Chapter 5 traces the history of a number of existing UN mechanisms which represent the interests of particular vulnerable groups in the international system (persons with disabilities, women, and children). The aim of this analysis is to see what types of normative discourses have found traction and led to the development of institutions to represent these vulnerable groups, in order to ascertain the type of normative arguments that would gain support in arguing for international institutions to represent future generations. An important lesson from the case studies is that a normative discourse in which development concerns feature prominently, has been a common thread running through the history of these UN mechanisms. The chapter analyses the differences and similarities between arguments which justify the institutions which have been put in place to represent these vulnerable groups, with arguments used to justify institutions to represent future generations.

Use Case 2 in Chapter 5 examines the regulation of MDTs in the context of commercial advertising under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVSMD). An analysis under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) will follow in Chapter 6, alongside a use case focused on political advertising. In the realm of commercial advertising, MDTs intensify long-standing concerns from consumer perspectives. The UCPD serves as a crucial reference point for related laws. Including the processing and inference of mind data in the blacklist outlined in Annex I of the UCPD would have significant implications, akin to the proposed introduction of a sui generis special category of mind data within the GDPR. Importantly, a blanket ban on the processing and inference of mind data for commercial practices under Annex I UCPD would automatically prohibit these practices under the DSA.

The Conclusion reiterates the overarching argument of the book, namely that the search for – and collective experimentation with – new forms of representation are immensely important forms of sustainable climate policy. Through proxy representation, future generations can be practically and institutionally involved in climate law and policy-making, considering both the vulnerability of future generations and their distinctive interests. The chapter discusses the need to find synergies between proposals for proxy-style mechanisms to represent future generations and development policy. New avenues for research are suggested, including the way in which science and scientific discourse can be a proxy for future generations’ interests, and also the way in which proxy representation of future generations features in climate treaty making processes and climate activism more generally.

In Chapter 3, firstly, we reconstruct central theoretical models of democracy and enquire how an expansion of representation mechanisms for future generations could be conceptualised within these justificatory narratives. Secondly, we analyse the values that underlie democratic practices which can be helpful for advancing proxy representation at the international level by providing ethical criteria for such reforms. This involves analysing the discourses of intergenerational justice, solidarity and vulnerability. The chapter then turns to examine how these discourses can be translated into political forms of proxy representation by drawing on the all affected principle which requires that those affected by a decision have a role in the making of that decision, which is argued to be an element of most, if not all theories of democracy. This in turn is hypothesised to provide a basis for extension of the demos to include future generations, which then justifies proxy forms of representation to enable their representation . Human rights are argued to constitute a practice of global values which provides a powerful normative orientation for climate law and policy-making.

How did peatlands respond to human visions of growth and development? Peat extraction entangled humans and peatlands in a relationship marked by irritation, sometimes confrontation. Examining incidents of malaria outbreaks and fire at and around peat extraction sites, this chapter highlights the agency of peatlands in the history of Russia’s fossil economy. It identifies peat extraction sites as spaces of environmental injustice and points to a crucial irony running through the history of human–peatland relationships in imperial and Soviet Russia: Peatlands had long been imagined as dangerous and useless, but they turned into unsettling landscapes only once they became part of Russia’s industrial metabolism. Central Russia’s peatland environments were not just a backdrop to history but actively challenged and constrained the different ways in which people tried to make use of them.

Early African American humour functioned as a method of cultural formation, an in-group way of communicating based on the needs and experiences of the enslaved community. Contemporary Black stand-up has been a foundation upon which to reveal realities of Black life and make those realities accessible and entertaining to an increasingly global audience. This chapter explores the innovative styles and approaches to the artform as an indication that the limits of Black stand-up are expanding. Using three case studies, it demonstrates the Afrofuturistic trajectory of the genre. Elements of resistance have given way to comedic approaches that centre imagination; fleeting moments of revenge are superseded by the materiality of the emancipated Black body; a sense of contentment and personal growth are foregrounded, ephemeral pleasures looming still; and rituals of play produce Afrofuturistic otherworlds where difference matters, disabused of its regulatory power to rank and marginalise.

The literature on school maladjustment is too much engaged with its explicit expressions (e.g., school dropout), while only partially discussing its more implicit expressions. It is arguable that school maladjustment can have many faces. A student’s selection of the way to express maladjustment is a derivation of the person’s characteristics, the environmental characteristics, and the broader context within which the person adjusts (e.g., wartime). Thus, the discussion has to address four general aspects of school maladjustment: (a) silent expressions of school maladjustment, the ones that are commonly addressed by researchers and especially by school teams and parents; (b) indicative expressions of school maladjustment, which are the buds of maladjustment and of major importance in the context of students’ educational flourishing; (c) how both the indicative and the silent expressions can be integrated into a flowchart that summarizes the process of sinking into school maladjustment; and (d) vulnerability to school maladjustment as an additional aspect that deserves a different type of preventive intervention: that is, an intervention that addresses the students’ future adjustment to transitions (e.g., from elementary school to middle school)

This chapter overviews the characteristics and circumstances predisposing people to lead or join hate movements with a particular focus on the virulent anti-Semitism that united figures such as Father Charles Coughlin, Charles Lindbergh, and Henry Ford. By analyzing these figures and their followers, we extrapolate practices common among hate groups. After identifying character traits and risk factors (e.g., political and economic insecurity), we discuss their more modern manifestations. First we clarify our definition of hate groups as defined by the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Southern Poverty Law Center. We then extrapolate from these definitions to show how they align well with our definition of a cult. Following this, we acknowledge the challenges that accompany hate group designation while concluding that it is still vital for tracking modern-day hate groups and discrimination. We conclude by acknowledging the continued threat of hate groups and the presence of risk factors seen throughout history, such as global public health emergencies. We also discuss challenges unique to the technology age, such as epistemic bubbles and echo chambers. In summary, the chapter provides an outline of how hate groups come to be and provides a discussion of their continuing threat in society.

This chapter focuses on how Bangladesh, a country with extensive experience of climate-related disasters, has dealt with loss and damage in its national policymaking. In response to its high vulnerability, Bangladesh is – among the countries studied in this book – a role model in disaster reduction and preparedness. However, the government’s efforts do not meet the scope of needs connected to climate impacts on the ground. Drawing on a review of relevant policy documents and semi-structured interviews with key public and civil society actors, the chapter analyzes national-level engagement with loss and damage from climate change in Bangladesh. It demonstrates that while fundamentally all ministries in Bangladesh are involved in averting, minimizing, or addressing loss and damage, the concept is yet to be fully integrated in national policy. The chapter also finds that existing policies tend to focus on addressing economic losses and overlook the significant noneconomic losses from climate change. It is argued that integrating loss and damage into national policies, establishing a fair national mechanism, and creating a comprehensive database of loss and damage data would strengthen Bangladesh’s role as both an advocate for loss and damage governance and a leader in climate response.

Clinical ethics consultations can be haunting. Ethics consultants have few opportunities to reflect on the affective impact of their work. This book offers detailed cases, confessions, reflections, regrets, and triumphs experienced by ethics consultants. The authors bravely share what haunts them about the complex and demanding work of ethics consultation. Consultants experience moral distress but it’s rarely discussed. Our values are woven into the consultation. We’re not always sure if this is for better or worse. One poignant case may haunt us for our entire career. The second edition of the book includes the cases written by original authors regarding neonatology, pediatrics, palliative care, psychiatry, religious and cultural values, clinical innovation, professionalism, and organizational ethics. The book includes educational activities for ethics committees, consultants, and students at all levels of study. In the second edition, new authors reflect on clinical ethics practice, highlight how our practices have changed, and reflect on equity and diversity dimensions of patient care and ethics consultations.

This chapter reviews how climate change is projected to affect the frequency, severity and/or spatial distribution of tropical cyclones, severe storms that generate tornadoes, and floods; the factors that influence people’s exposure and vulnerability to such events; adaptation options for reducing displacement risks; and, common characteristics of migration and displacement across all categories of extreme weather events. We then focus on specific types of extreme weather and provide more detailed analyses and case studies of migration and displacement events associated with tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and floods.

This chapter illustrates the rise of automated decision-making and surveillance technologies in government, alongside the growing political inequality within Western liberal democracies. It examines the historical development of the use of technology in government, from paper-based systems to increasingly networked electronic systems, culminating in the extensive use of automation and AI in government. It demonstrates the effect of new technologies on vulnerable populations, honing in on social security as a case study. It shows that since the 1970s, the rapid advancements of technologies, combined with the “new public management” ideology, have effected fundamental changes in the processes, structures, staffing levels, and operations of government to an unprecedented extent. To illustrate the significant issues relating to the use of automated government decision-making, the chapter focuses on the government’s use of automation in social security as a case study.

The United States has more than 15,000 nursing homes that care for more than 1.3 million residents. More than 70 percent of these facilities are for-profit, and about 9 percent are owned by private equity funds. Nursing home residents are vulnerable – and yet too many nursing homes have inadequate staffing levels, poor infection control, failures in oversight, and deficiencies that harm residents. Government enforcement has proved inadequate. Private law tools can force transparency of ownership, strengthen litigation by families of injured patients, and create expanded fiduciary tools to claw back excess profits.

What is Private Law? It has two components in the nursing home setting. First, the tort doctrine of corporate negligence, which first applied tort liability to hospitals, treats nursing homeowners as responsible for their residents. Corporate negligence principles expand the reach of tort against a secretive industry that conceals ownership to avoid suit. Second, fiduciary law principles likewise apply perfectly to nursing home owners: Residents are vulnerable physically, lack the cognitive skills to protect themselves, do not choose their home, and require heightened care. Fiduciary law duties add to tort damages future-looking equitable tools that change the ownership calculus for those who invest in and run nursing homes. Fiduciary law identifies power imbalances and vulnerability, allowing vulnerable beneficiaries to demand proper care or be forced out of business.