The Degradation of the International Legal Order? The Rehabilitation of Law and the Possibility of Politics  
by Bill Bowring

"Providing the basis for critical engagement with the pessimism of the contemporary age, The Degradation of the International Legal Order? argues passionately for a rehabilitation of the honour of historic events and processes, and of their role in generating legal concepts. Drawing primarily from the Marxian tradition, but also engaging with a range of contemporary work in critical theory and critical legal and human rights scholarship, this book analyses historical and recent international events and processes in order to challenge their orthodox interpretation. What is thus proposed is a new evaluation of international legal principles and human rights norms, the revolutionary content of which, it is argued, turns them from mere rhetoric into powerful weapons of struggle. Accessibly written, but theoretically sophisticated, this original and timely book is intended for critical teachers and students of international law, human rights, and international relations, as well as legal and political activists."

Routledge Cavendish 2008

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The fifth annual W.E.W. Postgraduate Conference in Politics will take place at the University of Bristol’s Department of Politics on Saturday 1st March, 2008. Papers are welcome on all aspects of politics, political philosophy, and international relations. Panel subjects may cover such diverse themes as: development, public policy/comparative politics, political economy, security/securitisation, conflict and post-war recovery, social movements and activism, post-positivist and critical approaches, gender studies, labour movements; additional panel suggestions are also encouraged.

The West of England and Wales Postgraduate Conference is organized by postgraduates for postgraduates. It provides an opportunity to present a paper or a ‘work in progress’ on politics in a relaxed atmosphere. The W.E.W. Postgraduate Conference is the ideal setting to present both embryonic ideas and fully polished papers ready for publication. The conference also provides an ideal environment to discuss general issues regarding postgraduate study, and is a useful way of establishing contacts within the postgraduate community. You do not have to present a paper in order to attend the conference.

When do processes and practices of globalisation, participation and sustainability strengthen injustice? When are they emancipatory? This course draws on detailed ethnographic studies from both the ‘north’ and the ‘south’ to analyse global movements, examining for example how and when ‘participatory governance’ and ‘sustainable development’ are used to support or to exploit social and ecological systems. Through developing the ‘hands-on’ critical skills of participatory, investigative and action research – grounded in the emerging field of global ethnography – students will be encouraged to examine and assess strategies used to resist and redirect those processes of globalisation, sustainable development and participatory governance which have the potential to produce and reproduce inequalities.

New campaign report and website launched by Campaign Against Arms Trade and Fellowship of Reconciliation! "Study War No More. Military Involvement in UK Universities." 

http://www.studywarnomore.org.uk/