Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 2002
Abstract
The seemingly inexorable march toward a more unified political and economic world order poses strategic and leadership challenges to States, international organizations, and local activists unimaginable a generation ago. Supporters of this process argue that easing international economic regulatory restrictions, creating a more predictable legal order, and liberalizing investment standards will benefit the global economy by rendering financial transactions more efficient, thereby increasing trade and investment opportunities. Globalization poses important conceptual challenges to international law and international trade scholars committed to defending local interests and historically marginalized people against the perceived adverse effects of accelerated global economic expansion. Critics argue that this expansion has weakened local communities giving primacy to the demands of foreign investor capital over the economic and political viability of local interests and institutions. This Article proposes a paradigm shift away from the traditional rights-based, Pan-Africanist trajectory of black internationalism and instead embraces an economically grounded black empowerment strategy that is responsive first and foremost to the unique economic imperatives of the emerging world economy.
Recommended Citation
Jeffery M. Brown, Black Internationalism: Embracing an Economic Paradigm, 23 Mich. J. Int'l L. 807 (2002)