In Defense of Open Society
In Defense of Open Society

Author: George Soros

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2019-10-22

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1541736729

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An impassioned defense of open society, academic and media freedom, and human rights. George Soros -- universally known for his philanthropy, progressive politics, and investment success--has been under sustained attack from the far right, nationalists, and anti-Semites in the United States and around the world because of his commitment to open society and liberal democracy. In this brilliant and spirited book, Soros brings together a vital collection of his writings, some never previously published. They deal with a wide range of important and timely topics: the dangers that the instruments of control produced by artificial intelligence and machine learning pose to open societies; what Soros calls his "political philanthropy"; his founding of the Central European University, one of the world's foremost defender of academic freedom; his philosophy; his boom/bust theory of financial markets and its policy implications; and what he calls the tragedy of the European Union. Soros's forceful affirmation of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, social justice, and social responsibility as a universal idea is a clarion call-to-arms for the ideals of open society.

Rethinking Open Society
Rethinking Open Society

Author: Michael Ignatieff

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2018-06-10

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 9633862728

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The key values of the Open Society – freedom, justice, tolerance, democracy, and respect for knowledge – are increasingly under threat in today’s world. As an effort to uphold those values, this volume brings together some of the key political, social and economic thinkers of our time to re-examine the Open Society closely in terms of its history, its achievements and failures, and its future prospects. Based on the lecture series Rethinking Open Society, which took place between 2017 and 2018 at the Central European University, the volume is deeply embedded in the history and purpose of CEU, its Open Society mission, and its belief in educating skeptical, but passionate citizens.

The Wall and the Gate
The Wall and the Gate

Author: Michael Sfard

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Published: 2018-01-23

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 1250122708

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"A farmer from a village in the occupied West Bank, cut off from his olive groves by the construction of Israel’s controversial separation wall, asked Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard to petition the courts to allow a gate to be built in the wall. While the gate would provide immediate relief for the farmer, would it not also confer legitimacy on the wall and on the court that deems it legal? The defense of human rights is often marked by such ethical dilemmas, which are especially acute in Israel, where lawyers have for decades sought redress for the abuse of Palestinian rights in the country’s High Court―that is, in the court of the abuser. [This book] chronicles this struggle―a story that has never before been fully told― and in the process engages the core principles of human rights legal ethics. [The author] recounts the unfolding of key cases and issues, ranging from confiscation of land, deportations, the creation of settlements, punitive home demolitions, torture, and targeted killings―all actions considered violations of international law. In the process, he lays bare the reality of the occupation and the lives of the people who must contend with that reality. He also exposes the surreal legal structures that have been erected to put a stamp of lawfulness on an extensive program of dispossession. Finally, he weighs the success of the legal effort, reaching conclusions that are no less paradoxical than the fight itself."--

Fairness and Freedom
Fairness and Freedom

Author: David Hackett Fischer

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2012-02-10

Total Pages: 656

ISBN-13: 0199832706

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From one of America's preeminent historians comes a magisterial study of the development of open societies focusing on the United States and New Zealand

Guidelines for Laws Affecting Civic Organizations
Guidelines for Laws Affecting Civic Organizations

Author: Leon Irish

Publisher: Open Society Institute

Published: 2004-01-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781891385315

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This book, revised and enlarged since the first edition in 1997, provides guidance for creating or amending domestic laws that protect and regulate civic organizations. It establishes the framework for such laws in internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. It is intended as a resource for the expanding global civic sector, which includes everything from advocacy groups for the environment to associations of opera aficionados, from women's rights groups to gardening clubs.

The Open Society and Its Animals
The Open Society and Its Animals

Author: Janneke Vink

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-07-10

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 303041924X

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This book is an interdisciplinary study centred on the political and legal position of animals in liberal democracies. With due concern for both animals and the sustainability of liberal democracies, The Open Society and Its Animals seeks to redefine animals’ political-legal position in the most successful political model of our time. Advancements in modern science point out that many animals are sentient and that, like humans, they have certain elementary interests. The revised perception of animals as beings with elementary interests raises questions concerning the liberal democratic institutional framework: does a liberal democracy have a responsibility towards the animals on its territory, and if so, what kind? Do animals need legal animal rights and lawyers to represent them in court, and should they also be represented in parliament? And how much change of this kind could a liberal democracy really endure? Vink addresses these and other pressing questions relating to the political and legal position of animals in this persuasive and authoritative work, compelling us to reconsider the relationship between the open society and the animals in it.

The Law of Open Societies
The Law of Open Societies

Author: Jürgen Basedow

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2015-06-02

Total Pages: 662

ISBN-13: 9004296808

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This book endeavours to interpret the development of private international law in light of social change. Since the end of World War II the socio-economic reality of international relations has been characterised by a progressive move from closed to open societies. The dominant feature of our time is the opening of borders for individuals, goods, services, capital and data. It is reflected in the growing importance of ex ante planning – as compared with ex post adjudication – of cross-border relations between individuals and companies. What has ensued is a shift in the forces that shape international relations from states to private actors. The book focuses on various forms of private ordering for economic and societal relations, and its increasing significance, while also analysing the role of the remaining regulatory powers of the states involved. These changes stand out more distinctly by virtue of the comparative treatment of the law and the long-term perspective employed by the author. The text is a revised and updated version of the lectures given by the author during the 2012 summer courses of the Hague Academy of International Law.

The Open Society and Its Enemies
The Open Society and Its Enemies

Author: Karl R. Popper

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-09-15

Total Pages: 804

ISBN-13: 0691212066

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A landmark defense of democracy that has been hailed as one of the most important books of the twentieth century One of the most important books of the twentieth century, The Open Society and Its Enemies is an uncompromising defense of liberal democracy and a powerful attack on the intellectual origins of totalitarianism. An immediate sensation when it was first published, Karl Popper’s monumental achievement has attained legendary status on both the Left and Right. Tracing the roots of an authoritarian tradition represented by Plato, Marx, and Hegel, Popper argues that the spirit of free, critical inquiry that governs scientific investigation should also apply to politics. In a new foreword, George Soros, who was a student of Popper, describes the “revelation” of first reading the book and how it helped inspire his philanthropic Open Society Foundations.

Violence and Social Orders
Violence and Social Orders

Author: Douglass Cecil North

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-02-26

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0521761735

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This book integrates the problem of violence into a larger framework, showing how economic and political behavior are closely linked.