Over the past decade, the benefits of globalization have been called into question. An international economic order based on specialization and trade has yielded dislocation alongside growth, vulnerability to global shocks alongside cosmopolitanism, and the political weaponization of interdependence alongside the supposedly pacifying virtues of doux commerce. One of the defining questions of our time is how to reclaim globalization for the benefit of all.
This seminar takes up one element of that challenge: understanding the legal foundations of the existing order, how they are changing, and what traditions reformers might draw on in search of alternatives. At the center of our investigation is the conventional narrative in which private law is the engine of globalization and public law the source of its limits and retrenchment. How does transnational private law conceive of borders, sovereignty, and the desirability of cross-border trade? And how does U.S. public law conceive of private transnational relationships as instruments of or threats to national sovereignty?
In exploring these questions, key topics of discussion will include trade deals, sanctions, international arbitration, the balance of payments, sovereign debt, export controls, foreign investment review, and the legacies of empire and of medieval merchant law. The seminar will bring together speakers from practice with scholars from law, economics, history, anthropology, and philosophy.
The 2024 Seminar is held Tuesdays from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. in Sterling Law Building Room 129. The seminar is open to the public via Zoom. Please register at this link if you would like to join for any of the speaker sessions.
Speakers:
| February 6 | Capitalism and Globalization Dani Rodrik – Harvard, John F. Kennedy School of Government Branko Milanovic – CUNY Graduate Center, Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality |
| February 13 | Zones Beyond the State Emily Kadens – Northwestern, Law Quinn Slobodian – Wellesley, History |
| February 20 | Just Energy Transitions Benjamin Bradlow – Princeton, Sociology Gerald Torres – Yale, Law & School of the Environment |
| February 27 | Trade and Investment Exceptions Julian Arato – University of Michigan, Law |
| March 5 | Weaponized Interdependence Henry Farrell – Johns Hopkins, School of Advanced International Studies Abraham Newman – Georgetown, School of Foreign Service & Dept. of Government |
| March 12 | Debt and Global Finance Anna Gelpern—Georgetown, Law Brad Setser—Council on Foreign Relations |
| March 26 | Policing Supply Chains Kathleen Claussen—Georgetown, Law |
| April 2 | Free Capital, Free Labor? Chiara Cordelli—University of Chicago, Political Science Sanjay Reddy—The New School, Economics |
| April 9 | Sovereignty and Expropriation Eric Helleiner—University of Waterloo, Political Science Nicholas Mulder—Cornell, History |
| April 16 | After Neoliberal Globalization David Grewal—Berkeley, Law |