The present book is the first in the new series of EIUC Studies in Human Rights and Democratisation. The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation in Venice, Italy is the principal European Human Rights and Democratisation Centre supported by almost 40 renowned European universities, the European Union, the Region of Veneto, the City of Venice and other strategic partners. Professors, researchers, teachers and experts from all over Europe and from different scientific disciplines and partner organisations are active in the Centre's programmes and teaching activities. One of the main objectives of the EIUC is to create a fertile environment for research and research cooperation and the transformation of the results of that cooperation into realistic policies. The EIUC studies aim to publish the best scholarly work on Human Rights and Democratisation resulting from that process of academic cooperation in the Venice Centre and its member universities. The series is not limited to lawyers' discourse alone. It encompasses the scientific disciplinary and interdisciplinary dialogue on Human Rights and Democratisation as practiced in research and teaching in the Centre's activities.

The first book reflects in approach and outcome the overall aim of the EIUC series to enrich the academic discourse on Human Rights and Democratisation with innovative contributions which also facilitate the transfer of academic and institutional expertise into the public sphere. By means of a multidisciplinary methodology the authors identify the relevance of human rights for economic globalisation.