International Economic Law and Racialized “Others”

This essay seeks to show how racialized histories of global political economy have shaped core issues in international economic law. The essay begins by noting challenges to framing the topic of racialized “others,” and then turns to the case study of cotton, showing how U.S. domestic production subsidies—long a focal point of international trade law in both formal dispute settlement and agreement negotiations—have affected persons of African heritage in the United States and internationally. The essay concludes by considering the U.S. and international contexts more generally, both to demonstrate where integral structural biases are at play, and to locate areas of contingency and change.