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

项目摘要PI： Kevin O'BrienCo-PI：Rachel Stern提案编号：0617017由中国“公益律师”领导的环境诉讼会引发一场美国式的权利革命吗？ 它会改善环境质量吗？ 事业律师是如何在一个专制国家存在的？他们是如何运作的？本论文的研究项目着眼于中国环境事业律师的产生和影响，即，维权律师的动机是事业而不是金钱（Scheingold 2001）。 无论是否有意识，西方基金会和其他非政府组织（NGO）已经开始输出一种法律的行动模式，这种模式依赖于环境诉讼--由公益律师和法律的援助中心带头--来改善政策遵守情况，提高环境意识，纠正严重的违法行为。 通过在美国和中国的采访，本项目将追溯这种法律的行动形式的发展，从它起源于20世纪60年代的美国法律的历史，到它在当代中国的实施。在一个权利是试探性愿望的地方，像福特基金会和美国律师协会（阿坝）这样的组织可能会资助法律的辩护项目，希望律师事业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，至少有一些国际行为者认真对待了埃普的指控，即“扩大对权利的司法保护的支持者应该……向倡导权利的律师和组织提供支助”（Epp 1998：6）。本论文的研究将调查民事环境诉讼与无因律师，最终目标是了解如何法律的专业知识和跨国关系影响1）诉讼的解决方案和2）当地政府和企业的操作程序。 换句话说，这类诉讼能否阻止眼前的污染，改变长期的做法？当然，中国政府正在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，希望诉讼将阻止污染，并为公民提供一个和平的方式来发泄对地方虐待的不满（Gallagher 2005 b;奥布莱恩和李2005）。 然而，目前尚不清楚法治能否满足一党制国家的需要。 正如Martha Minow提醒我们的那样，“法律的语言，就像一首歌，可以被没有写它的人哼唱，也可以被它不适合的人改变”（Minow 1990，引自McCann 1993：733）。 更广泛的影响：虽然学者们已经研究了行动主义（Keck和Sikkink 1998，Tarrow 2005），政策（Dolowitz和Marsh 2000）和文化（Appadurai 1996）的全球化，但法律的全球化仍然没有得到充分的研究（Halliday和Osinsky 2006）。 审视国际组织与基层诉讼当事人之间的法律的联系，可以使我们对法律的做法如何跨越国界、产生新的申诉资源有一个新的视角。 这项研究是为数不多的研究之一，旨在研究专制政权下的辩护律师。因此，该项目将扩大我们的知识，什么样的维权律师可以在严格的政治约束下完成。

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.