Doctoral Dissertation Research in Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences: Catalysts of Contention? Cause Lawyers & Environmental Litigation in China

社会、行为学博士论文研究

• 批准号: 0617017
• 负责人: Kevin O'Brien
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0617017&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Social; Behavioral

Project AbstractPI: Kevin O'BrienCo-PI: Rachel Stern Proposal Number: 0617017Will environmental litigation led by Chinese "cause lawyers" spark an American-style rights revolution? Will it improve environmental quality? How did cause lawyers come to exist in an authoritarian state and how do they operate?This dissertation research project looks at the creation and impact of Chinese environmental cause lawyers, i.e., activist lawyers motivated by a cause rather than cash (Scheingold 2001). Consciously or not, Western foundations and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have begun exporting a mode of legal action which relies on environmental litigation-spearheaded by cause lawyers and legal aid centers-to improve policy compliance, raise environmental consciousness and redress egregious violations of the law. Through interviews in the United States and China, this project will trace the development of this form of legal action from its origins in the 1960s American legal history to its implementation in contemporary China.In a place where rights are tentative aspirations, organizations like the Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association (ABA) may be bankrolling legal defense programs in the hopes that cause lawyers will spark a Chinese rights revolution. Preliminary research on environmental litigation in China suggests that at least some international actors have taken Epp's charge seriously that "proponents of expanded judicial protection for rights should...provide support to rights-advocacy lawyers and organizations" (Epp 1998: 6). The dissertation research will investigate civil environmental lawsuits with and without cause lawyers, with the ultimate goal being to understand how legal expertise and transnational ties affect 1) the resolution of lawsuits and 2) operating procedures for local government and business. In other words, can this kind of litigation stop immediate pollution and change long-term practices?Certainly, the Chinese government is betting that lawsuits will stem environmental degradation. Environmental lawsuits enjoy special tolerance because of the sheer severity of China's environmental problems. By reining in local evasion of central directives, the hope is that lawsuits will stop pollution and provide a peaceful ways for citizens to vent frustration against local abuses (Gallagher 2005b; O'Brien and Li 2005). Yet it is not clear that rule of law can be harnessed to meet the needs of a one party state. As Martha Minow reminds us, "legal language, like a song, can be hummed by someone who did not write it and changed by those for whom it was not intended" (Minow 1990 quoted in McCann 1993: 733). Broader Impacts:While scholars have looked at the globalization of activism (Keck and Sikkink 1998, Tarrow 2005), policy (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000) and culture (Appadurai 1996), globalization of the law remains understudied (Halliday and Osinsky 2006). Looking at legal links between international organizations and grassroots litigants can give us a new perspective on how legal practices move across borders, generating new resources for complaint. The study is one of very small numbers of studies to examine cause lawyers in an authoritarian regime. Therefore, the project will extend our knowledge about what activist lawyers can accomplish under severe political constraints.

项目摘要：Kevin O'BrienCo-PI: Rachel Stern提案号：0617017中国“公益律师”主导的环境诉讼是否会引发一场美国式的权利革命？它会改善环境质量吗？律师是如何出现在专制国家的？他们又是如何运作的？本论文研究项目着眼于中国环境公益律师的产生和影响，即以事业而非金钱为动机的维权律师（Scheingold 2001）。有意无意中，西方基金会和其他非政府组织（ngo）已经开始输出一种法律行动模式，即由公益律师和法律援助中心牵头，依靠环境诉讼来改善政策合规，提高环保意识，纠正严重的违法行为。通过在美国和中国的访谈，本项目将追溯这种法律诉讼形式的发展，从20世纪60年代美国法律史上的起源到当代中国的实施。在中国，权利只是暂时的愿望，福特基金会（Ford Foundation）和美国律师协会（American Bar Association）等组织可能正在资助法律辩护项目，希望公益律师能引发一场中国的权利革命。对中国环境诉讼的初步研究表明，至少有一些国际行动者认真对待了艾普的指控，即“扩大司法保护权利的支持者应该……向倡导权利的律师和组织提供支助”（Epp 1998: 6）。论文研究将调查民事环境诉讼有和没有理由的律师，最终目的是了解法律专业知识和跨国关系如何影响1)诉讼的解决和2)地方政府和企业的操作程序。换句话说，这种诉讼能阻止眼前的污染，改变长期的做法吗？当然，中国政府押注诉讼将阻止环境恶化。由于中国环境问题的严重性，环境诉讼享有特殊的宽容。通过控制地方对中央指令的逃避，希望诉讼能够阻止污染，并为公民提供一种和平的方式来发泄对地方滥用权力的不满（Gallagher 2005b； O'Brien and Li 2005）。然而，目前尚不清楚能否利用法治来满足一党制国家的需求。正如玛莎·米诺（Martha Minow）提醒我们的那样，“法律语言，就像一首歌，可以被没有写它的人哼唱，也可以被那些不适合它的人改变”（Minow 1990引用于McCann 1993: 733）。更广泛的影响：虽然学者们已经研究了行动主义的全球化（Keck and Sikkink 1998, Tarrow 2005）、政策的全球化（Dolowitz and Marsh 2000）和文化的全球化（Appadurai 1996），但法律的全球化仍未得到充分的研究（Halliday and Osinsky 2006）。研究国际组织与基层诉讼当事人之间的法律联系，可以为我们提供一个新的视角，了解法律实践如何跨境流动，为投诉提供新的资源。这项研究是为数不多的调查专制政权下律师的研究之一。因此，该项目将扩展我们对维权律师在严峻的政治约束下所能取得的成就的认识。