The WTO System: Law Politics and Legitimacy

No one with a serious professional or intellectual interest in the WTO can ignore the essays in this volume, many of which have been major flashpoints of controversy and debate in the field - such as the attack on the product/process distinction and the critique of the "constitutional" perspective on the WTO, to give but two examples. Written against the backdrop of the post-Seattle legitimacy crisis of the WTO, these works consider how the doctrine and method of WTO adjudication have responded, especially in sensitive areas such as trade and environment, and health and safety regulation. In addition to providing careful case law analysis, which often illuminates neglected or misunderstood aspects of Appellate Body rulings, the author deploys a variety of interdisciplinary tools, drawing from political philosophy, international relations theory, information economics, and comparative politics, in order to provide an original and provocative perspective on the underlying questions of principle and power that are central to the legitimacy crisis of the WTO.

Table of Contents:
* From Politics To Technology - And Back Again * The WTO On Trial * How To Begin To Think About The "Democratic Deficit" At The WTO * The Product/Process Distinction -- An Illusory Basis For Disciplining 'Unilateralism' In Trade Policy * Democracy, Science, And Free Trade: Risk Regulation On Trial At The World Trade Organization * The Appellate Body Rulings In The Shrimp/Turtle Case: A New Legal Baseline For The Trade And Environment Debate * Tribute: The House That Jackson Built: Restructuring The GATT System * Human Rights In The WTO: Whose Rights, What Humanity? * Adjucative Legitimacy And Treaty Interpretation In International Trade Law * Legitimacy And Global Governance * Membership And Its Privileges: The WTO, Civil Society, And The Amicus brief controversy * The Canadian Generic Medicines Panel * Bob Hudec: Friendship in Disagreement - A Remembrance

About the Author :
Robert Howse is an internationally recognized authority on international economic law and is also a specialist in 20th century European legal and political philosophy, particularly the thought of Alexander Kojeve and Leo Strauss. Professor Howse received his B.A. in philosophy and political science with high distinction, as well as an LL.B., with honours, from the University of Toronto, where he was co-editor in chief of the Faculty of Law Review. He also holds an LL.M. from the Harvard Law School. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Tel Aviv University, Tsinghua University, and Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada and taught in the Academy of European Law, European University Institute, Florence. During the fall of 2005 Howse was a visiting professor at the University of Paris 1 (Pantheon-Sorbonne).