Speeches and Remarks

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Recent speeches and remarks:

“You Can’t Stop the ‘Signal’: From the Past to the Future of Digitally Mediated Sustainability Due Diligence,” Remarks delivered at the Asser Institute:  Center for International and European Law & University of Amsterdam  Law School-[Spring Academy] Technologies of sustainability due diligence: Digital tools and global value chain regulations; The Hague, Netherlands (8 April 2024). ACCESS REMARKS HERE; ACCESS PPT HERE.

“The Two Towers: China, the U.S., and the Structural Characteristics  of Competitive Advantage in AI Innovation;” Remarks delivered at the Conference: Cooperation, Competition & Conflict in East Asia, William & Mary Security and Foreign Affairs Initiative, Williamsburg, Virginia, 15 February 2024. ACCESS HERE: Backer_Remarks_W&MConf2-2024; PPT ACCESSED HERE Backer_TwoTowers_Conf_Presentation.

“Inside the Cage of the System (制度的笼子里): Standards Setting, National Security Values, Tech Platforms, Regulation, and the Central Contradiction of Legality in the Current Historical Era;” Remarks delivered at the Workshop-Conference–Technological Platforms and National Security in Hong Kong: The Domain of Standards Setting; sponsored by the HKU Law and Technology Center and the Center for Chinese Law; University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, 25 August 2023. ACCESS HERE: Technological Platforms and National Security in Hong Kong

“Social Listening and Infodemic—An Epidemiology for the Body Politic;”  Remarks delivered at the Conference: Governance of Social Listening in the Context of Serious Health Threats; Centre for Medical Ethics and Law; The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 22 August 2023. ACCESS HERE :Backer_Remarks_Social_Listening_Conference8-2023

“Reflections on the Importance of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China”  (中国共产党第二十次全国代表大会); distributed 6 October 2022. ACCESS HERE: Backer_Reflections on the Importance of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

“Brief Reflections on the Building of a Theory and Practice of Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and Global Human Rights Governance [建立具有人类共同未来的社区理论和实践以及全球人权治理的简要思考];” Remarks presented at a side event on the occasion of the 51st Session of the Human Rights Council. That side event, entitled “Human Rights Development in the Perspective of Community with Shared Future for Mankind” was hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies and organized by Shandong University.  29 September 2022, Geneva, Switzerland. ACCESS (Engish and Chinese versions) HERE: Backer HumanRights as Development

“The in/exclusiveness of law soft law instruments in international business and human rights (IBHR): Form and Function in the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and the Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment;” Remarks delivered at the IBHR-IG Workshop, 17th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law, Utrecht, Netherlands 1 September 2022. AccessBacker_IBHRIG_RemarksText_2022

“Governing Platforms: Structural and Conceptual Challenges.” Prepared for Conference on Digital Platforms and Global Law organized by UNIDROIT, Roma Tre and the European Law Institute, Rome, Italy 29 April 2022 Available HERE:Remarks_PlatformGovernance_UNIDROIT2022

“On the ‘Natural’ in Natural Law–From Aspiration to Signification and Back Again.” Remarks Delivered for event: “Natural Law and the US Constitutional Order” Organized by the Penn State Law Federalist Society; State College Pennsylvania, 12 April 2022. Available HERE:Backer_On the Nature of Natural Law

Remarks delivered on the Opening of the International Symposium: Globalization in a Post-COVID World: Retreat or Revival?  Organized by Foundation for Law and International Affairs and the School of Foreign Studies, East China University of Political Science and Law (Shanghai, China), 26 February 2021. Available HERE:Remarks on the Opening of the International Symposium

“Peaches and Plums do not Speak, but they are so Attractive that a Path is Formed Below the trees” [桃李不言,下自成蹊]: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights,  Remarks delivered at the 8th United Nations Forum for Business and Human Rights, 26 November 2019, Palais des Nations, Geneva Switzerland. Download Text HERE:Peaches and Plums do not Speak

Social Credit and Foreign Enterprises Along the Silk Road , Remarks prepared for a Lecture Delivered at the Institute for East Asian Studies, Cologne, Germany October 10, 2019.DOWNLOAD TEXT HERE: Social Credit and Foreign Enterprises Along the Silk Road; DOWNLOAD PowerPoints HERE:Backer_CologneUniRemarks_10-2019

The Fundamental Contradiction of Cuban Socialism in the “New Era”: Economic Reintegration Preserving the Revolutionary Moment. Larry Catá Backer. Remarks presented at the Latin American Studies Association Annual Meeting 2019. Boston, MA 27 May 2019, for the panel: Cuba In Comparative Analysis; Chair Silvia Pedraza (University of Michigan)

How to Become a Full Time Law ProfessorTranscript of Remarks Delivered at the Panel Session, Panel 4G: How to Become a Full-Time Law Professor –A Workshop for Aspirants, 4th National People of Color Scholarship Conference: “People of Color and the Future of Democracy” (22 March 2019), American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C. Access PowerPoints HERE:Backer_How To Succeed NEPOC4 Access Transcript HERE: Backer_How to Become a Full Time Law Professor.

The Emerging Trajectories of Chinese Constitutionalism in the ‘New Era’. Remarks delivered at Jesus College, Oxford at Conference: China’s Changing Constitution, 15 November 2018.  TEXT HERE: The Emerging Trajectories of Chinese Constitutionalism in China AND HERE. BLOG POST HERE.

Socialist Constitutional Democracy in the Age of Accountability (), Remarks presented for the Panel:  The Emerging Structures of Chinese Constitutionalism in the New Era;  The 13th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association; Turin, Italy  13 – 14 September 2018. DOWNLOAD VERSION WITH IMAGES HERE Backer_Remarks_ECLSA2018-FINAL; DOWNLOAD TEXT ONLY HERE:  Backer_Remarks_TextONLY_ECLSA2018

Closing Remarks:  Social Credit, Big Data Management, and Governance, New Possibilities, New Realities delivered at the International Conference: International Symposium on Rule of Law & Social Credit Systems. KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, September 23, 2017. Download version: Closing Remarks v2 Social Credit Conf 2017

Remarks: “Methodological Approaches to Assess the Legal Development in China’s One-Party State– A Personal Journey” delivered at the “European China Law Studies Young Scholars Workshop” at the 12th annual conference of European China Law Studies Association (ECLS), Wednesday, 23 August 2017 Leiden University. PDF HERE: Remarks LCB

Larry Catá Backer, Remarks: Transnational Legal Orders and Global Regulatory Networks, Prepared for the International Francqui Symposium (Global and Transnational Law Today). Brussels Global Law Week Université libre de Bruxelles (CP-132) 50, av. F. D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels Belgium (May 15, 2017). RemarksFranquiSymposium5-2017

Closing Remarks: International Conference: New International Trade and Investment Rules between Globalization and Anti-Globalization. Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA; April 21, 2017. PDF HERE: Closing Remarks.

Beyond Nation and Law: A Manifesto”:  Remarks at the Launch Symposium of the Dickson Poon Transnational Law Institute–“Transnational Law: What’s in a Name?” 27 April 2016. PODCAST HERE (remarks start at hour 2.32.30).

Considering a Treaty on Corporations and Human Rights: Mostly Failures But With a Glimmer of Success,  Remarks Delivered at the Workshop on a Treaty on Business and Human Rights, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, June 26, 2015. PDF HERE

Undermining Academic Freedom From the Inside: On the Adverse Effects of Administrative Techniques and Neutral Principles, Remarks delivered at the Annual Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Washington, D.C., June 12, 2015. (pdf here:Remarks AAUP Crisis Panel6-2015 )

Conceptual, Structural, and Operationalization Constraints on the Right to Remedy Under the Guiding Principles. Remarks delivered at the parallel events session of the 3rd U.N. Forum on Business and Human Rights, “Ensuring access to effective judicial & non-judicial remedies: progress, trends & recommendations”, Geneva Switzerland, 1 December 2014.

International Monitoring and Oversight: Africa’s Increasing Presence, Remarks presented at Chatham House for Conference, Africa’s Sovereign Wealth Funds: Demand, Development and Delivery, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, United Kingdom, 5 September 2014   LINK HERE

白柯:法治与转型中国; 武卓韵|2014-06-25 LINK HERE

Methodological Issues in Implementing and Internationalized Curriculum – Five Approaches to Internationalization” Larry Cata Backer, Penn State Law; Global Penn State Conference: Internationalizing the Curriculum, Part 5. Pennsylvania State University February 2014.

Stress Points and Structural Challenges for the Continued Viability of the University Faculty Senate: Remarks Delivered at the Luncheon Honoring Past Chairs of the Penn State University Faculty Senate (September 2013 LINK HERE)

Remarks of the Senate Chair Made at the April 23, 2013 Meeting of the Penn State Faculty Senate (LINK HERE)

Remarks on Receiving the Penn State University Council of Commonwealth Student Governments’ Friend of the Commonwealth Award 2012-2013, April 13, 2013. (LINK HERE)

Statement of Senate Chair Made at the March 12, 2013 Penn State University Faculty Senate Meeting: Restructuring the Way We Operate (LINK HERE)

Statement of Senate Chair Made at the January 29, 2013 Penn State University Faculty Senate Meeting–Attendance, Alienation and Cronyism (LINK HERE)

Statement–Form and Function in Faculty Governance: Aligning Governance Structures With Changing Realities of University Administration January 29, 2013 (LINK HERE)

Statement From the Penn State University Faculty Senate Chair on the Chi Omega Sorority Photo, December 6, 2012 (LINK HERE)

Statement of Senate Chair Made at the December 4, 2012 Penn State University Faculty Senate Meeting: Is the Senate Fatally Ineffective?

Statement of Senate Chair Made at the October 16, 2012 Penn State University Faculty Senate Meeting

Statement of Senate Chair Made at the Aug 28, 2012 Penn State University Faculty Senate Meeting

Remarks on Assuming Duties as Chair of the PSU University Faculty Senate, April 24, 2012.

Being a Part and Standing Apart:  On the Culture of Law Faculties, Remarks of Larry Catá Backer as Outgoing Chair, AALS Minority Groups Section (December 2007) SpeechAALSMinoritySectionChairSpeech2007