Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: The Individual in the Global Economy: International Organization and the Politics of Fair Trade

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

States create and join multilateral trade organizations at a faster pace then ever before in history. As these institutions grow in number and scope, mass protests against globalization around the world challenge the legitimacy of global governance through managed trade. The charge is clear: trade organizations impact more than market access among states. They also contribute to the demise of state capacity or willingness to protect individuals from global market forces. Despite a wealth of research into the general impact of international organizations on state-state relations, there is a virtual absence of systematic research into their impact on state- individual relations. In this Doctoral Dissertation Research Support project the student engages this debate whether and how states' commitments to trade impact the lives of individuals in a global economy. The argument is offered that human rights are a particularly important case study to explore this tension. Using an institutional approach to the study of international political economy, the student challenges extant belief among many economists, political scientists, activists, and policy- makers that state commitment to trade organizations is inherently 'good' or 'bad' for human rights. Rather, it is hypothesized that state choice between different organizations, in terms of design and membership, will structure the impact of economic globalization on individual human rights. Human rights and free trade are therefore potentially compatible goals, which depend on the configuration of international and domestic institutions; yet they are by no means inevitable. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this research explores this proposition across a sample of more than 150 states from the mid 1970s to the present.