Trading Rights? Analyzing the Role of a Rights Discourse in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in Colombia

Trade is much more than the exchange of goods and services (Feinberg, 2003, “The Political Economy of United States’ Free Trade Arrangements”, The World Economy, vol.26, no.7, pp. 1019-1040). Historically, trade has been linked to the dissemination of ideas and political systems. Many credit growing trade for greater global peace. Most recently, the promotion and signing of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) among countries with the purpose of establishing preferential conditions for accessing each other’s markets has put on the table the need to better understand how economic and other (political and social) interests become intertwined in the promotion of trade between countries.