Call for papers - The Future of the World Trade Organization

The collapse of Doha Round negotiations over the issue of agricultural subsidies, along with the forthcoming expiry of the US president's 'fast track' negotiation authority, raise a number of questions about the future of the WTO and multilateral trade agreements more generally. For example:

• What are the implications of the present impasse for multilateral trade arrangements?
• What impact will rising trading powers have on the international trading order?
• What will be the relationship between the WTO and civil society organisations?
• Will the scope of issues dealt with by WTO agreements continue to expand?
• What role should the WTO play in promoting development?
• How effectively are the WTO's rules operating and how could they be improved?
• In what way might the WTO be reformed?

An interdisciplinary forum to discuss these and related questions is being organised by postgraduate students from a number of universities and will be held in Melbourne on 1-2 March 2007.

We invite academics, postgraduate students, and representatives from non-governmental organizations and the public sector to participate in this forum by presenting a paper and/or being part of a panel discussion.

Please indicate your interest in being on a panel or making a 20 minute presentation by sending your name, affiliation, contact details and a 300-word abstract (for a presentation) to politics-wto@unimelb.edu.au by 15 December 2006.

This event is supported by:

Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne
School of Graduate Studies, University of Melbourne
School of Political Science, Criminology & Sociology, University of Melbourne