From the ASIL/IEcLIG:
2012 Biennial Interest Group Conference:
Re-Conceptualizing International Economic Law: Bridging the Public/Private Divide
George Washington University Law School
Washington D.C., USA
November 29-December 1, 2012
I. Conference Theme
The ASIL International Economic Law Interest Group will hold its next biennial conference on November 29- December 1, 2012 at the George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. The title of the conference is “Re-Conceptualizing International Economic Law: Bridging the Public/Private Divide.”
International economic law purports to regulate and facilitate various cross-border business activities, such as exports and imports, financial transactions, and foreign direct investment. Its architecture, which the Bretton Woods consensus established six decades ago, is based largely on a “state-to-state” framework. However, as both the nature and modalities of the underlying international business transactions transform, the conventional statist model of international economic law needs adjustment, or at least re-examination. For example, widespread global supply chains increasingly challenge the wisdom of traditional customs regulations that were created against the backdrop of a mono-location production model. In the area of foreign direct investment, a host government is often viewed as a mere party to a contract, not necessarily as a sovereign regulator. As was seen in the making of Basel III, private actors (such as bankers) play a critical role in shaping regulations.
These recent trends compel us to break away from long-standing principles that separate public actors from private actors. It is fruitless to consider the work of public actors without considering the efforts of the private sector. In this regard, it is high time that scholars, practitioners and policymakers develop new ideas, doctrines, research agendas, and policy proposals to re-conceptualize international economic law to keep abreast of the new regulatory environment.
II. Possible Topics for Papers and Panels
With this backdrop, the November conference will organize sessions that address the full range of international and transnational economic law. We encourage scholars to submit papers or panel proposals related to trade, investment, international financial regulation, transnational private law, and development law, as well as their intersection with social regulation such as over global warming, labor rights, human rights, and consumer safety. This call for papers welcomes submissions that provide new analytical frameworks, reassess legal theory, evaluate developments in legal doctrine, engage in empirical analysis of how international economic law operates, and provide guidance for policymakers, regulators and adjudicators in this time of international economic change.
The range of possible topics is wide—the list below is provided as a thought-starter of possible topics identified by the conference committee. We welcome, however, quality proposals on any international economic law topic.
* The role of epistemic communities in financial law: closed clubs v. continually evolving centers of change;
* The legitimacy and accountability of private norm-setters;
* Room for private actors in international organizations: how the Bretton Woods institutions and the G20 can (or should) reach out beyond states;
* Are developing countries’ interests advanced by a shift away from state-centered law making?;
* Is soft law an end in itself? Can soft law be the preferred method of operationalizing international standards?;
* Climate change norm-setting: does it lend itself to a non-statist approach?;
* The new dangers of capture outside the statist model;
* Methodological approaches for studying private actors in international economic law and their implications;
* The role of private actors in a fragmented international economic law system;
* The transnational/transgovernmental link between international economic law and domestic law and politics;
* The changing legal and institutional terrain for the investor-State dispute settlement mechanism;
* Global supply chains and the role of private businesses in food and consumer safety regulations;
* International economic law and the reassessment of development policies;
* The rise of the BRICs and a new international economic order?;
* Regional trade and investment agreements and their role in breaking the public/private divide;
* The implications of the Doha Round’s collapse for international economic law governance;
* The role of domestic administrators and courts in the operationalization of international standards;
* The interaction of public and private international institutions;
* The increasing influence of private actors on the development of international legal norms; and
* The role and maturation of civil society's interaction with international economic law.
The full details are here.
