Investors versus Workers: A Class-Based Critique of International Investment Treaties

IF 0.7 2区 哲学 Q4 ETHICS
Mirjam Müller
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Abstract

Bilateral investment treaties constitute an important instrument to facilitate global investment. Recent discussions in political theory have highlighted several normative concerns raised by bilateral investment treaties. One worry is that investment treaties undermine national self-determination as they grant investors far-reaching protections that can be legally enforced. Another worry is that the benefits and burdens entailed in bilateral investment treaties are distributed unfairly in a way that benefits investors at the expense of states and disadvantaged groups within states. Instead of critiquing bilateral investment treaties from a perspective of global (distributive) justice, in this article I develop a class-based critique. This involves a twofold departure. First, the article shifts the focus from distributions to the power relations that are built into the global capitalist economy and that come into sharp relief in the practice of global investment. Second, rather than focusing on the relation between states and investors, I claim that in a class-based critique the relation between workers and investors should take centre stage. I argue that bilateral investment treaties are effectively an instrument of class domination, insofar as they reproduce and increase the power of transnational corporations while at the same time decreasing the power of workers.

投资者与工人:基于阶级的国际投资条约批判
双边投资条约是促进全球投资的重要工具。最近关于政治理论的讨论突出了双边投资条约所引起的若干规范性问题。一种担忧是,投资条约会削弱民族自决,因为它们赋予投资者可以依法执行的深远保护。另一个担忧是,双边投资条约所带来的利益和负担的分配不公平,以牺牲国家和国家内部的弱势群体为代价,使投资者受益。在本文中,我没有从全球(分配)正义的角度来批评双边投资条约,而是提出了一种基于阶级的批评。这涉及到两方面的背离。首先,本文将焦点从分配转移到全球资本主义经济中建立的权力关系,并在全球投资实践中得到了明显的缓解。其次,我主张,在以阶级为基础的批判中,工人与投资者之间的关系应该占据中心位置,而不是关注国家与投资者之间的关系。我认为,双边投资条约实际上是阶级统治的工具,因为它们繁殖和增加了跨国公司的权力,同时减少了工人的权力。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
2.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
71
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