Roxanne Houman

The EU’s large consumer market means any regulations it passes has an ability to drive global business practices; companies will opt to adhere to these regulations globally rather than maintain separate standards for different markets. One legal scholar gave a name to this pattern: “the Brussels Effect.” My dissertation investigates the consumer policies and regulations coming out of Brussels that have been oriented towards global economic justice. Who are the individuals pushing for regulations that take into consideration the conditions of production far outside the EU’s borders? My research highlights three sets of actors between 1957 and 2007 who influenced the EU’s trade, aid, and regulatory policies towards global justice: anti-colonial leaders, European consumer-activists, and EU bureaucrats. Their intertwined stories form a foundational chapter in the history of capitalism, decolonization, and development.