This year’s annual Justitia Amplificata conference was held at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften on 10-11 July, 2014. The conference theme was »Global Economic Justice,« with special focus on bringing theoretical inquiry to bear on pressing practical questions. To this end, an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars from law, philosophy, and the social sciences gathered to discuss institutional challenges in global trade, finance, and labor.

The organizers of the conference: Jiewuh Song, Beth Kahn und Jahel Queralt Lange

Throughout, participants examined and challenged legal and economic orthodoxy, such as the view that international trade consists of voluntary activity among consenting parties (Mathias Risse, Harvard), the assumption that sovereign debt contracts are rigidly binding (Gabriel Wollner, London), the developed country – developing country dichotomy (Miriam Ronzoni, Manchester), or the normative significance of states’ consent to international trade law (Jiewuh Song, Frankfurt am Mein). The discussion was informed by empirical investigation of normatively relevant phenomena, such as the impact of global monetary policy on economic inequality and democratic accountability (Peter Dietsch, Montreal). A number of presentations advanced institutional proposals, for example on institutionalizing workers’ rights (Catherine Lu, Montreal) and economic liberties and property rights (Bas van der Vossen, Greensboro) as human rights, and on assigning responsibility for institutional corruption (Seumas Miller, Australia/Netherlands) and socioeconomic rights protection (Elizabeth Kahn, Frankfurt am Main). Participants also contributed valuable insights from policy experiences, for instance with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Principles on Responsible Sovereign Lending and Borrowing (Robert Howse, New York) or efforts to evaluate pharmaceutical companies by their global health impact (Nicole Hassoun, Binghamton).

The conference was co-organized by Forschungskolleg fellows Elizabeth Kahn, Jahel Queralt-Lange, and Jiewuh Song. It was hosted by the Centre for Advanced Studies »Justitia Amplificata« of the Goethe University Frankfurt.