Global justice, the WTO, and Fair Trade

In this thesis I examine two widely held beliefs. First, I examine the belief that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the contemporary global trade regime are unjust. Second, I examine the belief that individuals should purchase Fair Trade goods. The purpose of these investigations is twofold. My major aim is to elaborate an account of global trade justice that combines research in international political economy with insights drawn from moral and political theory. These two disciplines are often separated in academic research and, as such, there is a need to combine an understanding of the reality of global trade arrangements with rigorous evaluation from the point of view of political morality. This thesis undertakes this task by engendering synergy between these literatures on the WTO and Fair Trade. The selection of these topics also provides a chance to subject the aforementioned beliefs to rigorous moral analysis. This is the second rationale for the project. In brief, my arguments are as follows. I argue that there are demands of global justice. I argue that this requires the WTO to meet certain democratic standards and certain demands of economic justice. I argue that the WTO does not meet these demands and I propose according reforms. I argue that the WTO must offer member-states substantively equal participation rights and that it should enact a policy structuring the global economic framework so as to help finance the development of welfare and legal provisions in developing countries. In addition, I make two arguments in relation to the belief that individuals should purchase Fair Trade goods. I reject one common defence of this idea but I argue that individuals should purchase Fair Trade goods because in doing so they can help generate a widespread contribution to addressing important moral concerns