Trade and investment agreements from a critical international political economy perspective

Abstract

This Chapter takes a critical perspective on international trade and investment protection agreements. The analytical starting point is social antagonism. From there, it describes how the reconfiguration of state-market relations since the internationalisation of production has driven the development of legal mechanisms that provide a degree of certainty for capital accumulation. These contracts are a legal form by which states guarantee the freedom of capital and private property. In particular, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism is an extraterritorial form of jurisdiction that provides more security for capital by guaranteeing the protection of investors' property when states have been unable to fulfil it. From this point of view, this chapter aims to contribute to the development of a critique of international political economy.