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Macmillan, Fiona --- "The World Trade Organization and the Turbulent Legacy of International Economic Law-making in the Long Twentieth Century" [2010] ELECD 632; in Faundez, Julio; Tan, Celine (eds), "International Economic Law, Globalization and Developing Countries" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: International Economic Law, Globalization and Developing Countries

Editor(s): Faundez, Julio; Tan, Celine

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848441132

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: The World Trade Organization and the Turbulent Legacy of International Economic Law-making in the Long Twentieth Century

Author(s): Macmillan, Fiona

Number of pages: 22

Extract:

8. The World Trade Organization and
the turbulent legacy of international
economic law-making in the long
twentieth century
Fiona Macmillan*

1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter focuses on the establishment of the WTO with a view to sug-
gesting that it constitutes the climax, and so the beginning of the end, of the
current process of international economic law-making. The chapter argues
that, in essence, the emergence of the WTO as an institution is a crystal-
lisation of pervasive structures and ideologies that combined and gained
particular force and impetus during the twentieth century. Specifically,
the chapter considers the effects of the so-called doctrines of comparative
advantage and free trade in the context of the rise of corporate capitalism
in the post-World War Two period.
Tied in with this potent combination is the process of decolonisation.
The effect of decolonisation on the world economy has, of course, been
profound. In particular, decolonisation has called for the development
of new techniques for accessing the resources of the so-called develop-
ing world on terms that ensure that the dominant position of the former
colonial powers in the world economy is maintained. This chapter is
premised on the claim that both the doctrine of comparative advantage,
which has provided the theoretical ballast for the current world trade
regime, and the rise of corporate capitalism, the practical arrow in the
theoretical bow, are inherently well-adapted to the task of maintaining
the subordinate position of the former colonies. In this sense, ...