Neo-Liberal Globalism and Social Sustainable Globalisation

According to mainstream economic thinking, inspired by the ideas of Smith, Ricardo and others, globalisation of the world economy is profitable. But unlike these classic writers, neoliberal economists pay little attention to the moral and social consequences of economic policies. Despite the fact that present social circumstances differ a great deal from those in the time of Smith and Ricardo they keep maintaining that “an invisible hand” will further social ends. In doing so they ignore growing poverty worldwide and the exclusion of countries from the international legal order and of people from the right to social participation and freedom.This book pays attention to economic aspects of globalisation and also to philosophical, legal, social, cultural, ethical and ecological aspects. Its aim is to contribute to possible solutions for worldwide problems that accompany the globalisation process.

E.C. Nieuwenhuys is lecturer in Legal Theory at the Law Faculty and the Department of Metalegal Studies of Leiden University. She is also a Fellow of the E.M. Meijers Institute for Legal Research. She is a specialist in International Economic Relations, Law and Sustainable Development. Her current research interests are the legal, social and moral aspects of the present globalisation process. Nieuwenhuys is author of several publications on investment laws, on transnational enterprises and human rights, on a Multilateral Investment Agreement and on Corporate Social Responsibility. Some of her most recent publications include: 'Global Development and International Investment Law', in: International Law and Sustainable Development: Principle and Practice (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2004), A Liberal Multilateral Investment System, Transnational Enterprises, Home and Host Countries: Some Observations and Multilateral Regulation of Investment (Kluwer Law, 2001).