Abstract: This research questions how ‘human rights’ are used in a parliamentary inquiry on the coercive or involuntary sterilisation of people with disabilities in Australia. Throughout three chapters, the thesis breaks down ‘human rights’ as a concept and as a practical approach in development programming. Chapter two delves into the multiple understandings of rights in the development literature and incorporates contributions from legal anthropology and the field of the social studies of science and technology to understand human rights in the development context. Chapter three proposes an “ethnography in the archives” as a methodological design that pushes disciplinary boundaries to understand the value of documents and arguments in how different stakeholders inside and outside of the development field engage with issues such as the coercive sterilisation of people with disabilities. Finally, chapter four offers an analysis derived from 82 documents presented in the parliamentary inquiry in Australia. This chapter shows this thesis’s main argument: That human rights differ from what this research calls ‘everyday rights’, which are the claims articulated by people drawing upon their lived experiences rather than human rights treaties or arguments. This argument sheds light on how development practice often faces a gap between what the stated outcomes are in terms of Human Rights-Based Approaches and the practical realities of rights claims. Resumen: Esta investigación cuestiona cómo se utilizan los 'derechos humanos' en una investigación parlamentaria sobre la esterilización coercitiva o involuntaria de personas con discapacidad en Australia. A lo largo de tres capítulos, la tesis desglosa los 'derechos humanos' como concepto y como enfoque práctico en el mundo del desarrollo. El capítulo dos profundiza en las múltiples interpretaciones de los derechos en la literatura sobre desarrollo e incorpora contribuciones de la antropología jurídica y el campo de los estudios sociales de la ciencia y la tecnología para comprender los derechos humanos en el contexto del desarrollo. El capítulo tres propone una “etnografía en los archivos” como un diseño metodológico que traspasa los límites disciplinarios para comprender el valor de los documentos y argumentos sobre cómo diferentes actores dentro y fuera del campo del desarrollo se involucran con temas como la esterilización forzada de personas con discapacidad. Finalmente, el capítulo cuatro ofrece un análisis derivado de 82 documentos presentados en la investigación parlamentaria en Australia. Este capítulo muestra el argumento principal de esta tesis: que los derechos humanos difieren de lo que esta investigación llama “derechos cotidianos”, que son los reclamos articulados por personas basándose en sus experiencias vividas en lugar de tratados o argumentos de derechos humanos. Este argumento arroja luz sobre cómo la práctica del desarrollo a menudo enfrenta una brecha entre los resultados esperados de los enfoques basados en los derechos humanos y las realidades prácticas de los reclamos de derechos.

The objective of the present work was to develop a business model for nautical cartography offered by the Colombian General Maritime Directorate (DIMAR), in order to contribute to its consolidation as a modern, efficient and competitive entity, which promotes the safety of navigation for the seas of the world. A contextualization was made about DIMAR and its close relationship with the Colombian National Navy (ARC). It was explored about the types of nautical charts that DIMAR can trade, a diagnosis of nautical cartography was developed as a value proposition, aspects that served as inputs to generate a business model CANVAS which allows observing how it captures value for Colombia and delivers value to customers within the field of nautical cartography. This work was framed in a theoretical research at the descriptive level, with a documentary field design based on interview or structured questionnaire, non-experimental and cross-sectional questionnaire for the analysis of data from the empirical evidence. The results showed that only four countries in Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia) have the capacity to produce nautical charts, but as Commander Ramírez (2017) stated on his interview, only Mexico has attempted to manage it as a lucrative business, without achieving any resounding success to date, as a result, these countries are dedicated only to cartographic production, with a focus on domestic maritime safety. The rest of the countries of the region, due to economic, technological and human resources deficiencies to carry out their cartographic surveys, appeal to Hydrographic powerful Offices such as the United Kingdom, the United States or Japan, with whom they face barriers such as the language and stagnation of alliances and agreements due to delayed diplomatic procedures. The business model Canvas placed in this work aims to serve two segments. The first segment is the countries which are geographically close to Colombia and have a high maritime activity and the second segment aims to countries geographically close to Colombia, without a significant commercial flow through their maritime ports and which have problems or limitations to carry out all their hydrographic surveys in order to ensure a safe navigation on their waters in spite of their acquired international obligations. In other words, this business model will allow Colombia to cooperate with countries and contribute to the maritime safety in the region among other benefits. The appendices include the survey, all the notes of the unstructured interviews carried out, as well as all the interviews that were done in a structured way, including personnel who worked or still work in DIMAR, interviews with international organizations such as the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), as well as interviews with people from some Central American countries who are responsible to the IHO on issues related to the hydrography of their countries. The interviews that were carried out in Spanish, are in the appendices in the original language with translation to English. The appendices have also taken into account a contextualization of the reader with a political map of Central America and additionally annexed a gallery of photos of the ships with which DIMAR currently carries out its naval operations.

In the first part of this study we are going to deal with the problem of definition of an indigenous people in order to identify the subjects of international legal protection. At a second stage it is necessary to seek possible justifications in favor of a special protection of indigenous minorities. Why shall indigenous minorities be granted a privileged status under international law?In the third part of this contribution we will focus on indigenous protection from a general human rights and anti-discrimination perspective. It has to be understood that indigenous rights are an integral part of international human rights law. However, the internal cultural and religious self-determination of indigenous peoples has to be conceived in line with the basic principles of human rights protection. Therefore, we will have to ask whether, after centuries of colonialism, human rights doctrine applies a paternalistic approach towards indigenous minorities and introduces a new kind of colonial domination.

In the Caribbean coast of Colombia, within a triangle-shaped mountainous massif covered by a dense jungle of endemic flora (known as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta), lies the archaeological park Teyuna-Lost City. A series of terraces, roads, stairs, spillways and sewerage systems form the largest and most impressive archaeological settlement in Colombia. Given the complexity of its geographical location, the place remained unnoticed, hidden and well protected for over 400 years. However, since its discovery, in 1975, the site has been subjected to different political, social and cultural dynamics that have affected its management and conservation. In the context of Colombian post-conflict, Teyuna has been perceived by many as an alternative to enhance their living condition. However, tensions promoted by stakeholders, communities and illegal armed groups are affecting the appropriate dissemination of its cultural values. After all, some communities conceive Teyuna as a business rather than as a National Heritage. In this project, I present an analysis of the bodies that are behind the tourism market, the limitations of the community-based tourism in the post-conflict scenario, the power imbalances on Teyuna´s management, and the dissemination problems of the archaeological site.

This article reflects on the roles and powers of the OECD National Contact Points (NCPs), under the 2011 version of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (‘the Guidelines’), regarding complaints on an alleged breach of the Guidelines by a transnational corporation, from both the empirical and the normative perspective. It does so through an examination of relevant OECD instruments, the regulations and practice of Brazil’s, Mexico’s, Norway’s, the United Kingdom’s and the United States of America’s NCPs, and many relevant theoretical and empirical studies. While this work demonstrates the particular importance of the function of NCPs of handling these complaints, it finds that the NCPs case studies and the Australian have fundamentally different conceptions of their roles and powers regarding such complaints. This contribution, then, proposes an interpretation of these matters based on a systematic understanding of relevant OECD instruments and broader normative considerations. When doing so, it demonstrates that these differences are not well justified in normative terms. In addition and when addressing the main arguments against the proposed view in this study, this work provides new analysis on the distinction between soft and hard law in the field of corporate social responsibility, in light of the case of the Guidelines.

This article aims to perform a comparative analysis of several publications on a particular topic: The Soviet and Russian Military-Industrial Complex. It examines the results of different surveys and, specifically, addresses how several authors have studied the social phenomena. Moreover, it analyses the methods that they used to develop useful discernments with limited documental resources. Finally, it offers conclusions about the common findings and the possible application of such methods on future research.

The Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is currently the only United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) market mechanism that includes transport projects in developing countries. This mechanism has the dual objective of promoting sustainable development and contributing to green-house-gas emission reductions. However, transportation is currently a niche sector within the CDM due to the small number of transport projects registered under it. This is despite transportation being one of the sectors with the fastest growth-rate of greenhouse-gas emissions in the developing world. This paper examines the limitations of CDM-registered transport projects to achieve long-term sustainable development outcomes through the CDM. The experience of project ‘TransMilenio Phase II – IV’ in Bogotá (Colombia) serves to argue that CDM registration requirements of Additionality and Fixed-Term Crediting may be detrimental to achieving these outcomes through the CDM. Thus an opportunity exists to increase the significance of the transport sector within the international climate change regime through a dedicated ‘Sustainable Development Package for Transport’ in future agreements.

The study analyzes the causal link between the FTA and certain economic effects, which include changes in trade and investment flows, levels of output and employment, and commodities prices. The findings of this study indicate that while the said changes may prove largely beneficial to efficient producers in certain exporting sectors, some import-competing sectors are affected adversely. The consequent emergence of winners and losers in the economic context may trigger social impacts which are beneficial for certain groups on one hand, and crippling for others. The said social impacts are associated with the living standards of the population, food security, and community life. Additionally, the economic shifts may also lead to changes in the use of natural resources that emerge as both threats and opportunities for the environment.

Abstract: Since the late 90s Colombia decided to actively ratify Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT´s) in order to strengthen its treaty network and promote the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment. At the international level arbitral tribunals deciding Investor-State disputes under such Agreements have produced decisions severely affecting the financial stability of host States. As a result, some have decided to denounce such instruments or to implement changes in their wording and scope to safeguard their “right to regulate”. Some cases have been brought under the argument of host States producing and enforcing regulatory expropriation measures in some cases related to tax, environmental and public health matters. Resumen: Desde finales de los años noventas Colombia inició de forma activa la ratificación de los denominados Acuerdos para la Promoción y Protección de Inversiones (APPRI´s) a fin de fortalecer su red de tratados y brindar seguridad jurídica a inversionistas extranjeros interesados en desarrollar proyectos en el país. A nivel internacional los casos decididos por tribunales de arbitramento Inversionista-Estado a la luz de dichos Acuerdos han acarreado consecuencias cada vez más onerosas para los Estados condenados por su violación, a tal punto que muchos están denunciándolos o realizando modificaciones de fondo a sus textos a fin de salvaguardar su capacidad regulatoria. Gran parte estos casos han tenido como fundamento la violación del estándar de “expropiación” a través de la implementación, por parte del Estado receptor de la inversión, de medidas relacionadas con la imposición y cobro de tributos, medidas sobre el medio ambiente y asuntos de salud pública.

La dimensión del tiempo no constituye solamente un medio esencial en la regulación y coordinación de la vida social. Por su trámite y anchas posibilidades se vislumbran sus relaciones entre ésta última y el plano de la subjetividad. Sobre la base de esta concepción teórica, el artículo se centra en la trayectoria de la construcción biográfica de las mujeres jóvenes durante un período histórico, caracterizado por intensas transformaciones en el modo de representar y vivir el tiempo, ligado a aquello que está sucintamente definido como “sociedad de la incertidumbre” (Z. Bauman) Desde este punto de vista se reflexiona sobre la riqueza de la experiencia temporal de las vidas juveniles, ligada en primer lugar a la capacidad de reconocer el tiempo plural que plasma la existencia humana (relacionada con el tiempo de la naturaleza), a través de la narración subjetivamente construida.