Conclusion

In examining the way developing countries changed their role in trade negotiations and the implications for the trading regime, this book has used a different kind of light to that which is normally used in such a project. The kind of light normally used in neorealism, neo-Marxism and neoliberalism generally reveals states’ actions in bold outline against a clearly defined material world. Norms and meaning are merely shadows under this light, providing little definition of the scene. In this context, regimes such as the trading regime have no structural purpose. In contrast, this book has used a light that brings norms and meaning into the foreground. In so doing, it has redefined the actors and revealed a new and textured play. Under this light, actors are defined by the shadows.