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Asha Herten-Crabb has published a new paper in Review of International Political Economy: ‘Don’t come with your lessons in morality’: ontological imperialism and the MERCOSUR-EU intellectual property negotiations. The article examines how international trade governance reproduces global inequality beyond tariffs and market access. It introduces the concept of ontological imperialism to show how trade rules embed specific assumptions about property and development that privilege Western legal-economic logics. Using 62 interviews and analysis of EU–MERCOSUR negotiations on intellectual property, the study demonstrates that even when Southern states resist particular provisions, the negotiation framework limits alternative policy pathways. Trade agreements therefore stabilise hierarchy not only materially but also by governing categories that define legitimate policy choices. The paper contributes to debates on imperialism in IPE, trade law, and decolonial theory.

Read the article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2026.2618083