The Moynihan Institute’s newest series\, La w in World Affairs and the Poltical Science Department present Rachel E. S tern from UC Berkeley School of Law for a virtual book talk. \;
This talk will revisit "Environmental Litigation in China : A Study in Political Ambivalence" (Cambridge University Pre ss 2013). \; The book was originally envisioned as a window into how e veryday justice works in China: how judges make decisions\, why lawyers ta ke cases\, and how international influence matters. In particular\, it off ered an account of how the Chinese leadership’s mixed signals and politica l ambivalence toward law and environmental protection played out on the gr ound—propelling some\, such as the village doctor who fought a chemical pl ant for more than a decade\, even as others chose to back away from risk. Now\, ten years after publication\, this talk offers an opportunity to ref lect on which insights have proved enduring and what has changed under Gen eral Secretary Xi Jinping.
Rachel E. Stern \;is professor of law and political science in the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Progr am at Berkeley Law\, where she also currently holds the Pamela P. Fong and Family Distinguished Chair in China Studies. Her research has focused on law in Mainland China\, especially the relationship between legal institut ion building\, political space and professionalization. Stern is the autho r of "Environmental Litigation in China: A Study in Political Ambivalence\ ," as well as numerous articles on legal mobilization and lawyers in conte mporary China.
She is currently part of a collaborative effort to a
nalyze the \;60+ million Chinese judicial decisions placed online foll
owing a 2014 policy change \;and is also working on a comparative proj
ect on the politics of judicial transparency. \;Stern was a Junior Fel
low at the Harvard University Society of Fellows\, and currently serves as
series editor for the Law and Society series at Cambridge University Pres
s.