ABSTRACT
This chapter purports to make some remarks on a highly debated issue among public international law scholars: that is, the relevance of the fundamental principles and rights concerning labor in the context of the globalization 1 of the economy. I chose to approach the subject matter in the light of the practice of certain international organizations that appear competent ratione materiae – the International Labor Organization (ILO) – or whose aims and statutory objectives can eventually interfere with the enjoyment of human rights in the social fi eld – the World Trade Organization (WTO). 2 While the practices of the ILO appear to be
1 The term “globalization” is usually understood as a complex economic phenomenon, in which it is possible to distinguish different components such as the increase in international commercial exchange, the application in the production sectors of information and computer technology, the intensifi cation of international competition, the increase in number and strength of transnational business groupings and worldwide strategies, the planet-wide fi nancing dominated by the necessity to maximise the yield of invested capital, and the phenomenon of volatility of the markets connected to them. See ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS (W. Benedek, K. De Feyter & F. Marrella eds, Cambridge University Press, 2007). For an ILO approach, see GLOBALIZING SOCIAL RIGHTS: THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION AND BEYOND ( S. Kott, J. Droux eds, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). See also Workers Rights in a Globalizing World: the Role of Labour Provisions in Free Trade Agreements, ILO Conference, May 8, 2014, Toronto (Canada).
