Susan Ariel Aaronson

Associate Research Professor of International Affairs

1957 E Street, NW Suite 501

Washington, D.C. 20052

Phone: (202) 994-7974
Fax: (202) 994-5477
E-mail: saaronso@gwu.edu

Education:

Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University

Expertise:

International trade, business and human rights, business in conflict zones, economic growth and human rights, global corporate social responsibility

Background:

Susan Ariel Aaronson is Associate Research Professor at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She also teaches in the School of Business, and is affiliated with the Institute for International Economic Policy and the Institute for Corporate Responsibility. She is also a Researcher with the World Trade Institute, directing a major study on the WTO and corruption. Her research is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Ford Motor Company.

Dr. Aaronson is the author of six books and numerous articles on trade, business and human rights, public private partnerships; globalization, and public understanding of economic change. Her books include Trade Imbalance: The Struggle to Weigh Human Rights in Trade Policymaking (Cambridge University Press, 2007), Trade and the American Dream, and Taking Trade to the Streets: The Lost History of Public Efforts to Shape Globalization. Dr. Aaronson has also written two primers on trade — "Trade is Everybody's Business" for high school students and "Are there Trade Offs When Americans Trade?" for adults. These books relate trade to citizens' daily lives. Her recent articles include "Unexpected Bedfellows: The GATT, the WTO and Some Democratic Rights," June, 2011, International Studies Quarterly; "How China's Employment Problems Became Trade Problems: China, labor law and the Rule of Law," forthcoming, Global Economy Journal; "A Match Made in Heaven? The Union of Trade and Human Rights," Review Essay for Human Rights and Human Welfare March 2010. http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/; and "Reluctant Partners: Extractive Industry firms, government, and NGOs in the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) Dimensions: IBS Mumbai Summer 2010.

Dr. Aaronson is a frequent speaker on public understanding of globalization issues. She was a regular commentator on "All Things Considered" in 1994-1995, "Marketplace" from 1995-1998, and "Morning Edition" from 1998-2001. She has also appeared on CNN, the BBC, and PBS to discuss trade and globalization issues. Dr. Aaronson received her doctorate in economic history from Johns Hopkins University and a masters in International Affairs from Columbia University. She has also been a Guest Scholar in Economics at the Brookings Institution (1995-1999).

Dr. Aaronson serves on the Advisory Board for Business-Human Rights (www.business-humanrights.org) and has been a pro-bono advisor to the UN Special Representative on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights, and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. In recent years, she has consulted for the ILO; the World Bank; Free the Slaves; the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative; the Stanley Foundation; several corporations; and the governments of Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands, among others.

Courses Taught:

Hist 221 History of International Economic Systems: the WTO and the Bretton Woods Institutions
IAff 250 Corruption, Development and Good Governance
MBAd 260 Business and Public Policy
SMPP 290 NGO Strategy and Sustainability: Human Rights and Poverty NGOs

Courses in Development:

Comparative US and EU Trade Policymaking

Last update: 09/02/2010