Participation for Sustainability in Trade

Presenting extensive new research, this ground-breaking study addresses the critical dimensions of participatory and democratic processes in the field of trade-sustainability relationships and sustainability assessments of trade rules. The specific issues in trade include social and environmental concerns for which there is a wide disparity of preferences and no economic benchmark. The contributors provide analytical responses to questions of how deliberative processes can adequately close the democratic gap in global governance and how institutional reforms can ensure better access to information, transparency, deliberation and more accountability. The book provides the necessary theoretical background as well as case studies to understand these issues and is suitable for students and academics in international law, international relations and economics.

About the Author

Sophie Thoyer is the coordinator of the European Sustra network on sustainable trade. She is a senior lecturer in agricultural and resource economics at Supagro-Lameta, University of Montpellier, France. Her research work focuses on the political economy of economic reforms and on environmental negotiations both at local and international levels. Benoit Martimort-Asso was assistant coordinator of the European Sustra network on sustainable trade between 2003 and 2005. He is presently in charge of the International Environmental Governance program at IDDRI (Institut du Developpement Durable et des Relations Internationales), at the Sustainable Development and International Relations Institute, Paris, France, and coordinates IDDRI's activity dissemination programme.