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Legitimacy Chains: Legitimation of Compliance with International Courts Across Social Fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Joseph A. Conti
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Abstract

Political and legal globalization brings into question how to best conceptualize legitimacy and authority in the context of a plurality of potential audiences with distinct standards for evaluating legitimacy. This article proposes legitimacy chains, or the articulation of justifications linked through competitive processes of social evaluation across distinct social fields, as a concept for theorizing supranational authority. The concept is developed through an analysis of World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes over zeroing, a method for calculating import dumping. The article focuses on how the legitimacy work of various interlocutors enabled compliance despite contested legal validity claims, ultimately enhancing the authority of the WTO as final arbiter of legitimate trade practices.

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Law & Society Review , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 154 - 188
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© 2016 Law and Society Association.

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Footnotes

I am grateful for the editorial assistance provided by Sheigla Averill and the constructive commentary provided by the editors and reviewers at Law & Society Review, Matt Canfield, Christopher May, Sungjoon Cho, Howie Erlanger, Sida Liu, Greg Shaffer, Erik Wright, and Moira O'Neil.

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