9. Competing Norms and Norm Change: Intellectual Property Rights and Public Health in the World Trade Organization

The chapter develops the argument that change in the primary institution of trade comes about through political bargaining by reference to the WTO’s intellectual property rights agreement (TRIPS) and interpretations regarding public health in developing countries. The argument of the chapter is threefold: First, trade is shaped by a complex, rule-laden order based on different primary institutions. Second, changes in the trade institution take place through bargaining processes in a trade regime. Third, political bargaining in a regime may create new norms. However, new norms do not replace prevailing norms. Rather, political processes can initiate the emergence of new norms alongside older norms, changing the institution but also producing tensions and contradictions.