LABOUR AND THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION: TOWARDS A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LINKAGE DISCOURSE

Abstract

[As the World Trade Organization approaches its ten-year anniversary, the long-discussed issue of linking the right to trade with the enforcement of cer- tain labour standards continues to persist. However, the discourse on the is- sue has hit a stalemate of late. In the hope of overcoming the stalemate and moving toward effective solutions on the issue, this paper explains and ex- amines four types of “conceptual differentiations” that currently underpin a significant portion of the labour linkage discourse. The “conceptual differ- entiations” examined are trade/non-trade; north/south; liberalisa- tion/protectionism; economic development/poverty; consumption/ production; universalist/relativist; WTO/ILO; and sanctions/welfare. A pol- icy proposal for further discussion on the issue is then presented, based on

a re-conceptualisation of the “conceptual differentiations” discussed.]