Date: 2010-01-01
Type: Working Paper
A Constitutional Tribute to Global Governance: Overcoming the Chimera of the Developing-Developed Country Dichotomy
Working Paper, EUI LAW, 2010/20
NEUWIRTH, Rostam Josef, A Constitutional Tribute to Global Governance: Overcoming the Chimera of the Developing-Developed Country Dichotomy, EUI LAW, 2010/20 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/15704
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
The past century has seen drastic changes and the pace with which they occur appears yet to be accelerating. It is not only we as individuals who have difficulties following these processes, but also the international legal and institutional framework put in place by previous generations no longer provides efficient responses to the imminent global challenges. It appears that the perennial struggle between continuity and change has reached a new level. This new level is summarized in the global governance debate which is aimed at deepening our understanding of the processes on which our paths depend and, at the same time, at formulating new ideas about new ways we might proceed. However, a global platform on which this debate can unfold is generally absent. International organizations continue their autistic practice and international law fragments further. The question then is how we can create a common platform without a common place to converse. The answer offered in this paper is by starting to create a common vocabulary, as thoughts and words precede and determine our actions. In this global vocabulary, the 'developing/developed' dichotomy is one conceptual distinction that, it is argued here, is largely outdated and even malicious in its effects. A survey of its use across various legal contexts not only uncovers institutional fragmentation but also largely contradicts the dynamism inherent in nature. In sum it annihilates the basis for a broader solidarity needed for a more synthetic approach to the solution of many urgent global problems. This conceptual distinction divides the world into so-called 'developing countries', on the one hand, and 'developed countries', on the other. With a view to contributing to the global governance debate, this 'constitutional' reading and comprehensive overview of numerous international and national legal instruments marks an attempt to demonstrate the need for more dynamic processes of governance because, ultimately, we all want to live in 'developing countries'.
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1
II. We all Live in 'Developing Countries' ........................................................................................... 4
III.'Developed' or 'Developing Country': Definition Impossible?.................................................. 6
IV. The Consequences: 'Ignorant Arrogance' and 'Averted Responsibility'.................................... 7
V. A Meta-Juridical Critique of the Developing/Developed Country Dichotomy............................. 9
VI. Global Governance and the 'Clash of Institutions or the Remaking of the Global Legal Order'........................... 12
1. The United Nations Charter as the World’s Constitution ....................................................................... 13
2. International Human Rights Law............................................................................................................ 13
3. Culture and Development ....................................................................................................................... 16
4. International Labor and Social Standards and Development .................................................................. 18
5. Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development....................................................................... 20
6. Development for Development............................................................................................................... 25
7. Global Public Health and Food Security................................................................................................. 26
8. International Trade and Development: The Multilateral Trading Regime under the WTO.................... 27
9. International Financial Institutions and Development: The World Bank and the IMF........................... 30
10. International Criminal Law................................................................................................................ 32
11. General Public International Law ...................................................................................................... 33
12. General Private International Law ..................................................................................................... 34
13. Other International or Regional Organizations .................................................................................. 35
14. Résumé.............................................................................................................................................. 37
VII. Comparative Constitutional Law................................................................................................. 38
1. Aspects of Development in National Constitutions ................................................................................ 38
2. The Constitution of the United States of America (March 17, 1789) ..................................................... 39
3. The Constitution of India (January 26, 1950) ......................................................................................... 39
4. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (December 4, 1982).............................................. 40
5. The 'Basic Constitutional Charter' of the European Union................................................................... 41
6. Résumé .................................................................................................................................................. 42
VIII. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 42
Bibliography......................................................................................................................................... 44
Additional information:
This paper is based on a draft which was presented at the international conference 'Exclusions from Constitutional Law', held at the School of Law of the University of Hong Kong, October 28-29, 2009.
The paper gathers the results from numerous experiences and conversations with people related to the topics touched upon in this paper. Too numerous to mention all of them, I wish to thank in particular H. Patrick Glenn, Francis Snyder, M.P. Singh, Surya Deva, Sindhu Vasantha Nagaraja, Arno Kreilhuber, Holger Neuwirth, Iris Neuwirth, Abderrahmane Ould Isselmou, Miguel Ângelo Loureiro de Lemos, Iris Eisenberger, and Chen Zhi Jie for the many interesting conversations and their useful comments. I would especially like to thank Francesco Francioni and Alison Tuck for their kind support in the organization of my stay as a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute (EUI) in summer 2010.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/15704
ISSN: 1725-6739
Series/Number: EUI LAW; 2010/20