Buying Social Justice

• Winner of the Certificate of Merit for a Preeminent Contribution to Creative Scholarship, American Society of International Law
• Offers an original analysis of an undervalued area of social policy - achieving social justice through government spending - refuting criticisms that the practice is inefficient and illegal
• Gives an overview of the legal basis for pursuing social policies in procurement, providing a vital reference point for those involved in the development and operation of procurement policy
• Includes analysis of the impact of regional and international economic integration through the EC and WTO, placing the discussion in the context of debates about the effect of globalization on achieving social justice
• Offers a comparative perspective, looking at the policies pursued and results achieved in the US, UK, Northern Ireland and South Africa

Governments spend huge amounts of money buying goods and services from the private sector. How far should their spending power be affected by social policy? Arguments against the practice are often made by economists - on the grounds of inefficiency - and lawyers - on the grounds of free competition and international economic law. Buying Social Justice analyses how governments in developed and developing countries use their contracting power in order to advance social equality and reduce discrimination, and argues that this approach is an entirely legitimate, and efficient means of achieving social justice.

The book looks at the different experiences of a range of countries, including the UK, the USA and South Africa. It also examines the impact of international and regional regulation of the international economy, and questions the extent to which the issue of procurement policy should be regulated at the national, European or international levels. The role of EC and WTO law in mediating the tensions between the economic function of procurement and the social uses of procurement is discussed, and the outcomes of controversies concerning the legitimacy of the integration of social values into procurement are analysed. Buying Social Justice argues that European and international legal regulation of procurement has become an important means of accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative in both the social and economic uses of procurement.

Readership: Academics and policy makers in government procurement and social policy; those interested in the development and effectiveness of anti-discrimination law and equality law and policy, and the impact of global economic regulation on domestic social policy