Title: “Global Economic Governance in Contest: UNCITRAL and the Multilateral Politics of ISDS Reform”
Date and Time: April 9, 12:30
Venue: A-130 Seminar Room, FEASS.
Speaker: Julia Calvert, University of Edinburgh.
Abstract:
Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is one of the most controversial elements of international investment law. Once championed as a neutral and efficient mechanism for resolving investment disputes, ISDS is now widely criticised for empowering foreign investors to challenge the policy autonomy of their host-states. In response, states have launched a process in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) aimed at assessing the system’s shortcomings and exploring options for its reform. This raises a fundamental question: can those most vulnerable to the system’s shortcomings effectively drive reforms in a system that favour corporate interests? Dr. Calvert will discuss the multilateral politics of ISDS reform and what it tells us about the potential to construct more democratic and inclusive global governance institutions. Optimistically, UNCITRAL debates on ISDS suggest that states have an interest in sharing lessons from past mistakes in institution building to create more balanced governance arrangements. However, fewer lessons may be drawn from states that have born the most cost from existing arrangements, which generates the risk that reforms will fail to address the ways in which international systems perpetuate market hierarchies.
Bio:
Julia Calvert is a Senior Lecturer in International Political Economy at the University of Edinburgh. Her research examines the politics of trade and investment policy and the role that low-and middle-income countries and emerging economies play in driving international institutional reform.