Dr. Siobhan Airey | University College Dublin (original) (raw)
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Papers by Dr. Siobhan Airey
Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law, 2019
This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of ... more This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of consent in international law, with two purposes in mind. First, I aimed to demonstrate that an international feminist legal analytic has much greater conceptual and political relevance to the pursuit of justice in an international legal context than is implied by its popular association with the advancement and mainstreaming of a liberal feminist agenda through law; gender equality does not need to be its starting point. Secondly, I wished to illustrate how feminist legal method(s) can be central to a critical engagement with foundational aspects of international law such as the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), and to areas of international law such as trade law, not ordinarily subject to feminist legal critique. To show this, I brought feminist legal thought on the concept of consent in rape and sexual assault, to bear on the concept of consent in international law as outlined in the VCLT. The concept of consent is foundational to both the nature and functioning of international law, and is especially so in the contentious area of contemporary international treaty-making on trade liberalisation. Using the European Union’s negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (trade agreements) with African regional economic communities as an example, I demonstrated how a ‘sexing’ methodology reveals how contemporary international treaty-making on trade liberalisation continues to rely on coercive practices invisible to international law.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
The focus of this submission is on the use of Blended Finance (BF) as a relatively recent, yet ke... more The focus of this submission is on the use of Blended Finance (BF) as a relatively recent, yet key instrument and modality of financing for international development. We recommend that BF receive dedicated attention in future work of the Special Rapporteur (SR) focusing on financing for development, as it is a mode of development finance whose distinct features and role within international development policy, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) clearly classify it as an instrument of international policy designed to facilitate the full realisation of the Right to Development (RTD).
International Organizations Law Review, 2015
This article addresses the specific norm-generation function of indicators in a human rights cont... more This article addresses the specific norm-generation function of indicators in a human rights context, focusing on ways that indicators foreground and legitimize as ‘truth’ particular worldviews or values. It describes the stakes of this process through elaborating on the concept of ‘indicatorization’, focusing on one moment in which the relationship between human rights and development was defined through indicators: the indicatorization of the Right to Development by a un High Level Task Force in 2010. In this initiative, different perspectives on human rights, equality, participation and development from within the un and the World Bank were brought together. This resulted in a subtle but significant re-articulation of ideas contained in the 1986 un Declaration on the Right to Development. The article argues that how indicatorization happens, matters, and has important implications for the potential role of human rights discourse within international economic relations.
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2014
Law plays a complex political role in global governance, being a key framework through which idea... more Law plays a complex political role in global governance, being a key framework through which ideas, institutions and interests engage, are captured and legitimized. Critical strands in legal scholarship have 'problematized' the supposed neutrality of international law and the narrowness of the 'universal' values underpinning it, highlighting its contingent nature and the changing relationship between these three elements over time. Consideration of the legal dimension of the European Union's (EU) role in global governance, as an international actor mandated to act according to identified values, with law identified as both a means and an end in this endeavour, offers a unique opportunity to explore the legal dimension to the EU's approach and reflect on the key role that law plays within this. The central question of this book-how, and to what extent can the EU shape the legal structures and substance of global governance in line with its rule of law based mission statement?-is insightfully addressed by legal scholars in contributions organized under six sections on the areas of global governance, security, trade, the environment, international finance and some social issues (migration and labour rights). In the book's concluding chapter, the editors propose that the EU's 'governance mode of foreign policy' (a conceptual insight proposed by De Búrca in her chapter of that title, which describes the EU's tendency to act collectively and establish and institutionalize stable external governance systems on a wide range of issue areas) is 'vindicated'. This conclusion perhaps overlooks the implications of reflections raised by some contributors such as De Búrca, Wu and Durán on aspects of the EU's interpretation and progression of the principles and objectives of its mission statement contained in Articles 3(5) and 21 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). They highlight a perceived dissonance between, for example, values such as 'equality' and 'solidarity' and the EU's approach to partnership, multilateralism and the development of developing countries, and the EU's efforts to promote its own rules and interests within certain sectors. More critical exploration of these tensions would prompt further consideration of the particular approach of the EU to its norm laden, law-focused mandate; how this shapes, facilitates or masks the exertion of influence and power within global governance arenas; and the significance and role of law to the resulting policy outcomes. This comprehensive work makes an important and timely contribution to a growing field of research. Both international relations and legal scholars will find this book very useful due to the breadth of the subject material considered and the accessible way in which this has been presented and woven together. Its structure makes it amenable to use both as a reference and as a teaching resource.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
Taxation is a unique and valuable method to create a significant and sustainable source of domest... more Taxation is a unique and valuable method to create a significant and sustainable source of domestic and international public finance for the public goods essential to the realisation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, current proposals for reform of the international tax regime to address tax avoidance by high-profit multinational corporations (MNCs) are deeply flawed. This contribution explores the potential of Goal 17 of the SDGs to mandate and articulate a progressive international tax reform agenda based on two pillars. The first makes recognition of the real harms done by massive tax evasion by MNCs central to any reform agenda, and proposes that taxation be reconceptualised as an institution representing a public compact between a government, its people and MNCs in a public-oriented state. The second pillar proposes the concept of Global Wealth Chains (GWCs) as the basis for exploring a more effective, transnational tax governance regime. In the following paragraphs I highlight the estimated funding gap to meet the SDGs, and describe the size and harmful effects of the ‘tax gap’ from tax evasion and avoidance, in particular for poorer countries. I then show how the flagship international tax reform agenda led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 - the Base-Erosion and Profit-Shifting (BEPS) project - is based on a flawed understanding of the governance of MNCs’ profit-generation activities. I conclude with a proposal for the need to think systematically, historically and strategically about international tax governance, in order to articulate and promote an equitable and effective international tax reform agenda.
This article proposes that the characterisation of the relationship between international trade l... more This article proposes that the characterisation of the relationship between international trade law and international human rights law as one of tension or incoherence limits the conceptualisation of justice permissible within international trade law, locates international human rights law as trade law’s ‘other’ and masks a deeper problematique within both bodies of international law. Drawing from Derrida’s concept of ‘justice a venir’ to recognise the inherent ‘promise of justice’ quality of law, and from post-colonial and critical philosophical analyses of international law to identify some foundational conceptual and normative biases inherent to both bodies of law, this article proposes that greater attention to the tensions within international trade law may lead to an enhanced recognition and re-envisioning of the justice potential of international trade law.
Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law:Susan Harris Rimmer & Kate Ogg (eds),, 2019
This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of ... more This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of consent in international law, with two purposes in mind. First, I aimed to demonstrate that an international feminist legal analytic has much greater conceptual and political relevance to the pursuit of justice in an international legal context than is implied by its popular association with the advancement and mainstreaming of a liberal feminist agenda through law; gender equality does not need to be its starting point. Secondly, I wished to illustrate how feminist legal method(s) can be central to a critical engagement with foundational aspects of international law such as the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), and to areas of international law such as trade law, not ordinarily subject to feminist legal critique. To show this, I brought feminist legal thought on the concept of consent in rape and sexual assault, to bear on the concept of consent in international law ...
Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law, 2019
This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of ... more This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of consent in international law, with two purposes in mind. First, I aimed to demonstrate that an international feminist legal analytic has much greater conceptual and political relevance to the pursuit of justice in an international legal context than is implied by its popular association with the advancement and mainstreaming of a liberal feminist agenda through law; gender equality does not need to be its starting point. Secondly, I wished to illustrate how feminist legal method(s) can be central to a critical engagement with foundational aspects of international law such as the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), and to areas of international law such as trade law, not ordinarily subject to feminist legal critique. To show this, I brought feminist legal thought on the concept of consent in rape and sexual assault, to bear on the concept of consent in international law as outlined in the VCLT. The concept of consent is foundational to both the nature and functioning of international law, and is especially so in the contentious area of contemporary international treaty-making on trade liberalisation. Using the European Union’s negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (trade agreements) with African regional economic communities as an example, I demonstrated how a ‘sexing’ methodology reveals how contemporary international treaty-making on trade liberalisation continues to rely on coercive practices invisible to international law.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
The focus of this submission is on the use of Blended Finance (BF) as a relatively recent, yet ke... more The focus of this submission is on the use of Blended Finance (BF) as a relatively recent, yet key instrument and modality of financing for international development. We recommend that BF receive dedicated attention in future work of the Special Rapporteur (SR) focusing on financing for development, as it is a mode of development finance whose distinct features and role within international development policy, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) clearly classify it as an instrument of international policy designed to facilitate the full realisation of the Right to Development (RTD).
International Organizations Law Review, 2015
This article addresses the specific norm-generation function of indicators in a human rights cont... more This article addresses the specific norm-generation function of indicators in a human rights context, focusing on ways that indicators foreground and legitimize as ‘truth’ particular worldviews or values. It describes the stakes of this process through elaborating on the concept of ‘indicatorization’, focusing on one moment in which the relationship between human rights and development was defined through indicators: the indicatorization of the Right to Development by a un High Level Task Force in 2010. In this initiative, different perspectives on human rights, equality, participation and development from within the un and the World Bank were brought together. This resulted in a subtle but significant re-articulation of ideas contained in the 1986 un Declaration on the Right to Development. The article argues that how indicatorization happens, matters, and has important implications for the potential role of human rights discourse within international economic relations.
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2014
Law plays a complex political role in global governance, being a key framework through which idea... more Law plays a complex political role in global governance, being a key framework through which ideas, institutions and interests engage, are captured and legitimized. Critical strands in legal scholarship have 'problematized' the supposed neutrality of international law and the narrowness of the 'universal' values underpinning it, highlighting its contingent nature and the changing relationship between these three elements over time. Consideration of the legal dimension of the European Union's (EU) role in global governance, as an international actor mandated to act according to identified values, with law identified as both a means and an end in this endeavour, offers a unique opportunity to explore the legal dimension to the EU's approach and reflect on the key role that law plays within this. The central question of this book-how, and to what extent can the EU shape the legal structures and substance of global governance in line with its rule of law based mission statement?-is insightfully addressed by legal scholars in contributions organized under six sections on the areas of global governance, security, trade, the environment, international finance and some social issues (migration and labour rights). In the book's concluding chapter, the editors propose that the EU's 'governance mode of foreign policy' (a conceptual insight proposed by De Búrca in her chapter of that title, which describes the EU's tendency to act collectively and establish and institutionalize stable external governance systems on a wide range of issue areas) is 'vindicated'. This conclusion perhaps overlooks the implications of reflections raised by some contributors such as De Búrca, Wu and Durán on aspects of the EU's interpretation and progression of the principles and objectives of its mission statement contained in Articles 3(5) and 21 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). They highlight a perceived dissonance between, for example, values such as 'equality' and 'solidarity' and the EU's approach to partnership, multilateralism and the development of developing countries, and the EU's efforts to promote its own rules and interests within certain sectors. More critical exploration of these tensions would prompt further consideration of the particular approach of the EU to its norm laden, law-focused mandate; how this shapes, facilitates or masks the exertion of influence and power within global governance arenas; and the significance and role of law to the resulting policy outcomes. This comprehensive work makes an important and timely contribution to a growing field of research. Both international relations and legal scholars will find this book very useful due to the breadth of the subject material considered and the accessible way in which this has been presented and woven together. Its structure makes it amenable to use both as a reference and as a teaching resource.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
Taxation is a unique and valuable method to create a significant and sustainable source of domest... more Taxation is a unique and valuable method to create a significant and sustainable source of domestic and international public finance for the public goods essential to the realisation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, current proposals for reform of the international tax regime to address tax avoidance by high-profit multinational corporations (MNCs) are deeply flawed. This contribution explores the potential of Goal 17 of the SDGs to mandate and articulate a progressive international tax reform agenda based on two pillars. The first makes recognition of the real harms done by massive tax evasion by MNCs central to any reform agenda, and proposes that taxation be reconceptualised as an institution representing a public compact between a government, its people and MNCs in a public-oriented state. The second pillar proposes the concept of Global Wealth Chains (GWCs) as the basis for exploring a more effective, transnational tax governance regime. In the following paragraphs I highlight the estimated funding gap to meet the SDGs, and describe the size and harmful effects of the ‘tax gap’ from tax evasion and avoidance, in particular for poorer countries. I then show how the flagship international tax reform agenda led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 - the Base-Erosion and Profit-Shifting (BEPS) project - is based on a flawed understanding of the governance of MNCs’ profit-generation activities. I conclude with a proposal for the need to think systematically, historically and strategically about international tax governance, in order to articulate and promote an equitable and effective international tax reform agenda.
This article proposes that the characterisation of the relationship between international trade l... more This article proposes that the characterisation of the relationship between international trade law and international human rights law as one of tension or incoherence limits the conceptualisation of justice permissible within international trade law, locates international human rights law as trade law’s ‘other’ and masks a deeper problematique within both bodies of international law. Drawing from Derrida’s concept of ‘justice a venir’ to recognise the inherent ‘promise of justice’ quality of law, and from post-colonial and critical philosophical analyses of international law to identify some foundational conceptual and normative biases inherent to both bodies of law, this article proposes that greater attention to the tensions within international trade law may lead to an enhanced recognition and re-envisioning of the justice potential of international trade law.
Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law:Susan Harris Rimmer & Kate Ogg (eds),, 2019
This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of ... more This chapter applied an innovative feminist legal method called ‘sexing’ to the legal concept of consent in international law, with two purposes in mind. First, I aimed to demonstrate that an international feminist legal analytic has much greater conceptual and political relevance to the pursuit of justice in an international legal context than is implied by its popular association with the advancement and mainstreaming of a liberal feminist agenda through law; gender equality does not need to be its starting point. Secondly, I wished to illustrate how feminist legal method(s) can be central to a critical engagement with foundational aspects of international law such as the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), and to areas of international law such as trade law, not ordinarily subject to feminist legal critique. To show this, I brought feminist legal thought on the concept of consent in rape and sexual assault, to bear on the concept of consent in international law ...