ASIL IEcLIG Call for Papers

 From the ASIL/IEcLIG:

CALL FOR PAPERS

American Society for International Law

International Economic Law Interest Group (IEcLIG)

in partnership with the University of Denver Sturm College of Law Sutton Colloquium

 2014 Biennial Research Conference:

REASSESSING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW AND DEVELOPMENT:

NEW CHALLENGES FOR LAW AND POLICY

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Denver, CO, USA

November 13-15, 2014 

I.                    Conference Theme

Amartya Sen’s call for understanding development not only in terms of gross national product but also “in terms of the substantive freedoms of people” marked an important reframing of the legal and policy discourse around economic development.[1]  The resulting Millennium Development Goals focused much academic research in this area towards a more comprehensive understanding of development, one that would recognize economic growth as intrinsically tied to such areas as: environmental sustainability; food security; the reduction of extreme poverty, hunger, and child mortality; access to health; and the promotion of education and gender equality.  International economic institutions like the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund have traditionally been at the center of promoting and managing economic growth; yet, these institutions also face challenges caused by recent financial crises, the need for food security and high energy demand, while preserving natural resources and the environment.   

With the approach of the fifteenth anniversary of the Millennium goals and given these new and ongoing challenges, it is time to reassess the role that international economic law (IEL) has played and continues to play in development. How effective is IEL at promoting development, broadly construed?  Under what conditions is it effective? In what ways should IEL norms and institutions be adjusted to accommodate growing concerns around climate change, energy demand, food security, and other issues? 

II.           Proposal Submission & Selection 

We encourage IEL scholars, practitioners, and advanced graduate students to submit proposals for paper presentations or panels.Proposals should be no more than one single-spaced page in length. For guaranteed consideration, proposals must be received no later than May 16, 2014. 

Paper proposals should include a working title of the paper and an abstract describing the paper’s main thesis, methods, and contribution. You should also include a one-page curriculum vitae (CV) as a separate document. 

Panel proposals should be organized around a theme and should include a brief description of the theme and a list of the proposed participants with their anticipated contributions, indicating whether the participants have expressed a willingness to participate in the conference should the proposal be accepted. 

Proposals should be submitted to [email protected]. Any time-sensitive questions should be addressed to [email protected] and [email protected]. The selection process will consist of blind review by the IEcLIG leadership and the 2014 IEcLIG Biennial Selection Committee. We anticipate communicating acceptance decisions by July 18, 2014. Authors of accepted proposals commit to preparing a draft paper on their proposed topic, and submitting the draft paper to the conference organizers by no later than November 1, 2014.

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III.          Possible Topics for Papers and Panels

We have provided an illustrative list of possible paper and panel topics below. 

We construe IEL and development broadly, and we are open to a variety of scholarly approaches. We welcome proposals adopting historical, empirical, comparative, theoretical, critical, or normative frameworks.  We also encourage submissions that do not necessarily address the conference theme.

Possible theme-related topics 

• Development strategies: domestic policies supporting industrialization/structural change; the need for policy space
• Managing financial crises and income policies for employment creation
• Reforms for global economic governance in the context of development: e.g. multilateral, bilateral, regional, plurilateral trade; international monetary and financial system; management of debt crisis
• Implications of mega-regionals for developing countries.
• The role of political institutions for development
• The role of economic institutions such as WTO, IMF, World Bank, the G-8/G-20; international standards organizations, for development
• The WTO's new trade facilitation agreement and development
• Role of public/private partnerships in development
• Climate change and its impact on economic development
• Food security and climate change; sustainable agriculture
• Sustainable development issues such as natural resource extraction and energy
• The interaction of domestic law and politics to development
• The role of hard and soft law in international economic and sustainable development reforms
• Role of technology in transformation of agriculture
• Access to technology for sustainable development
• Micro-finance and development
• Renewable energy and trade and investment
• The labor and development nexus in a global supply chain
• Evaluating trade and development policies: e.g. NAFTA at 20; EU at 20; the WTO at 20; UNCTAD at 50
• Methodological approaches international economic law and development;
• Interpretive approaches to international economic law and development: theory vs. practice;
• The rise of BRICs and implications for development
• The rise of Africa and international economic law
• The proliferation of trade and investment agreements and their implications for development

The full details are here.