Expert Knowledge in Global Trade

This book explores tensions in global trade by examining the role of experts in generating, disseminating and legitimating knowledge about the possibilities of trade to work for global development. Understanding who is able to claim expertise, how they are able to influence outcomes and what constitutes legitimate knowledge within trade negotiations are critical issues to be addressed if growing global inequalities between rich and poor are to be tackled. However, there are no comprehensive, scholarly accounts of these dynamics and the role of experts in global trade remains largely unexplored. To this end, contributors assess authoritative claims on knowledge. They also consider structural features that uphold trade experts’ monopoly over knowledge, such as expert language and legal and economic expertise, and explore the tensions between organic intellectuals and actors who work to uphold the status quo, exacerbate asymmetries, and reinforce the dominant narrative of the global trade regime.

The book addresses the following key overarching research questions:

• Who is considered to be a trade expert and how does one become a knowledge producer in global trade?
• How do experts acquire, disseminate and legitimate knowledge?
• What agendas are advanced by expert knowledge?
• How does the discourse generated within trade expertise serve to close off alternative institutional pathways and modes of thinking?

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of IPE, Trade Politics, International Relations and International Organizations

Erin Norma Hannah is Associate Professor at King's University College at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Silke Trommer is University Lecturer in Global Sustainable Development and World Politics at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

James Scott is Lecturer in International Politics in the Department of Political Economy at King's College London, UK.