People

Dr Jessica Lawrence

Senior Lecturer
Essex Law School
Dr Jessica Lawrence

Profile

Biography

Jessica Lawrence is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex School of Law. Dr Lawrence’s research focuses on issues relating to international economic integration, including at the WTO, in regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements, and within the EU internal market. She has a particular interest in the interaction between economic and non-economic public policy goals, and in the ways in which trade and investment agreements take into account their impacts on human rights, labour, sustainable development, environmental protection, and gender. Her work often takes a critical perspective, applying tools drawn from constructivist international relations theory, post-Foucauldian governmentality studies, and other strands of post-positivist thought to examine the impact of discourses and framing devices on politics and law. Prior to joining the University of Essex, Dr Lawrence was Associate Professor at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. She holds a PhD in Transnational Legal Studies from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and a JD in Law from the University of Georgia in the United States. In addition to her academic work, Dr Lawrence has held various positions at NGOs, think tanks, and universities in the US, EU, India, New Zealand, and Costa Rica, and continues to provide research and training for governmental and non-governmental organizations on issues related to trade and investment agreements and their impact on social policy goals.

Qualifications

  • PhD VU University Amsterdam, (2015)

  • JD Law University of Georgia, (2007)

  • BA International Studies American University, (2003)

  • BA Environmental Policy American University, (2003)

Research and professional activities

Research interests

Public International Trade Law

Key words: wto
Open to supervise

Governmentality

Key words: Foucault
Open to supervise

International Investment Law

Key words: iia
Open to supervise

EU Internal Market Law

Key words: EU
Open to supervise

Critical Theory

Key words: Foucault
Open to supervise

International Economic Law

Key words: wto
Open to supervise

Business and Human Rights

Key words: UN Guiding Principles
Open to supervise

Trade and Environment

Key words: trade
Open to supervise

Investment and Environment

Key words: international investment agreements
Open to supervise

Investment and Human Rights

Key words: international investment law
Open to supervise

Trade and Human Rights

Key words: international economic law
Open to supervise

Critical Approaches to International Law

Key words: New Approaches to International Law
Open to supervise

EU Trade and Investment Policy

Key words: EU
Open to supervise

Publications

Journal articles (7)

Lawrence, J., Ankersmit, L. and Davies, G., Diverging EU and WTO Perspectives on Extraterritorial Process Regulation. Minnesota Journal of International Law Online. 21, 14-14

Lawrence, JC., (2019). Constitutional Pluralism's Unspoken Normative Core. Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies. 21, 24-40

LAWRENCE, JC., (2013). Contesting constitutionalism: Constitutional discourse at the WTO. Global Constitutionalism. 2 (1), 63-90

Lawrence, J. and Ankersmit, L., (2012). The Future of Environmental Labeling: US-Tuna II and the Scope of the TBT. Legal Issues of Economic Integration. 39 (1), 127-147

Lawrence, J., (2011). Complementary and Alternative Medicine Under the GATS. Manchester Journal of International Economic Law. 4, 110-110

Heller, KJ. and Lawrence, JC., (2007). The Limits of Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute, the First Ecocentric Environmental War Crime. Georgetown International Environmental Law Review (GIELR). 20

Lawrence, J., (2006). Chicken Little Revisited: NAFTA Regulatory Expropriations After Methanex. Georgia Law Review. 40, 261-261

Books (4)

Lawrence, J., Cebulak, P., Bartl, M., Tjon Soei Len, LKL., Dukes, R., Arcuri, A., Pavone, T., Mayoral, J., Brook, O., Davies, G., Domurath, I., Leone, C., Mendes, J., Eckes, C., Kjaer, PF., Micklitz, H-W. and Rodin, S., (2022). The Politics of European Legal Research: Behind the Method. Edward Elgar. 978 1 80220 118 5

(2022). Preface. Edward Elgar Publishing. 9781802201185

Lawrence, JC., (2018). Governmentality in EU External Trade and Environment Policy Between Rights and Market. Routledge. 1138094722. 9781138094727

Lawrence, J., (2012). Human Rights. Peace Operations Training Institute

Book chapters (18)

Lawrence, J. and Flynn, T., (2023). The Material Constitution of International Investment Law. In: The Cambridge Handbook on the Material Constitution. Editors: Goldoni, M. and Wilkinson, MA., . Cambridge University Press. 335- 350. 9781009023764

Lawrence, J., (2022). Governmentality as Reflexive Method: Excavating the Politics of Legal Research. In: The Politics of European Legal Research: Behind the Method. Editors: Lawrence, J. and Bartl, M., . Edward Elgar. 978 1 80220 118 5

Lawrence, J., Bartl, M. and Cebulak, P., (2022). Introduction: The Politics of Method. In: The Politics of European Legal Research: Behind the Method. Editors: Lawrence, J. and Bartl, M., . Edward Elgar. 978 1 80220 118 5

Lawrence, J., Cebulak, P. and Bartl, M., (2022). Conclusion: The Politics of Method Revisited. In: The Politics of European Legal Research: Behind the Method. Editors: Lawrence, J. and Bartl, M., . Edward Elgar. 978 1 80220 118 5

Bartl, M., Cebulak, P. and C. Lawrence, J., (2022). Introduction to The Politics of European Legal Research. In: The Politics of European Legal Research. Edward Elgar Publishing. 1- 13. 9781802201185

Lawrence, J., (2022). We Have Never Been 'Multilateral': Consensus Discourse in International Trade Law. In: The Crisis of Mulilateral Legal Order: Causes, Dynamics and Consequences. Editors: Gruszczynski, L., Menkes, M., Farah, P. and Bilkova, V., . Routledge. 228- 246. 9781003312857

Lawrence, J., (2021). Governmentality Approaches. In: The Routledge Handbook of Critical European Studies. Editors: Bigo, D., Diez, T., Fanoulis, E., Rosamond, B. and Stivachtis, Y., . Routledge. 60- 71. 1138589918. 9781138589919

Lawrence, J., (2020). The EU in the Mirror of NPE: Normative Power Europe in the EU’s New Generation Trade and Investment Agreements. In: World Trade and Local Public Interest Trade Liberalization and National Regulatory Sovereignty. Editors: Nagy, CI., . Springer. 33- 50. 3030419193. 9783030419196

Hoekstra, J., Lawrence, J., O'Connor, N. and Vaccari, E., (2020). The Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Regulation of the Economy: A Discussion. In: Covid-19, Law and Human Rights : Essex Dialogues. A Project of the School of Law and Human Rights Centre. Editors: Ferstman, C. and Fagan, A., . University of Essex. 103- 105. 978-1-5272-6632-2

Lawrence, J., (2020). Covid-19, Export Restrictions, and the WTO: Magnifying Global Divisions in a Time of Crisis. In: Covid-19, Law and Human Rights : Essex Dialogues. A Project of the School of Law and Human Rights Centre. Editors: Ferstman, C. and Fagan, A., . University of Essex. 107- 115. 978-1-5272-6632-2

Lawrence, JC., (2019). Academic travel and exclusion in the backstage of transnational legal practice. In: Backstage Practices of Transnational Law. Editors: Boer, LJM. and Stolk, S., . Routledge. 9780367086572

Gruszczynski, L. and Lawrence, J., (2019). Trump, International Trade and Populism. In: Netherlands Yearbook of International Law. Editors: Nijman, JE. and Werner, WG., . T.M.C. Asser Press. 19- 44. 9789462653306

(2019). Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2018. T.M.C. Asser Press. 9789462653306

Lawrence, J., (2018). Of Politics and Pluralism: Governmentality and the EU Legal Order. In: Research Handbook on Legal Pluralism and EU Law. Editors: Davies, G. and Avbelj, M., . Edward Elgar. 1786433087. 9781786433084

Lawrence, JC., (2017). Managing the Environment: Neoliberal Governmentality in the Anthropocene. In: Sustainability and Peaceful Coexistence for the Anthropocene. Editors: Heikkurinen, P., . Routledge. 1138634271. 9781138634275

Lawrence, JC., (2014). The EU in Crisis: Crisis Discourse as a Technique of Government. In: Netherlands Yearbook of International Law. T.M.C. Asser Press. 187- 202. 9789462650107

Lawrence, J., (2014). The structural logic of expert participation in WTO decision-making processes. In: The Role of ‘Experts' in International and European Decision-Making Processes. Cambridge University Press. 173- 193

Lawrence, J. and Bodansky, D., (2009). Trade and Environment. In: The Oxford Handbook of International Trade Law. Editors: Bethlehem, D., McRae, D., Neufeld, R. and Van Damme, I., . Oxford University Press, USA. 0199231923. 9780199231928

Reports and Papers (1)

Lawrence, J., Van Ho, T. and Yilmaz Vastardis, A., (2020). EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment: A Scoping Study

Other (1)

Amaya-Castro, J. and Lawrence, JC., (2016).Refugees,Oxford University Press (OUP)

Grants and funding

2020

Scoping study regarding the CAI and potential risks for European interests

Heinrich-B�ll-Stiftung e.V. (Heinrich B�ll Foundation)

Contact

j.lawrence@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 873963

Location:

4SB.6.11, Colchester Campus