This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The C&M working paper series are published by the Committee on Concepts and Methods (C&M), the Re... more The C&M working paper series are published by the Committee on Concepts and Methods (C&M), the Research Committee No. 1 of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), hosted at CIDE in Mexico City. C&M working papers are meant to share work in progress in a timely way before formal publication. Authors bear full responsibility for the content of their contributions. All rights reserved. The Committee on Concepts and Methods (C&M) promotes conceptual and methodological discussion in political science. It provides a forum of debate between methodological schools who otherwise tend to conduct their deliberations on separate tables. It publishes two series of working papers: "Political Concepts" and "Political Methodology." Political Concepts contains work of excellence on political concepts and political language. It seeks to include innovative contributions to concept analysis, language usage, concept operationalization, and measurement. Political Methodology contains work of excellence on methods and methodology in the study of politics. It invites innovative work on fundamental questions of research design, the construction and evaluation of empirical evidence, theory building and theory testing. The series welcomes, and hopes to foster, contributions that cut across conventional methodological divides, as between quantitative and qualitative methods, or between interpretative and observational approaches. Submissions. All papers are subject to review by either a member of the Editorial Board or an external reviewer. Only English-language papers can be admitted. Authors interested in including their work in the C&M Series may seek initial endorsement by one editorial board member. Alternatively, they may send their paper to wps[at]concepts-methods.org. The C&M webpage offers full access to past working papers.
In Human Rights in International Relations, David P. Forsythe argues that the subject of human ri... more In Human Rights in International Relations, David P. Forsythe argues that the subject of human rights "projects liberalism into a realist world-a world dominated for several centuries by states and their collective interests" (Forsythe 2006: 3-4). This simple and elegant claim embodies the main puzzle that the empirical political science of human rights has been working on since the publication of Mitchell and McCormick's (1988) seminal article in World Politics. If we take "realist" states to mean "rationalist" states, then it is my view that what Forsythe claims for the international level also holds for the domestic level. The base assumptions of a the rationalist perspective sees individuals at the domestic level and states at the international level as being primarily motivated by the maximization of their own material self-interest. Other interests may exist alongside material ones, but ultimately a rationalist assumes that the material concerns are primary and all other concerns are (1) not actually important or (2) mere reflections of those material concerns in the first place. Realists and rationalists alike seek to determine the bases for these material concerns, to show how they relate to the pursuit of power, and to use these insights to explain observed behaviors in the world of politics (see Mearsheimer 1994/1995; Lichbach 1997). Power, its exercise, acquisition, and maintenance by states is a fundamental principle of realism and, if Lasswell (1950) is correct, is a fundamental principle of politics itself (i.e., "who gets what when and how"). In contrast, human rights provide a particular moral compass for understanding the relationship between the state and the citizen in modern societies, and at the international level, a set of norms constructed formally since 1948 by states through the mechanism of international law. In the absence of agreed philosophical foundations for the existence of human rights (Landman 2005b), the development of the idea of human rights as it has found legal expression in international and domestic instruments should fundamentally be seen as an attempt to constrain the exercise of power. Human rights have sought to erect an architecture that both prescribes and proscribes state and nonstate action in ways that Todd Landman is Professor of Government and Director of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at the University of Essex. He has numerous books and articles on human rights and has carried out a large number of international consultancies for governmental and non-governmental organizations on human rights measurement and impact assessment.
Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme de... more Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses. Aristotle, Politics bk. 4, 1296a 1-3 ... Introduction ------------------------------------------------------- ...
This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communi... more This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communicating fundamental ideas and addressing enduring questions. The paper begins with a stylized definition of performance magic as having a role for 'disruption' and 'subversion' in terms of audience perception of reality as well as an audience's set of beliefs, predispositions, and 'lifeworlds'. The section also engages with performance magicians as well as luminaries from the occult and Western esoteric traditions to illustrate the disruptive function of magicians broadly understood. The second part provides an overview of mentalism and mystery entertainment as a sub-genre within performance magic that is highly amenable to a more academic frame and mode of delivery. The third part outlines how key principles and effects from this sub-genre of performance magic can be applied to two broad areas of academic concern: (1) epistemology and the human condition, and (2) larger political and philosophical questions of morality, justice, rights, agency, and the power of the state. The paper concludes with a short summary and implications for the future of performance magic that moves beyond mere entertainment.
The twin processes of economic and political modernization since the 1970s have profoundly transf... more The twin processes of economic and political modernization since the 1970s have profoundly transformed the social and political landscape of contemporary Mexico. The country has emerged from a prolonged period of state-led and relatively autarkic economic development to one that is increasingly market-driven and integrated into the global economy. It has modernized its politics and created a new set of institutions that have given rise to a new era of competitive elections and the first defeat of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI) by the Partido Accion Nacional (National Action Party, PAN) in 2000 and a successive electoral victory for the PAN in 2006. Both processes have seen Mexico emerge as an upper-middle-income country, member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and numerous free trade agreements that stretch far beyond the popularly known North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico currently boasts healthy macroeconomic indicators with above-average growth rates, low inflation, and patterns of internal investment that have seen a rise in a number of social indicators relating to education, health, and welfare. Democratization continues with closely contested elections (some with highly disputed outcomes), decentralized political competition throughout the federal system, and an expectation that democratic institutions will continue to be modernized in ways that sustain the gains that have been made since the 2000 transition.1
The Code 8.7 Conference Report provides a summary of the Code 8.7 event that took place in Februa... more The Code 8.7 Conference Report provides a summary of the Code 8.7 event that took place in February 2019. The conference, organized by Delta 8.7, The Alan Turing Institute, the Computing Community Consortium, Tech Against Trafficking, the Rights Lab and the Global Security Initiative at Arizona State University, brought together the artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational science and anti-slavery communities. Over two days, more than 30 speakers and 120 participants discussed how these technologies could be used to help in the fight to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour in line with Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights some of the key conversations that took place over the two days of the conference, including how best to combine Big Data and Small Data, the possibilities of information and communications technology (ICT) for survivor self-identification and the roles of satellite remote sens...
Public information search data from sources such as Google Trends affords researchers a perspecti... more Public information search data from sources such as Google Trends affords researchers a perspective on what society does not know, or what society wants to find out prompted by, or in response to, developments in societal communication and news media events. In times of crisis, online public information search thus offers a window into the most urgent concerns of, and demands by society. By extension, such data offers a window into upcoming, and currently pressing demands on businesses, policymakers and researchers. This research note aims to illustrate some of these themes with a visual-based overview of the current COVID-19 / Coronavirus crisis.
The phronetic approach to social science as developed in Making Social Science Matter (Flyvbjerg ... more The phronetic approach to social science as developed in Making Social Science Matter (Flyvbjerg 2001), Making Political Science Matter (Schram and Caterino 2006) and Real Social Science (Flyvbjerg, Landman and Schram 2012) argues for the application of practical wisdom in social science research that emerges from the development of applied expert knowledge. The collection of case studies in Real Social Science revealed a remarkable set of ‘tension points’ across different research projects that are crucial in bringing impact and change that flows from the research itself. From mega-projects to airport expansion, these tension points show extraordinary yet persistent contradictions (e.g. skewed cost-benefit analysis for megaprojects or ‘sustainable aviation’ in the UK) in policy making and practice that are elucidated through the phronetic approach. Conceived as ‘fault lines’, tension points can be ‘broken’ through sustained research that identifies them, problematizes them, and dev...
This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communi... more This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communicating fundamental ideas and addressing enduring questions. The paper begins with a stylized definition of performance magic as having a role for 'disruption' and 'subversion' in terms of audience perception of reality as well as an audience's set of beliefs, predispositions, and 'lifeworlds'. The section also engages with performance magicians as well as luminaries from the occult and Western esoteric traditions to illustrate the disruptive function of magicians broadly understood. The second part provides an overview of mentalism and mystery entertainment as a sub-genre within performance magic that is highly amenable to a more academic frame and mode of delivery. The third part outlines how key principles and effects from this sub-genre of performance magic can be applied to two broad areas of academic concern: (1) epistemology and the human condition, and (2) larger political and philosophical questions of morality, justice, rights, agency, and the power of the state. The paper concludes with a short summary and implications for the future of performance magic that moves beyond mere entertainment.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The C&M working paper series are published by the Committee on Concepts and Methods (C&M), the Re... more The C&M working paper series are published by the Committee on Concepts and Methods (C&M), the Research Committee No. 1 of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), hosted at CIDE in Mexico City. C&M working papers are meant to share work in progress in a timely way before formal publication. Authors bear full responsibility for the content of their contributions. All rights reserved. The Committee on Concepts and Methods (C&M) promotes conceptual and methodological discussion in political science. It provides a forum of debate between methodological schools who otherwise tend to conduct their deliberations on separate tables. It publishes two series of working papers: "Political Concepts" and "Political Methodology." Political Concepts contains work of excellence on political concepts and political language. It seeks to include innovative contributions to concept analysis, language usage, concept operationalization, and measurement. Political Methodology contains work of excellence on methods and methodology in the study of politics. It invites innovative work on fundamental questions of research design, the construction and evaluation of empirical evidence, theory building and theory testing. The series welcomes, and hopes to foster, contributions that cut across conventional methodological divides, as between quantitative and qualitative methods, or between interpretative and observational approaches. Submissions. All papers are subject to review by either a member of the Editorial Board or an external reviewer. Only English-language papers can be admitted. Authors interested in including their work in the C&M Series may seek initial endorsement by one editorial board member. Alternatively, they may send their paper to wps[at]concepts-methods.org. The C&M webpage offers full access to past working papers.
In Human Rights in International Relations, David P. Forsythe argues that the subject of human ri... more In Human Rights in International Relations, David P. Forsythe argues that the subject of human rights "projects liberalism into a realist world-a world dominated for several centuries by states and their collective interests" (Forsythe 2006: 3-4). This simple and elegant claim embodies the main puzzle that the empirical political science of human rights has been working on since the publication of Mitchell and McCormick's (1988) seminal article in World Politics. If we take "realist" states to mean "rationalist" states, then it is my view that what Forsythe claims for the international level also holds for the domestic level. The base assumptions of a the rationalist perspective sees individuals at the domestic level and states at the international level as being primarily motivated by the maximization of their own material self-interest. Other interests may exist alongside material ones, but ultimately a rationalist assumes that the material concerns are primary and all other concerns are (1) not actually important or (2) mere reflections of those material concerns in the first place. Realists and rationalists alike seek to determine the bases for these material concerns, to show how they relate to the pursuit of power, and to use these insights to explain observed behaviors in the world of politics (see Mearsheimer 1994/1995; Lichbach 1997). Power, its exercise, acquisition, and maintenance by states is a fundamental principle of realism and, if Lasswell (1950) is correct, is a fundamental principle of politics itself (i.e., "who gets what when and how"). In contrast, human rights provide a particular moral compass for understanding the relationship between the state and the citizen in modern societies, and at the international level, a set of norms constructed formally since 1948 by states through the mechanism of international law. In the absence of agreed philosophical foundations for the existence of human rights (Landman 2005b), the development of the idea of human rights as it has found legal expression in international and domestic instruments should fundamentally be seen as an attempt to constrain the exercise of power. Human rights have sought to erect an architecture that both prescribes and proscribes state and nonstate action in ways that Todd Landman is Professor of Government and Director of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at the University of Essex. He has numerous books and articles on human rights and has carried out a large number of international consultancies for governmental and non-governmental organizations on human rights measurement and impact assessment.
Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme de... more Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses. Aristotle, Politics bk. 4, 1296a 1-3 ... Introduction ------------------------------------------------------- ...
This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communi... more This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communicating fundamental ideas and addressing enduring questions. The paper begins with a stylized definition of performance magic as having a role for 'disruption' and 'subversion' in terms of audience perception of reality as well as an audience's set of beliefs, predispositions, and 'lifeworlds'. The section also engages with performance magicians as well as luminaries from the occult and Western esoteric traditions to illustrate the disruptive function of magicians broadly understood. The second part provides an overview of mentalism and mystery entertainment as a sub-genre within performance magic that is highly amenable to a more academic frame and mode of delivery. The third part outlines how key principles and effects from this sub-genre of performance magic can be applied to two broad areas of academic concern: (1) epistemology and the human condition, and (2) larger political and philosophical questions of morality, justice, rights, agency, and the power of the state. The paper concludes with a short summary and implications for the future of performance magic that moves beyond mere entertainment.
The twin processes of economic and political modernization since the 1970s have profoundly transf... more The twin processes of economic and political modernization since the 1970s have profoundly transformed the social and political landscape of contemporary Mexico. The country has emerged from a prolonged period of state-led and relatively autarkic economic development to one that is increasingly market-driven and integrated into the global economy. It has modernized its politics and created a new set of institutions that have given rise to a new era of competitive elections and the first defeat of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI) by the Partido Accion Nacional (National Action Party, PAN) in 2000 and a successive electoral victory for the PAN in 2006. Both processes have seen Mexico emerge as an upper-middle-income country, member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and numerous free trade agreements that stretch far beyond the popularly known North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico currently boasts healthy macroeconomic indicators with above-average growth rates, low inflation, and patterns of internal investment that have seen a rise in a number of social indicators relating to education, health, and welfare. Democratization continues with closely contested elections (some with highly disputed outcomes), decentralized political competition throughout the federal system, and an expectation that democratic institutions will continue to be modernized in ways that sustain the gains that have been made since the 2000 transition.1
The Code 8.7 Conference Report provides a summary of the Code 8.7 event that took place in Februa... more The Code 8.7 Conference Report provides a summary of the Code 8.7 event that took place in February 2019. The conference, organized by Delta 8.7, The Alan Turing Institute, the Computing Community Consortium, Tech Against Trafficking, the Rights Lab and the Global Security Initiative at Arizona State University, brought together the artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational science and anti-slavery communities. Over two days, more than 30 speakers and 120 participants discussed how these technologies could be used to help in the fight to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour in line with Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights some of the key conversations that took place over the two days of the conference, including how best to combine Big Data and Small Data, the possibilities of information and communications technology (ICT) for survivor self-identification and the roles of satellite remote sens...
Public information search data from sources such as Google Trends affords researchers a perspecti... more Public information search data from sources such as Google Trends affords researchers a perspective on what society does not know, or what society wants to find out prompted by, or in response to, developments in societal communication and news media events. In times of crisis, online public information search thus offers a window into the most urgent concerns of, and demands by society. By extension, such data offers a window into upcoming, and currently pressing demands on businesses, policymakers and researchers. This research note aims to illustrate some of these themes with a visual-based overview of the current COVID-19 / Coronavirus crisis.
The phronetic approach to social science as developed in Making Social Science Matter (Flyvbjerg ... more The phronetic approach to social science as developed in Making Social Science Matter (Flyvbjerg 2001), Making Political Science Matter (Schram and Caterino 2006) and Real Social Science (Flyvbjerg, Landman and Schram 2012) argues for the application of practical wisdom in social science research that emerges from the development of applied expert knowledge. The collection of case studies in Real Social Science revealed a remarkable set of ‘tension points’ across different research projects that are crucial in bringing impact and change that flows from the research itself. From mega-projects to airport expansion, these tension points show extraordinary yet persistent contradictions (e.g. skewed cost-benefit analysis for megaprojects or ‘sustainable aviation’ in the UK) in policy making and practice that are elucidated through the phronetic approach. Conceived as ‘fault lines’, tension points can be ‘broken’ through sustained research that identifies them, problematizes them, and dev...
This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communi... more This paper advances the case for how performance magic can be used as a larger medium for communicating fundamental ideas and addressing enduring questions. The paper begins with a stylized definition of performance magic as having a role for 'disruption' and 'subversion' in terms of audience perception of reality as well as an audience's set of beliefs, predispositions, and 'lifeworlds'. The section also engages with performance magicians as well as luminaries from the occult and Western esoteric traditions to illustrate the disruptive function of magicians broadly understood. The second part provides an overview of mentalism and mystery entertainment as a sub-genre within performance magic that is highly amenable to a more academic frame and mode of delivery. The third part outlines how key principles and effects from this sub-genre of performance magic can be applied to two broad areas of academic concern: (1) epistemology and the human condition, and (2) larger political and philosophical questions of morality, justice, rights, agency, and the power of the state. The paper concludes with a short summary and implications for the future of performance magic that moves beyond mere entertainment.
Uploads
Papers by Todd Landman