Abstract

Recent policies for sustainability transitions in the U.S. and the EU (e.g., Infrastructure Law, EU Green Deal) have signaled aspirations for a more prominent role of the state in coordinating the economy, while still relying primarily on market mechanisms for such coordination. Yet, could the market itself be conceptualized and structured as a political instrumentality for the achievement of social objectives?

An important part of the puzzle of sustainability transitions is the transportation sector, and specifically the transition to Electric Vehicles, or New Energy Vehicles (NEVs). Dr Kampourakis explores the comparative legal constructions of markets for NEVs in China – the current global leader in NEVs – the U.S., and the EU. Drawing from this case study, he first argues that law makes planning possible within markets, as the functional power of market processes can be strategically deployed for the achievement of politically set objectives. Acknowledging the deliberate and artificial character of markets raises the question of what we want markets for, broadening the scope of the political possibilities enclosed in them.

Speaker

Ioannis Kampourakis is an Assistant Professor in Law and Markets at Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Ioannis' research unfolds in the field of transnational economic governance, covering questions of legal theory and political economy, international economic law, transnational private governance, and business and human rights. Drawing from the regulation and governance of Global Value Chains, Ioannis attempts to map and analyze the transformations in the form and function of law in contemporary supply chain capitalism.