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Conflicting Philosophies and International Trade Law

Worldviews and the WTO

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Michael Burkard

    1. Institute of European and International Economic Law, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

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  • Uses epistemological concepts to address deadlocked problems in international law, offering an interdisciplinary perspective that combines political economy, international trade law, and philosophy
  • Addresses controversies of the World Trade Agreement around the SPS Agreement on food safety and animal and plant health measures as a case study of international decision-making
  • Speaks to negotiators, members of dispute settlement bodies, policy makers, and scholars interested in new approaches for mitigating increased tensions in international law
  • Reflects on the symbiotic relationship between scientific discovery and economic progress which emerged in the Age of Enlightenment and is anew challenged by populist Romanticism
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Philosophy, Public Policy, and Transnational Law (PPPTL)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
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  2. Introduction

    • Michael Burkard
    Pages 1-7

  3. Being Determines Consciousness

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-14
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    2. Between Positivism and Relativism

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 15-33

    3. Two Concepts of Reality

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 35-134

    4. Two Concepts of Risk

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 135-154

    5. Two Functions of Risk

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 155-207

    6. The Battle for Agriculture

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 209-262

  4. The Science-Based Approach of the SPS Agreement in Particular

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 263-263
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    2. A Promise for Objectivity

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 265-286

    3. The Panel’s Positivist Position

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 287-302

    4. The Appellate Body’s Quest for Middle Ground

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 303-338

  5. Future Prospects for Regulation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 339-340
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    2. The Positivist Solution

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 341-346

    3. The Relativist Response

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 347-352

    4. A Critical Approach

      • Michael Burkard
      Pages 353-430

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 431-442
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Keywords

About this book

This book reveals how conflicting worldviews are at the root of public controversies on policy and trade issues. It highlights the particularly controversial disputes at the level of the World Trade Organization in the case of regulating beef-hormones and GMOs, aiming to show how negotiators of international agreements, members of dispute settlement bodies, and policy makers in general could have recourse to concepts of other disciplines such as epistemology and philosophy in order to address deadlocked legal disputes. Ultimately, the book is a manifesto for independent and critical research. 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Institute of European and International Economic Law, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Michael Burkard

About the author

Michael Burkard is a legal practitioner with broad experience in judiciary, administration and the legal profession. As staff member of the finance committee of the Swiss Federal Parliament, he gained insights into legislation, finance and economic policy. He received his PhD from the Institute of European and International Economic Law at the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he concentrated on European and WTO law, customs legislation, the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and economic development. This book is an outcome of the research project “NCCR Trade regulation” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

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