History and Foundations of the WTO in Neoliberal Ideals
Emerging from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established during the postwar period, when neoliberalism was gaining traction in economic thought. Its foundation reflects principles like specialization and comparative advantage that advocate for reduced trade barriers and free markets – both key pillars of neoliberalism. The WTO institutionalized these ideals by reducing tariffs and non-tariff barriers, promoting global economic integration, and prioritizing open markets and minimal government intervention. However, critics argue that its policies disproportionately benefit developed nations, exposing structural inequalities in the global trading system. While the WTO embodies neoliberal principles, it faces scrutiny over its commitment to equitable trade.
How the specific conference connected to neoliberalism/their goals
This conference of the WTO was held in the interest of reforming regulations to have fewer rules, fewer tariffs, and less protectionism, all of which were believed to inhibit the flow of commerce. The conference was held in the wake of a period of mass action by the WTO in which they overturned many labor and environmental protections such as clean air laws in the United States or beef hormone laws in Europe to promote freer trade. These efforts by the WTO were the direct result of increasingly widespread neoliberal ideology, in which the protection of capital and its free flow was viewed as more important than the protection of labor, the environment, or truly anything else.
The protestors, for their part, were calling for debt forgiveness. In the neoliberal order, debt was consistently used as an exploitative tactic to force neoliberal policy and austerity measures on Global South countries. To resist this behavior was to resist the acceptance of neoliberalism as the standard in the global economy.
How the opposition to the protestors reflected neoliberalism
Those who supported the WTO often tried to dissuade people from protesting by stressing the importance of trade, again reflecting the neoliberal ideology of the need for free movement of capital superseding all other concerns. For example, Patricia Davis, the Seattle Port commissioner who helped bring the conference to Seattle said she and her colleagues organized for TV segments to be shown throughout the week that showcased people to whom trade was very important in order to increase public support for the WTO.
To others, their neoliberal perspectives manifested against the protestors in other ways. The Seattle Times Reporter Michelle Matassa-Flores reported hearing someone say, “I lost 20k today that I would have made in sales and this is my season for making profit. For the rest of the year I’m just breaking even, I wait for the Christmas sales,” a sentiment that was echoed by numerous other local business owners. Evidently, the culture’s foundation in neoliberalism had led the community to only measure harm when the capital gained or lost was the metric. The losses of rights, equality, and fair labor were irrelevant in comparison to the greater threat of the loss of capital.
Results of protests, how protests led to a change in the WTO
In the end, the WTO was unable to come to an agreement in negotiations. Many attributed this unsuccessful result to the protests emboldening Global South nations to put their foot down and demand policy reform that was more conducive to their success. Smaller countries continuously refused to ratify proposals by the most powerful nations in the negotiations, rejecting the neoliberal hierarchy that had been forced into.