Review of James Harrison, 'The Human Rights Impact of the World Trade Organization': Hart Publishing (2007). 276 pp (ISBN 978-1-84113-693-6).

Abstract

In a world that has adopted trade as the driving force for economic, social and cultural development, the impact of international trade on societies has enormous consequences for human development. Arguably, the question how trade affects the promotion and protection of human rights is one of the decisive questions of the 21st century. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of the most influential international trade organizations. Beyond its positive impact on the growth of the international economy, what has been surprisingly absent from the WTO docket are human rights issues. The WTO offers few norms in its instruments for human rights protection. Harrison's study of human rights under the WTO system is a great contribution to both global economic development and human rights protection. In his book, Harrison primarily explores the impact of the WTO trade rules on current human rights issues under its system. He believes an explicit human rights approach to trade is an important methodology for promoting and protecting human rights.