Editor’s Introduction
As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Autumn issue of the BSIS Journal of International Studies features works that invoke the bigger picture, as they fix attention on forms of injustice that persist beyond the challenges of the public health crisis. From the commodification of intimacy to the growing indebtedness of households, from the reproduction of colonial logics through post-colonial political logistics, from the persisting dynamics of the Arab Spring to the pervasive impact of international institutions – we’ll do well not to switch off the light of critical scrutiny on processes that continue to shape our lives.
The commercial logic of neoliberal capitalism has been much criticized in recent years. But how far have the instincts of homo economicus permeated our existence? Kiana Baker-Sohn looks to sexual relations as a site where women have displayed self-interested and rational economic behaviour. Emphasizing the gendered exclusion and commodification that became inherent to capitalist societies, she explores how women display economic behaviour in the sphere of intimacy in order to acquire wealth, leisure and luxury.
International disputes over the geographical labeling of products, such as ‘Greek’ feta, ‘French’ Champagne, or so-called ‘rip-off’ Italian products have made headlines in recent years, revealing the economic benefit countries perceive in constructing such national associations in the minds of consumers. Why isn’t Mexican chocolate joining this rush to commercial fame? And why aren’t Mexican chocolate exports benefitting from the recent global interest in authentic Mexican cuisine? Elliot Knight employs world systems theory and positional goods theory to tell us where all the Mexican chocolate went.
Since the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002, victims’ rights have increasingly gained recognition, most prominently through the victims’ participation and reparation regime. And yet, this seemingly progressive path has inadvertently hampered restorative justice, argues Leonie Kunze. She applies a critical victimologist perspective in her scrutiny of the ICC’s proceedings, to reveal that the current conception of victimhood is flawed in many ways.
With the boom of free movement of capital in the late 20th century, banks have come to dominate our everyday lives by targeting households as new sources of profit. How has the financialization of capitalism affected households? Melike Sengul demonstrates the bidirectional pressure on households by arguing that entrapped households find themselves either in a debt-spiral or in high-risk investments, showing how ‘debt-peonage’ societies are created in advanced capitalist economies.
When the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006, it became the first international convention to detail the right to equal recognition before the law for people with disabilities. It has since been hailed in mainstream human rights literature as a paradigm shift in the legal approach to human rights. Yet, some argue that the CRPD contains a revolutionary potential to redefine key concepts in international human rights law, or even to reconceptualize the subject of human rights itself. Christopher Sfetsios assesses these claims in light of Article 12 of the CRPD and its implementation.
Nearly a decade ago, the Arab Spring swept through Egypt and successfully ousted the political establishment. Those who subsequently rose to power, however, were not revolutionaries. Why did the Egyptian dissidents fail to fill the power void left by Mubarak? What avenues to power remain open for reformers in Egypt? Claire Westerkamp examines the aftermath of the uprising to discern the dynamics of revolution and counter-revolution in the Arab Spring.
Albena Azmanova, editor
Christopher Sfetsios, deputy editor