part of the book which turns to the relationships between ‘legisprudence, lawyers, and citizens’. All in all, the thirteen articles gathered here provide a stimulating insight into the theory of legislation, and can hopefully contribute to the reconciliation of the study of law and the study of its making.
Debating Laws: Studies on Parliamentary Justification of Legislation (Legisprudence Library #10)
by A. Daniel Oliver-LalanaThis book seeks to explore the potential and actual value of parliamentary debates as a source of legislative justification. Drawing on a sample of recent Spanish legislation, the papers collected here analyse (critically) the rationale of several laws or legislative measures as it can be reconstructed from the respective parliamentary discussions. All issues covered have given rise to intense political, legal and social controversy: they range from the combat against gender violence, the legal status of bullfighting, the protection of crime victims and the so-called ‘push-backs’ at the border, to the regulation of euthanasia, the minimum living income, underage girls’ access to abortion, and joint child custody. The volume is organised into two main parts. The first group of case studies adopt a legisprudential perspective and examine parliamentary deliberations in the light of the theory and methodology of legislative justification; the contributions in the second part follow approaches that fall outside – but are largely compatible with –legisprudence, and deal with aspects such as the rhetorical strategies employed by MPs when debating bills, and the role of elected legislators as constitutional interpreters.
International Business Law and the Legal Environment: A Transactional Approach
by Larry A. DiMatteoThe fourth edition of International Business Law and the Legal Environment: A Transactional Approach gives business and law students a clear understanding of the legal principles that govern international business. This book goes beyond compliance by emphasizing how to use the law to create value and competitive advantage. DiMatteo’s transactional approach walks students through key business transactions—from import and export, contracts, and finance to countertrade, dispute resolution, licensing, and more—giving them both context and providing real-world applications. More concise than previous editions, this new edition also features: • Added coverage of new technologies, such as smart contracts, digital platforms, and blockchain technology • Discussion of businesses and sustainability, climate change, and creating a circular economy • Greater focus on UNIDROIT Principles and a review of INCOTERMS 2020 • Expansion of common carrier coverage to include CMI trucking and CMR railway conventions • International perspective and use of a variety of national and international law materials • Great coverage of EU substantive law Upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students of business law and international business will appreciate DiMatteo’s lucid writing style, and professionals will find this book to be a comprehensive resource. Online resources include an instructor’s manual, PowerPoint slides, test bank, and other tools to provide additional support for students and instructors.
Legal Authority in Premodern Islam: Yahya B Sharaf Al-Nawawi in the Shafi'i School of Law (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)
by Fachrizal A. HalimOffering a detailed analysis of the structure of authority in Islamic law, this book focuses on the figure of Yahyā b. Sharaf al-Nawawī, who is regarded as the chief contributor to the legal tradition known as the Shāfi'ī madhhab in traditional Muslim sources, named after Muhammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfi'ī (d. 204/820), the supposed founder of the school of law. Al-Nawawī’s legal authority is situated in a context where Muslims demanded to stabilize legal disposition that is consistent with the authority of the madhhab, since in premodern Islamic society, the ruling powers did not produce or promulgate law, as was the case in other, monarchic civilizations. Al-Nawawī’s place in the long-term formation of the madhhab is significant for many reasons but for one in particular: his effort in reconciling the two major interpretive communities among the Shāfi'ites, i.e., the tarīqas of the Iraqians and Khurasanians. This book revisits the history of the Shāfi'ī school in the pre-Nawawic era and explores its later development in the post-Nawawic period. Presenting a comprehensive picture of the structure of authority in Islamic law, specifically within the Shafi’ite legal tradition, this book is an essential resource for students and scholars of Islamic Studies, History and Law.
The Supreme Court’s New Workplace: Procedural Rulings and Substantive Worker Rights in the United States
by Joseph A. SeinerThe US Supreme Court has systematically eroded the rights of minority workers through subtle changes in procedural law. This accessible book identifies and describes how the Supreme Court's new procedural requirements create legal obstacles for civil-rights litigants, thereby undermining their substantive rights. Seiner takes the next step of providing a framework that practitioners can use to navigate these murky waters, allowing workers a better chance of prevailing with their claims. Seiner clearly illustrates how to effectively use his framework, applying the proposed model to one emerging sector - the on-demand industry. Many minority workers now face pervasive discrimination in an uncertain legal environment. This book will serve as a roadmap for successful workplace litigation and a valuable resource for civil-rights research. It will also spark a debate among scholars, lawyers, and others in the legal community over the use of procedure to alter substantive worker rights.
Criminal Law, Philosophy and Public Health Practice
by A. M. Viens John Coggon Anthony S. Kessel A. M. Viens John CoggonThe goal of improving public health involves the use of different tools, with the law being one way to influence the activities of institutions and individuals. Of the regulatory mechanisms afforded by law to achieve this end, criminal law remains a perennial mechanism to delimit the scope of individual and group conduct. Utilising criminal law may promote or hinder public health goals, and its use raises a number of complex questions that merit exploration. This examination of the interface between criminal law and public health brings together international experts from a variety of disciplines, including law, criminology, public health, philosophy and health policy, in order to examine the theoretical and practical implications of using criminal law to improve public health.
Electricity Capacity Markets
by Todd S. Aagaard Andrew N. KleitInitially created as afterthoughts to competitive electricity markets, capacity markets were intended to enhance system reliability. They have evolved into massive, highly controversial, and poorly understood billion-dollar institutions. Electricity Capacity Markets examines the rationales for creating capacity markets, how capacity markets work, and how well these markets are meeting their objectives. This book will appeal to energy experts and non-experts alike, across a range of disciplines, including economics, business, engineering, public policy, and law. Capacity markets are an important and provocative topic on their own, but they also offer an interesting case study of how well our energy systems are meeting the needs of our increasingly complex society. The challenges facing capacity markets – harnessing market forces for social good, creating networks that manage complexity, and achieving sustainability – are very much core challenges for our twenty-first century advanced industrial society.
Deliberation and Decision: Economics, Constitutional Theory and Deliberative Democracy (Law, Ethics and Economics)
by Anne van Aaken Christian ListDeliberation and Decision explores ways of bridging the gap between two rival approaches to theorizing about democratic institutions: constitutional economics on the one hand and deliberative democracy on the other. The two approaches offer very different accounts of the functioning and legitimacy of democratic institutions. Although both highlight the importance of democratic consent, their accounts of such consent could hardly be more different. Constitutional economics models individuals as self-interested rational utility maximizers and uses economic efficiency criteria such as incentive compatibility for evaluating institutions. Deliberative democracy models individuals as communicating subjects capable of engaging in democratic discourse. The two approaches are disjointed not only in terms of their assumptions and methodology but also in terms of the communication - or lack thereof - between their respective communities of researchers. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the recent debate between the two approaches and makes new and original contributions to that debate.
The Changing Practices of International Law
by Tanja Aalberts Thomas Gammeltoft-HansenWith more than 158 000 treaties and some 125 judicial organizations, international law has become an inescapable factor in world politics since the Second World War. In recent years, however, international law has also been increasingly challenged as states are voicing concerns that it is producing unintended effects and accuse international courts of judicial activism. This book provides an important corrective to existing theories of international law by focusing on how states respond to increased legalization and rely on legal expertise to manoeuvre within and against international law. Through a number of case studies, covering a wide range of topical issues, such as surveillance, environmental regulation, migration and foreign investments, the book argues that the expansion and increased institutionalization of international law itself have created the structural premise for this type of politics of international law. More international law paradoxically increases states’ political room of manoeuvre in international society.
Animal Suffering: Philosophy and Culture
by Elisa AaltolaExploring how animal suffering is made meaningful within Western ramifications, the book investigates themes such as skepticism concerning non-human experience, cultural roots of compassion, and contemporary approaches to animal ethics. At its center is the pivotal question: What is the moral significance of animal suffering?
Essays on the Doctrinal Study of Law
by Aulis AarnioEssays on the Doctrinal Study of Law is a summary of the author's 40 years of research in the fields of civil law and the philosophy of law. The main focus is on the two main tasks in the doctrinal study of law: the interpretation and systematisation of legal norms. In this regard, Professor Aarnio deals with the theory of argumentation as well as with its foundations - i.e., with the ontology, epistemology and methodology of legal thinking - and develops the ideas that were first presented in The Rational as Reasonable (Kluwer 1987) in all of these dimensions. The work includes an updated discussion on the writings of Robert Alexy, Jûrgen Habermas, Ronald Dworkin and Alf Ross. A focal point of view concerns the distinction between positivism and non-positivism, in which the core of the criticism focuses on Scandinavian realism.
Dispatches from Juvenile Hall
by John AaronsA revolutionary book that offers a fresh, bold approach to confronting the juvenile crime epidemic With the rise of violent crimes committed by teenagers in recent years, heated discussion has arisen over the societal factors that lead to juvenile criminality and the ways that public institutions are failing to curtail them. Now a team of experts with decades of collective hands-on experience present a book that cuts through the hype and paranoia to offer real solutions. Drawing on actual case studies, Dispatches from Juvenile Hall shows how conventional ?tough on crime? tactics have only worsened the problem, and presents a new blueprint for change that incorporates punitive action, rehabilitation, and family intervention?a progressive program that will encourage and enlighten all those concerned about the future of our youth. .
Taking Trade to the Streets: The Lost History of Public Efforts to Shape Globalization
by Susan Ariel AaronsonIn the wake of civil protest in Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting, many issues raised by globalization and increasingly free trade have been in the forefront of the news. But these issues are not necessarily new. Taking Trade to the Streetsdescribes how so many individuals and nongovernmental organizations came over time to see trade agreements as threatening national systems of social and environmental regulations. Using the United States as a case study, Susan Ariel Aaronson examines the history of trade agreement critics, focusing particular attention on NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States) and the Tokyo and Uruguay Rounds of trade liberalization under the GATT. She also considers the question of whether such trade agreement critics are truly protectionist. The book explores how trade agreement critics built a fluid global movement to redefine thetermsof trade agreements (the international system of rules governing trade) and to redefine how citizens talk about trade. (The "terms of trade" is a relationship between the prices of exports and of imports. ) That movement, which has been growing since the 1980s, transcends borders as well as longstanding views about the role of government in the economy. While many trade agreement critics on the left say they want government policies to make markets more equitable, they find themselves allied with activists on the right who want to reduce the role of government in the economy. Aaronson highlights three hot-button social issues--food safety, the environment, and labor standards--to illustrate how conflicts arise between trade and other types of regulation. And finally she calls for a careful evaluation of the terms of trade from which an honest debate over regulating the global economy might emerge. Ultimately, this book links the history of trade policy to the history of social regulation. It is a social, political, and economic history that will be of interest to policymakers and students of history, economics, political science, government, trade, sociology, and international affairs. Susan Ariel Aaronson is Senior Fellow at the National Policy Institute and occasional commentator on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition. "
Technologies of InSecurity: The Surveillance of Everyday Life
by Katja Aas Helene Gundhus Heidi LomellTechnologies of Insecurity examines how general social and political concerns about terrorism, crime, migration and globalization are translated into concrete practices of securitisation of everyday life. Who are we afraid of in a globalizing world? How are issues of safety and security constructed and addressed by various local actors and embodied in a variety of surveillance systems? Examining how various forms of contemporary insecurity are translated into, and reduced to, issues of surveillance and social control, this book explores a variety of practical and cultural aspects of technological control, as well as the discourses about safety and security surrounding them. (In)security is a politically and socially constructed phenomenon, with a variety of meanings and modalities. And, exploring the inherent duality and dialectics between our striving for security and the simultaneous production of insecurity, Technologies of Insecurity considers how mundane objects and activities are becoming bearers of risks which need to be neutralised. As ordinary arenas - such as the workplace, the city centre, the football stadium, the airport, and the internet - are imbued with various notions of risk and danger and subject to changing public attitudes and sensibilities, the critical deconstruction of the nexus between everyday surveillance and (in)security pursued here provides important new insights about how broader political issues are translated into concrete and local practices of social control and exclusion.
The Professional Guinea Pig: Big Pharma and the Risky World of Human Subjects
by Roberto AbadieThe Professional Guinea Pig documents the emergence of the professional research subject in Phase I clinical trials testing the safety of drugs in development. Until the mid-1970s Phase I trials were conducted on prisoners. After that practice was outlawed, the pharmaceutical industry needed a replacement population and began to aggressively recruit healthy, paid subjects, some of whom came to depend on the income, earning their living by continuously taking part in these trials. Drawing on ethnographic research among self-identified "professional guinea pigs" in Philadelphia, Roberto Abadie examines their experiences and views on the conduct of the trials and the risks they assume by participating. Some of the research subjects he met had taken part in more than eighty Phase I trials. While the professional guinea pigs tended to believe that most clinical trials pose only a moderate health risk, Abadie contends that the hazards presented by continuous participation, such as exposure to potentially dangerous drug interactions, are discounted or ignored by research subjects in need of money. The risks to professional guinea pigs are also disregarded by the pharmaceutical industry, which has become dependent on the routine participation of experienced research subjects. Arguing that financial incentives compromise the ethical imperative for informed consent to be freely given by clinical-trials subjects, Abadie confirms the need to reform policies regulating the participation of paid subjects in Phase I clinical trials.
Organized Crime
by Howard AbadinskyEver dynamic, organized crime continues to change. For example, efforts to combat one aspect of the phenomenon, the American Mafia, have reached high levels of prosecutorial success -- resulting in a decline in the organization's relative importance. Meanwhile, criminal organizations operating on a global scale have become more sophisticated and more threatening, and additional crime groups have been added to the pantheon we refer to as organized crime. Reflecting changes that have occurred in recent years, this eleventh edition updates information and analyses of organized crime, including how criminal groups around the world are organized; the widening of their business activities; and the statutes, agencies, and techniques used to combat them.
Regional Approaches to the Protection of Asylum Seekers: An International Legal Perspective (Law and Migration)
by Ademola AbassThis book presents a comprehensive assessment of regional responses to the crisis in the asylum/refugee system and critically examines how different regions tackle the problem. The chapters consider the fundamental challenges which undermine an effective asylum process as well as regional difficulties with the various circumstances surrounding asylum seekers. With contributions on Africa, Europe, Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East, and the Pacific, the collection strives to appreciate what informs each region’s approach to the asylum process and asks if there are issues common to every region and if regions can learn from one another. The book seeks an understanding of the existing legal regime for the protection of asylum seekers and how regional institutions such as human rights commissions and regional courts enforce and adjudicate the law. The volume will be valuable to those interested in international law, migration and human rights.
Climate Change and the Voiceless: Protecting Future Generations, Wildlife, and Natural Resources
by Randall S. AbateFuture generations, wildlife, and natural resources - collectively referred to as 'the voiceless' in this work - are the most vulnerable and least equipped populations to protect themselves from the impacts of global climate change. While domestic and international law protections are beginning to recognize rights and responsibilities that apply to the voiceless community, these legal developments have yet to be pursued in a collective manner and have not been considered together in the context of climate change and climate justice. In Climate Change and the Voiceless, Randall S. Abate identifies the common vulnerabilities of the voiceless in the Anthropocene era and demonstrates how the law, by incorporating principles of sustainable development, can evolve to protect their interests more effectively. This work should be read by anyone interested in how the law can be employed to mitigate the effects of climate change on those who stand to lose the most.
The Law for Energy Prosumers: The Case of the Netherlands, New Zealand and Colombia
by Daniela Aguilar AbaunzaThis book argues that law has a vital role in shaping the electricity system to enable a more active role for consumers in liberalizsed electricity industries. To do that, this book offers a unique legal perspective of the Netherlands, New Zealand and Colombia to help understand some of the current legal approaches to prosumers and therefore the legal challenges and opportunities facing. Law and regulation have the role of creating a level playing field for emerging participants, such as prosumers, to participate and compete in the market together with traditional actors, bringing not only more competition but also representing a more sustainable, environmental and democratic way to supply energy. Furthermore, law and regulation have the role of responding to innovation and creating space for technological advances to procure the changes in the industry without delay. This book examines some of the legal barriers for the raise of energy prosumers. The traditional role of the distributor when responding to increasing distributed generation in the network; prosumers unable to decide to whom they can sell their electricity to; the price of the energy or even whether to participate more actively in demand response programs. A further issue is the lack of clarity about whether small prosumers are entitled to consumer protection rights and legal challenges regarding configuration, access to the network, access to markets and strict unbundling rules for community energy projects. This book provides a clear, analytical, and informed approach to understanding the regulatory framework around energy prosumers. It will appeal to policy makers, lawyers, individuals, business entrepreneurs or communities wanting to engage in energy projects, as well as academics, researchers and students
From Terrorism to Television: Dynamics of Media, State, and Society in Pakistan
by Qaisar AbbasThis book unpacks the media dynamics within the socio-cultural, political, and economic context of Pakistan. It provides an in-depth, critical, and scholarly discussion of contemporary issues such as media, state, and democracy in Pakistan; freedom of expression in Pakistani journalism; Balochistan as a blind spot in mainstream newspapers; media control by state institutions; women and media discourses; TV talk shows and coverage of Kashmir; feminist narrative and media images of Malala Yousufzai and Mukhtaran Mai; jihad on screen; and Osama bin Laden’s death on screen, to understand the relation between media and terrorism. The book covers diverse media types including TV, radio, newspapers, print media, films, documentary, stage performance, and social media. Detailed, interdisciplinary, analytical, and with original perspectives from journalists as well as academics, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of media studies, Pakistan studies, politics and international affairs, military and terrorism studies, journalism and communication studies, and South Asian studies. It will also interest general readers, policy makers, and those interested in global journalism, mass media, and freedom of expression.
Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws: From Islamic Empires to the Taliban
by Shemeem Burney AbbasUnder the guise of Islamic law, the prophet Muhammad's Islam, and the Qur'an, states such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh are using blasphemy laws to suppress freedom of speech. Yet the Prophet never tried or executed anyone for blasphemy, nor does the Qur'an authorize the practice. Asserting that blasphemy laws are neither Islamic nor Qur'anic, Shemeem Burney Abbas traces the evolution of these laws from the Islamic empires that followed the death of the Prophet Muhammad to the present-day Taliban. Her pathfinding study on the shari'a and gender demonstrates that Pakistan's blasphemy laws are the inventions of a military state that manipulates discourse in the name of Islam to exclude minorities, women, free thinkers, and even children from the rights of citizenship. Abbas herself was persecuted under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, so she writes from both personal experience and years of scholarly study. Her analysis exposes the questionable motives behind Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which were resurrected during General Zia-ul-Haq's regime of 1977-1988--motives that encompassed gaining geopolitical control of the region, including Afghanistan, in order to weaken the Soviet Union. Abbas argues that these laws created a state-sponsored "infidel" ideology that now affects global security as militant groups such as the Taliban justify violence against all "infidels" who do not subscribe to their interpretation of Islam. She builds a strong case for the suspension of Pakistan's blasphemy laws and for a return to the Prophet's peaceful vision of social justice.