Nick Pozek: Conversations

Heritage Politics in China: The Power of the Past (Routledge, 2020) studies the impact of heritage policies and discourses on the Chinese state and Chinese society. It sheds light on the way Chinese heritage policies have transformed the narratives and cultural practices of the past to serve the interests of the present.

As well as reinforcing a collective social identity, heritage in China has served as an instrument of governance and regulation at home and a tool to generate soft power abroad. Drawing on a critical analysis of heritage policies and laws, empirical case studies, and interviews with policymakers, practitioners, and local communities, the authors offer a comprehensive perspective on the role that cultural heritage plays in Chinese politics and policy. They argue that heritage-making appropriates international, national, and local values, thereby transforming it into a public good suitable for commercial exploitation. By framing heritage as a site of cooperation, contestation, and negotiation, this book contributes to our understanding of the complex nature of heritage in the rapidly shifting landscape of contemporary China.

Enrico Bonadio is a reader in Intellectual Property Law at The City Law School in London.

He holds law degrees from the University of Florence (Ph.D.) and the University of Pisa (LLB), and is Associate Editor and Intellectual Property Correspondent of the European Journal of Risk Regulation as well as a member of the Editorial Board of NUART Journal.

His current research agenda focuses on copyright protection of unconventional forms of expression, including graffiti and street art. Enrico has recently co-edited the book “Non-Conventional Copyright – Do New and Non-Traditional Works Deserve Protection?” (together with Nicola Lucchi, Elgar 2018); and edited the “Cambridge Handbook of Copyright in Street Art and Graffiti” (Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Enrico is also researching on IP protection of AI and robotics: he is part of a consortium that has been awarded funding by the EU as part of Horizon2020 to assess the area of interactive robots in society (INBOTS project). He also recently authored a report on Standard Essential Patents and the Internet of Things (commissioned by the European Parliament). Enrico has been awarded grant funding for other projects, including substantial grants from the ESRC, HEIF, the UK Global Challenges Research Fund, and the Australian Research Council.

He has also done academic work on academic innovation, geographical indications in the global market, digital copyright and free speech, exhaustion of IP rights and parallel imports, morality, and IP, patentability of human embryonic stem cells and patents, and food safety. He co-edited a book entitled “Beyond Plain Packaging – The New Intellectual Property of Health” (together with Alberto Alemanno, Elgar, 2016). In 2013 he received the ECTA Award for the Best Paper in Trademark Law (plain packaging of tobacco products under European intellectual property law). He also published a book on TRIPS Agreement and genetic resources (Jovene, 2008).

Enrico is Visiting Professor at Université Catholique de Lyon and visiting lecturer at the WIPO LLMs in Turin (Italy), Ankara (Turkey), and Shanghai (China). He has been Visiting Scholar at the University of Melbourne (2013), CUNY Law School (New York, 2016), University of Tel Aviv (2018 and 2019) as well as Hokkaido University (2019), and Keio University (2019) in Japan.

Enrico has been delivering classes and talks in more than 100 universities and institutions around the world (including John Marshall Law School in Chicago, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Windsor in Canada, University of La Havana) and frequently appears in the media as an IP expert. His research has been covered by CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Reuters, BBC, The Times, Independent and The Conversation, amongst other media outlets.

He is a Solicitor qualified to practice in England and Wales as well as in Italy. Enrico practiced as IP attorney for several years in top-tier international law firms. He also regularly joins training and technical assistance missions organized by WIPO.

He is a member of ATRIP (International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property), BLACA (British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association), and The Law Society of England and Wales.

Reinventing Bankruptcy Law: A History of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (University of Toronto Press, 2020) explodes conventional wisdom about the history of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and in its place offers the first historical account of Canada’s premier corporate restructuring statute. The book adopts a novel research approach that combines legal history, socio-legal theory, ideas from political science, and doctrinal legal analysis. Meticulously researched and multi-disciplinary, Reinventing Bankruptcy Law provides a comprehensive and concise history of CCAA law over the course of the twentieth century, framing developments within broader changes in Canadian institutions including federalism, judicial review, and statutory interpretation.

Examining the influence of private parties and commercial practices on lawmaking, Virginia Torrie argues that CCAA law was shaped by the commercial needs of powerful creditors to restructure corporate borrowers, providing a compelling thesis about the dynamics of legal change in the context of corporate restructuring. Torrie exposes the errors in recent case law to devastating effect and argues that courts and the legislature have switched roles – leading to the conclusion that contemporary CCAA courts function like a modern-day Court of Chancery. This book is essential reading for the Canadian insolvency community as well as those interested in Canadian institutions, legal history, and the dynamics of change.

The Great Recession threatened the well-being of tens of millions of Americans, dramatically weakened the working class, hollowed out the middle class, and strengthened the position of the very wealthy. Against this backdrop, the hit reality show Shark Tank premiered in 2009. Featuring ambitious entrepreneurs chasing support from celebrity investors, the show offered a version of the American Dream that still seemed possible to many, where a bright idea and a well-honed pitch could lift a bootstrap business to new heights of success. More than a decade later, Shark Tank still airs regularly on multiple networks, and its formula has sparked imitators everywhere, from elite universities to elementary school classrooms.

In Entertaining Entrepreneurs: Reality TV's Shark Tank and the American Dream in Uncertain Times (UNC Press, 2020), Daniel Horowitz shows how Shark Tank's version of entrepreneurship disguises and distorts the opportunities and traps of capitalism. Digging into today's cult of the entrepreneur, Horowitz charts its rise from the rubble of economic crisis and its spread as a mainstay of American culture, and he explores its flawed view of what it really takes to succeed in business.

Horowitz offers more than a look at one television phenomenon. He is the perfect guide to the portrayal of entrepreneurship in business school courses, pitch competitions, popular how-to books, and scholarly works, as well as the views of real-world venture capitalists.

Dr. Kevin Nadal is a Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the former Executive Director of CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies, past President of the Asian American Psychological Association; and the founder of the LGBTQ Scholars of Color National Network. He has published 10 books, including Microaggressions and Traumatic Stress (APA, 2018) and That’s So Gay! (APA, 2013).

His most recent book, Queering Law and Order: LGBTQ Communities and the Criminal Justice System, examines the state of LGBTQ people within the criminal justice system. Intertwining legal cases, academic research, and popular media, Nadal reviews a wide range of issues—ranging from historical heterosexist and transphobic legislation to police brutality to the prison industrial complex to family law. Grounded in Queer Theory and intersectional lenses, each chapter provides recommendations for queering and disrupting the justice system. This book serves as both an academic resource and a call to action for readers who are interested in advocating for LGBTQ rights.

For seventeen years, Chris Fenton served as the president of DMG Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a multi-billion-dollar global media company headquartered in Beijing. He has produced or supervised twenty-one films, grossing $2 billion in worldwide box-office.

In his new book, Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, & American Business (Post Hill Press, 2020), Fenton shares not only his journey from waiting tables at the Olive Garden to producing some of the most recognizable Hollywood blockbuster movies. And, in the process, he discovers his diplomatic mission: connecting the US and China through commerce and culture:

I felt a sense of mission that went far beyond box-office numbers. US-China relations were on the line. We all knew it. We had to make it work. But as an American, something bigger was at stake. We were pulling a rival country’s culture into our own. We were doing more than opening a market or making nice with China. We were bridging a cultural gap, making the world smaller, more stable, less contentious, and much safer. Failure would surely result in the opposite effect.

Fenton conveys not only the regulatory obstacles that U.S. movies face when entering the Chinese market but also the cultural barriers. For the media to be successful in China, it needs to be relevant to Chinese audiences. But, while facing challenges in Asia, DMG also found trouble in the U.S. when the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation of their dealings in China

Like the blockbuster movies Fenton produces (and talks of a cinematic adaption of Feeding the Dragon are underway), this book has broad appeal. It is a gripping page-turner, a glimpse into the regulatory complexity of the Chinese entertainment market, and an introduction into what Fenton calls “film diplomacy.” Punctuated by succinct chapters, the book is an easy read, mixing a compelling story with rich insights.

Like the blockbuster movies Fenton produces (and talks of a cinematic adaption are underway), Feeding the Dragon has broad appeal. It is a gripping page-turner, a glimpse into the regulatory complexity of the Chinese entertainment market, and an introduction into what Fenton calls “film diplomacy.” Punctuated by succinct chapters, the book is an easy read, mixing a compelling story with rich insights.

In June of 2019, a proposed amendment to Hong Kong’s Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, sparked widespread protests across the region. Protestors saw in the bill a threat to the judicial independence that Hong Kong has enjoyed since its return to China from the United Kingdom in 1997.

The Special Administrative Region plunged into turmoil as disaffected youth combined the ideology the Arab Spring with their fluency in emerging digital tools to organize and mobilize a seemingly leaderless movement. The demonstrations which continue into 2020 have challenged the city’s government, universities, and communities and even test families and friendships.

On the first anniversary of the beginning of this wave of anti-government protests, South China Morning Post released a new book Rebel City: Hong Kong’s Year of Water and Fire (World Scientific, 2020) Rebel City presents some of the most comprehensive coverage of Hong Kong’s political unrest. Editors Zuraidah Ibrahim and Jeffie Lam masterfully weave together the perspectives gathered by the intrepid reporters of Hong Kong’s newspaper of record. The book is not only a carefully curated selection of contemporaneous news coverage, but it also offers thoughtful reflections and penetrating insight into a pivotal moment for Hong Kong.