Making Global Trade Work for People

The global trading system starkly exemplifies some of the historical and current inequities which are at the core of continuing controversies surrounding economic globalization. On the other hand, trade has an enormous potential to contribute to human development. This timely book addresses a range of critical questions: Do trading arrangements -current and proposed - maximize the possibilities of development? Can a developing country's autonomy be preserved while respecting the legitimate objectives of advanced industrial countries to maintain high labour, social and environmental standards at home? Would such a regime be human-development friendly? This far-reaching assessment of the current multilateral trade regime looks in detail at the way it has worked under the World Trade Organization, tracing its origins from the GATT, and analysing how it can be improved for it genuinely to contribute to human development. The book is certain to make a major contribution to the debates surrounding globalization and the impact of trade on the poor, on social stability and on the environment. It will become a benchmark for future policy discussion and analysis.