KDEC 9735 - The Making of International Economic Law: States, Capital, and the Architecture of Global Markets

Many of the key concerns, demands and tensions that have shaped our global past and present are articulated through legal arrangements and economic interactions. From property rights to the regulation of international trade, and the governance of finance, labor and environmental issues (among many others), International Economic Law (IEcL) plays a central role in structuring global legal and economic relations.

This course adopts a historical viewpoint to piece together these global legal and economic relations that have produced inequalities, environmental crises, market dominances, and abuses. It explores IEcL both as a body of technical rules and institutions, as well as a site where competing interests and visions of the global economy take shape. The course interrogates the role of international financial institutions, the WTO, and structural adjustment programs in shaping international development theories and the normative framework of IEcL. It also examines the relationship between IEcL and the consolidation of corporate power through coordination and competition in global markets.

The aim of the course is to provide students with a solid understanding of the legal foundations and tools of the global economic order and architecture of global markets, through international trade, investment, financial governance, and development institutions. It also aims to provide a historical lens by examining how IEcL emerged in the context of imperial circulation, colonial expansion, the consolidation of capitalist markets, and evolving global economic governance. This is tailored to enable students to understand the technical legal tools and economic frameworks needed to analyze current configurations of the international order its potential transformations.

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Participation in class discussions (panel assignments); 2 reaction papers; take-home final paper