50 research outputs found
Force Majeure Clauses at the Age of COVID-19: How Should Courts Interpret Them and Why a Conservative Application is Necessary
A force majeure clause aims to define the scope of unforeseeable events that may excuse or delay a partyâs performance. In the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID) pandemic, many parties to disputes attempted to turn to force majeure clauses written in boilerplate language. COVID is distinguishable, however, from other historical force majeure events because of its rapid global development and international economic impact brought upon by government restriction and access issues. In effect, these boilerplate clauses coupled with this novel pandemic, left parties in dispute ill-equipped to know whether their force majeure clause was enforceable. This resulted in a flood of litigation and how courts decide will impact not only the drafting parties, but the global economy and contract law. This Note provides a normative framework for courts to examine contractual situations affected by COVID. To provide guidance and stability in global businesses, this Note argues that courts should conservatively analyze force majeure clauses and rarely use them as legal excuses for contractual obligations, even in the face of COVID. A conservative analysis is necessary to uphold the integrity of contracts and protect the global economy. Such an analysis provides drafting considerations for lawyers because the issue of force majeure will remain relevant long after the age of COVID. Further, this Note provides a roadmap to prepare parties for events well beyond the current calamity
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Youth Radicalism in Senegal and Congo-Brazzaville, 1958â1974
This work argues that youth and student organizations in Senegal and Congo became the primary catalysts for mass social struggles that challenged new national governments between 1958 and 1974. From the mid-1950s, young activists in both countries (along with many trade union leaders) debated emerging African political leaders over what constituted âindependence.â These debates sharpened after the control of political institutions was devolved from French to African authorities between 1958 and 1960. As I show, rather than celebrating formal independence, many youth, student, and trade union organizations claimed that new African state leaders were complicit in the ongoing foreign domination of politics, education, and their national economies. Young activists contrasted formal independence with their demands for âreal independence,â which included criteria such as the expulsion of French troops, an end to French and missionary influence over the education system, and the nationalization of foreign-owned businesses. In the context of this conflict, a subset of activists in each country became known as âradicalsâ due to their demands for âreal independenceâ and their call to reorganize the state along Marxist principles.
This work is based on archival research in Senegal, Congo, and France, as well as fifty-six interviews with Senegalese and Congolese militants of the period. The new presidents of Senegal and Congo, LĂ©opold Senghor and Fulbert Youlou, both moved to consolidate control of their respective states after 1958. They attempted to isolate rival political organizations and young critics through a combination of repression and cooptation. âYouth Radicalismâ explores how student, youth, and trade union organizations defended their autonomy from the new regimes and became centers of political opposition. I show that these organizations sparked urban rebellions in the capital cities of Brazzaville and Dakar, most notably in 1963 and 1968, respectively. In Congo, the protests in 1963 overthrew the government of Fulbert Youlou and allowed radical youth and student activists to declare themselves the leaders of a ârevolution.â By building mass youth organizations, they were able to assume positions of authority and to successfully push for elements of âreal independenceâ and âscientific socialism.â In Senegal, the strike in 1968 did not overturn Senghorâs government, but prompted a myriad of labor, educational, and democratic reforms in the years that followed. This work ends by looking at how the independent youth and student organizations of the 1960s were eliminated in both countries in the early 1970s due to internal divisions and state repression.
Considering Congo and Senegal in the same study illustrates that youth and student leadersâ political strategies intersected through shared connections within the Francophone world, as well as Third World and Communist networks. The demands raised by young radicals emerged in response to specific local and national political conflicts, but this work argues that they were also fundamentally shaped by their links abroad. Finally, âYouth Radicalismâ assesses how young radicalsâ ability to create lasting structural change in Senegal and Congo was affected by the common political frameworks that guided their actions
Recommended from our members
Youth Radicalism in Senegal and Congo-Brazzaville, 1958â1974
This work argues that youth and student organizations in Senegal and Congo became the primary catalysts for mass social struggles that challenged new national governments between 1958 and 1974. From the mid-1950s, young activists in both countries (along with many trade union leaders) debated emerging African political leaders over what constituted âindependence.â These debates sharpened after the control of political institutions was devolved from French to African authorities between 1958 and 1960. As I show, rather than celebrating formal independence, many youth, student, and trade union organizations claimed that new African state leaders were complicit in the ongoing foreign domination of politics, education, and their national economies. Young activists contrasted formal independence with their demands for âreal independence,â which included criteria such as the expulsion of French troops, an end to French and missionary influence over the education system, and the nationalization of foreign-owned businesses. In the context of this conflict, a subset of activists in each country became known as âradicalsâ due to their demands for âreal independenceâ and their call to reorganize the state along Marxist principles.
This work is based on archival research in Senegal, Congo, and France, as well as fifty-six interviews with Senegalese and Congolese militants of the period. The new presidents of Senegal and Congo, LĂ©opold Senghor and Fulbert Youlou, both moved to consolidate control of their respective states after 1958. They attempted to isolate rival political organizations and young critics through a combination of repression and cooptation. âYouth Radicalismâ explores how student, youth, and trade union organizations defended their autonomy from the new regimes and became centers of political opposition. I show that these organizations sparked urban rebellions in the capital cities of Brazzaville and Dakar, most notably in 1963 and 1968, respectively. In Congo, the protests in 1963 overthrew the government of Fulbert Youlou and allowed radical youth and student activists to declare themselves the leaders of a ârevolution.â By building mass youth organizations, they were able to assume positions of authority and to successfully push for elements of âreal independenceâ and âscientific socialism.â In Senegal, the strike in 1968 did not overturn Senghorâs government, but prompted a myriad of labor, educational, and democratic reforms in the years that followed. This work ends by looking at how the independent youth and student organizations of the 1960s were eliminated in both countries in the early 1970s due to internal divisions and state repression.
Considering Congo and Senegal in the same study illustrates that youth and student leadersâ political strategies intersected through shared connections within the Francophone world, as well as Third World and Communist networks. The demands raised by young radicals emerged in response to specific local and national political conflicts, but this work argues that they were also fundamentally shaped by their links abroad. Finally, âYouth Radicalismâ assesses how young radicalsâ ability to create lasting structural change in Senegal and Congo was affected by the common political frameworks that guided their actions