The Dream of Formality: Racialization Otherwise and International Economic Law

Donatella Alessandrini, Johanna Del Pilar Cortes-Nieto, Luis Eslava, Anil Yilmaz Vastardis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article explores the central role of formalization in the history and functioning of international economic law. International economic law, in constituting and managing a 'modern' world economy, has relied on what we call 'the dream of formality'. This dream gives a sense of internal coherence and future totality to international economic law. It enables international economic law to claim awareness and progressive inclusion of socio-economic and legal relations outside the 'formal' modern economy while enabling a regime of differentiation of the so-called 'surplus' - often racialized - population. In a world where 'informality' is the norm and 'formality' is the exception, formalization's colonial origins have evolved into a fully-fledged regime of social management and value extraction. This regime has embedded itself in international labour law and human rights, as well as in areas of international economic law such as Aid for Trade and Global Value Chains. Building on contemporary debates on racial and post-colonial capitalism, we focus on Colombia's informal economy to illustrate the elusiveness of the dream of formality, and how current exercises of othering underpin today's practices of 'racialization otherwise'. Our question, then, is: what would international economic law look like if it did not follow the dream of formality but instead embraced the challenge of sustaining life?.

Translated title of the contributionEl sueño de la formalidad: otra racialización y el derecho económico internacional
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)207-223
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of International Economic Law
Volume25
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2022

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Law

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