Abstract
The gender dimensions of international trade and investment, and the related fields of trade economics and international trade law, are attracting increasing attention from academic and policy researchers, policymakers and civil society groups. While these issues are now on the agendas of United Nations bodies, some international financial institutions and development organizations, they are still at the periphery of international trade negotiations and World Trade Organization (“WTO”) operations. However, the gender-differentiated effects of trade liberalization and other trade-related processes are extremely relevant to the mandate and operations of the WTO, particularly in the context of the Doha Development Agenda.4 This chapter provides an overview of current research, policy analysis and advocacy on gender, trade and investment issues; preliminary gender analysis of selected WTO agreements and processes; and suggestions for integrating a gender perspective in future trade negotiations and implementation of trade commitments.
The Doha Development Agenda refers to the agenda outlined in outcome documents of the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. This chapter also refers to “developed,” “developing” and “least-developed” countries, mindful that these terms are contested, and that countries’ self-categorization in terms of “development” can vary from one context to another. See, e.g., Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (1995) (critiques “development” as an “historically produced discourse” rooted in particularWestern concepts of tradition, modernity and progress); WTO, Who Are the Developing Countries in the WTO?, at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/d1who_e.htm (WTO agreements do not define “developed” and “developing” countries; a new member’s status depends on the outcome of accession negotiations with existing members; however, WTO recognition of “least-developed” countries is based on designation as such within the United Nations system).
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McGill, E. (2005). Trade and Gender. In: Macrory, P.F.J., Appleton, A.E., Plummer, M.G. (eds) The World Trade Organization: Legal, Economic and Political Analysis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-22688-5_63
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-22688-5_63
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