Re-thinking the North American Regionalism Project and the Environment: What NAFTA 2.0 missed...once again

• In Event: New theoretical and empirical directions in North American regionalism

Abstract

With the renegotiation of NAFTA, the North American project gained relevance once again. However, this paper contends that the North American project did not change much of its original version: it still relies on trade and worse, it left important issues aside once again. The new NAFTA included elements already thought of at other more contemporary agreements, such as e-commerce and the inclusion of new communication technologies. However, it abided to a closed regionalist approach to trade (with harsh national content and origin rules) and did not include "new generation" free-trade agreements' innovations, such as the inclusion of environment, labor, social participation, or democracy. This paper focuses on the diminished role of environment in the new North American project.

Author

• Marcela López-Vallejo Olvera, Universidad de Guadalajara