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What kind of civil society? The changing complexion of public engagement at the WTO

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 07:37 authored by Erin Hannah, Amy Janzwood, James Scott, Rorden Wilkinson
Since the WTO’s creation its relationship with civil society has changed significantly. In this article, we use an original dataset to: (i) plot the changes that have taken place in civil society group representation at the WTO Public Forum; and (ii) assess the significance of these changes for understandings of public interactions with the WTO. We test four hypotheses drawn from prevalent claims made in the academic and policy-facing literatures: (i) that the volume of participation in the Public Forum is determined by the ebb and flow of WTO-centered trade politics, with participation levels peaking during moments of crisis and falling away during times of stasis; (ii) that the stalling of the multilateral trade agenda has led to business interests turning away from the WTO; (iii) that the participation of NGOs in the Public Forum is also sensitive to the rhythms of trade politics; and (iv) that governments – particularly those from the global North – have begun to lose interest in the WTO and shifted attention to other arenas. We find support for hypotheses one and three but not for two and four. We subsequently analyze whose voices are heard at the Public Forum and find that there has been a narrowing of the arena of trade debate over time.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Journal of World Trade

ISSN

1011-6702

Publisher

Kluwer Law International

Issue

1

Volume

52

Page range

113-141

Department affiliated with

  • International Relations Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-08-14

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-05-01

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-08-14

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