Bilateral investment treaties constitute an important instrument to facilitate global investment. Recent discussions in political theory have highlighted several normative concerns raised by bilateral investment treaties. One worry is that investment treaties undermine national self-determination as they grant investors far-reaching protections that can be legally enforced. Another worry is that the benefits and burdens entailed in bilateral investment treaties are distributed unfairly in a way that benefits investors at the expense of states and disadvantaged groups within states. Instead of critiquing bilateral investment treaties from a perspective of global (distributive) justice, in this article I develop a class-based critique. This involves a twofold departure. First, the article shifts the focus from distributions to the power relations that are built into the global capitalist economy and that come into sharp relief in the practice of global investment. Second, rather than focusing on the relation between states and investors, I claim that in a class-based critique the relation between workers and investors should take centre stage. I argue that bilateral investment treaties are effectively an instrument of class domination, insofar as they reproduce and increase the power of transnational corporations while at the same time decreasing the power of workers.

中文翻译：

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投资者与工人：对国际投资条约的基于阶级的批评

双边投资条约是促进全球投资的重要工具。最近的政治理论讨论强调了双边投资条约引起的几个规范性问题。一种担忧是，投资条约会损害国家自决权，因为它们给予投资者可以合法执行的深远保护。另一个担忧是，双边投资条约带来的利益和负担的分配不公平，投资者受益，而国家和国家内的弱势群体却受到损害。在本文中，我没有从全球（分配）正义的角度批评双边投资条约，而是提出了基于阶级的批评。这涉及到双重背离。第一的，文章将焦点从分配转向了全球资本主义经济中固有的、在全球投资实践中突显出来的权力关系。其次，我认为，在基于阶级的批判中，工人和投资者之间的关系应该占据中心位置，而不是关注国家和投资者之间的关系。我认为，双边投资条约实际上是阶级统治的工具，因为它们复制并增强了跨国公司的权力，同时削弱了工人的权力。我认为，在基于阶级的批评中，工人和投资者之间的关系应该占据中心位置。我认为，双边投资条约实际上是阶级统治的工具，因为它们复制并增强了跨国公司的权力，同时削弱了工人的权力。我认为，在基于阶级的批评中，工人和投资者之间的关系应该占据中心位置。我认为，双边投资条约实际上是阶级统治的工具，因为它们复制并增强了跨国公司的权力，同时削弱了工人的权力。