(Dis)integration in global resource governance: Extractivism, Human Rights, and Investment Treaties

Abstract

As global material consumption rests on the large-scale production of commodities for food, energy, and raw materials, the governance of natural resources-from national legislation to international trade, investment, and human rights law-has long provided policy arenas for deepening economic integration. Concerns about 'resource nationalism' and critiques of investor-state dispute settlement have raised questions as to whether the world might be entering a phase of economic dis-integration. To problematize linear accounts of (dis)integration, this article explores the legal arrangements that integrate resource-dependent countries into the global economy. It argues that natural resource extraction is facilitated by a legal regime that sustains dis-integration patterns in global resource governance-including relations between state-based and traditional governance systems; between extractive enclaves and national territories; and between different spheres of international regulation. Some of the recent contestation, then, reflects efforts to (re)integrate dis-integrated legal and social realities, by more fully recognizing local systemsof practiceandbeliefandmoreeffectivelyconsideringhumanrights in investment processes.