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Local communities, cultural heritage and international economic law




What role do local communities play in the making of international economic law? Does local cultural heritage and values matter in the adjudication of international economic disputes? Where there is a conflict between the objective of global economic liberalization and the pursuit of local cultural policies, should the local give way to the global? Like other branches of international law, international economic law treats each state as one unit and does not typically focus on the different subparts within states. As a result, local communities do not appear in the text of international economic law treaties. Only recently have local communities gradually emerged in the adjudication of international economic disputes. Despite their gradual appearance, they still remain significantly absent or marginalised in mainstream international economic law discourse. This chapter aims to fill this gap in legal literature investigating the impact of economic globalization on local communities and the role that local communities play in international economic law and adjudication. The clash between local cultural values and international economic governance is one example of the tension between international law and state autonomy and of the subsequent local adaptation of, and/or local resistance to, international law standards. It illustrates the challenge of implementing international law at the local level.