From codes of conduct to international framework agreements: contractualising the protection of human rights

Abstract

This article analyses international framework agreements (IFAs) in the light of Polanyi’s account of interventions to embed markets and thus regulate them. This special type of voluntary market regulatory arrangement that is shaped by multinational companies and international trade unions and constructed through the activities of the state is envisaged as a possible tool to embed liberalism even though several challenges must be taken into consideration.