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Conference Announcement Theme: Justice in Trade? Subtitle: An Interdisciplinary Assessment of Qualified Market Access Type: Interdisciplinary Workshop Institution: Global Democratic Governance Profile Area, University of St. Gallen Location: St. Gallen (Switzerland) Date: 10.–11.6.2013 __________________________________________________ Qualified Market Access (QMA) is the idea that trade relationships should be made conditional upon their meeting various parameters, such as human rights, labour standards, and environmental regulations. It is an idea that has attracted much attention in recent years. It was the subject of a 2008 European Commission report. It figures prominently in areas of global trade governance, in the context, for example, of the General System of Preferences at the World Trade Organisation, and many social initiatives, such as the Fair Trade movement. It has also been explored in many academic literatures. The idea of QMA raises questions of fairness in trade and the nature of (economic) freedom in the literature of moral philosophy. Potential effects and counter-effects have been explored in the economics literature. Political scientists and legal scholars, meanwhile, take an interest in the dynamics and structures of such agreements and the institutional context in which they arise and are implemented. It seems important, at this juncture, to bring these strands of research and policy together. QMA clearly raises fascinating and multifaceted questions of interest to a variety of actors and disciplines. But to find a comprehensive understanding of QMA, and to answer these questions fully, it is necessary and valuable to consider the topic from a multi- or inter-disciplinary perspective and with a combination of insights from both theory and practice. This workshop is designed to subject QMA to exactly this kind of multifaceted investigation. It will explore the notion of QMA and the various philosophical, political, economic, and legal issues that it raises, considering it at every level from abstract theory to direct policy proposals. It brings together leading scholars from each of these disciplines and a number of practitioners to consider QMA and the surrounding issues, both from the perspective of their own fields and with a view to developing an integrated, holistic understanding. Confirmed Contributors: - Anne van Aaken, School of Law, University of St. Gallen - Kamala Dawar, Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) - Simon Evenett, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen - Lisa Herzog, Institut für Sozialforschung & Cluster “Normative Orders”, Goethe University Frankfurt - Aaron James, Department of Philosophy, University of California, Irvine - Lars Nilsson, Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission - Mathias Risse, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University - Andrew Walton, Department of Political Science, University of St. Gallen - Alan Winters, Department of Economics, University of Sussex For more information, please visit: http://www.gdg-hsg.ch/workshops/forthcoming-workshops/justice-in-trade Contact: Prof. Dr. Andrew Walton Department of Political Science University of St. Gallen Rosenbergstrasse 51 CH-9000 St. Gallen Switzerland Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.gdg-hsg.ch/workshops/forthcoming-workshops/justice-in-trade __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
