Call for Papers: Re-Conceptualizing International Economic Law: Bridging the Public/Private Divide

The International Economic Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its 2012 Biennial Interest Group Conference, to take place November 29-December 1, at George Washington University Law School. The theme is: "Re-Conceptualizing International Economic Law: Bridging the Public/Private Divide." Here's the call:

Call for Papers

American Society of International Law

International Economic Law Interest Group (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 2 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 statecentered 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.

III. Proposal Submission, Selection and Paper Publication

We encourage proposals for papers from both new and established scholars and practitioners so that they may engage with each other. Paper proposals and all other program-related proposals must be submitted electronically by July 30 2012 to 2012biennialconference@gmail.com. Proposals should include the author's name and full contact information, and an abstract of no more than 300 words. A Conference Committee (TBA) will review and select proposals.

Decisions regarding inclusion in the conference program will be sent by September 1, 2012. Paper contributors will be expected to provide full paper drafts by November 1, 2012.

This conference is being co-sponsored by the George Washington University School of Law.

IV. Conference Details

The conference will take place at George Washington University School of Law at 2000 H Street, NW Washington DC, 20052 on November 29 – December 1, 2012. For ASIL members, the registration fee is expected to be approximately $95 (which will cover some meals). The organizers will provide contact information for a range of hotel accommodations at various price ranges conveniently located in the DC area. We will also be applying for CLE credit for attendance in multiple jurisdictions.

V. About the Interest Group

The International Economic Law Interest Group promotes academic interest, discussion, research and publication on subjects broadly related to the transnational movement and regulation of goods, services, persons and capital. International law topics include trade law, investment law, economic integration law, private law, business regulation, financial law, tax law, intellectual property law and the role of law in development. The group provides a forum for interdisciplinary explorations of public and private international and municipal law, and is particularly interested in promoting the work and interests of new practitioners and scholars in the field. Its activities also include sponsoring panels at the ASIL Meeting and co-sponsoring conferences with allied organizations.

The Group’s major focus of activity is to hold a biennial conference, framed by an open Call for Papers publicized to group members, the ASIL and the public. The group’s conferences address the array of issues in international economic law, including the role and development of the multilateral trading system, the World Trade Organization, foreign investment, bilateral and regional trade and investment agreements, international development law, and international financial regulation. The research papers generated by these conferences have regularly been published in prestigious venues and are widely cited in international economic law scholarship.

The results of previous biennial IEcLIG conferences have been published as Minnesota Journal of International Law, Symposium: International Economic Law in a Time of Change: Reassessing Legal Theory, Doctrine, Methodology and Policy Prescriptions. Volume XX Summer 2011 Number 2, available at http://www.minnjil.org/?page_id=1121; THE POLITICS OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW, Tomer Broude, Amy Porges and Marc L. Busch eds., Cambridge University Press 2010; INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW: THE STATE AND FUTURE OF THE DISCIPLINE, Colin B. Picker, Isabella D. Bunn and Douglas W. Arner eds., Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2008; and TRADE AS THE GUARANTOR OF PEACE, LIBERTY AND SECURITY? CRITICAL HISTORICAL AND EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVES, Padideh Ala'i, Tomer Broude, & Colin Picker eds., ASIL Press, 2006.