<b> From GATT to WTO: a constructivist approach </b> <br> doi:10.5007/2177-7055.2011v32n62p161

Abstract

The article focuses on the interpretation of the changes in GATT since its first days until its transformation in the WTO from the perspective of the International Relations, particularly its constructivist stream. The more traditional approaches, such as the realist and neoliberal, are not enough to explain the changes in international institutions as well as why they are fundamental to the legitimacy and efficiency of organizational structures. In order to make this point, an analysis of GATT/WTO is made, regarding the construction of identities of groups of States and the institution itself. The need to adopt analytical instruments that include the construction of shared meanings and identities shows itself necessary to make possible a better understanding of international relations, since the pre-set interests’ matrices and supposedly rational maximization of power by States preached by realism and neoliberalism cannot explain the deep changes that are at the heart of international institutionalization and legalization.