ABSTRACT
Economics has provided much of the analytical and normative foundations for international economic law. For example, analytically, concepts such as cost-benefit analysis, and normatively, values such as efficiency have tended to dominate the discourse. This dominance has raised concerns, in particular regarding the ability of economics to take account of wider social – non-economic – goals. This chapter argues that a reflexive approach to law facilitates the construction of international economic law that is responsive to social reality. Specifically, the values and interests that are usually categorised as non-economic and, therefore, external to international economic law – such as access to health, education, labour and development – are translated and reconstructed as integral to international economic law. After a brief account of reflexive law theory, the chapter explores the internal dynamics by which social values and interests could be translated into international economic law and the implications for ‘justice’.
