What we talk about when we talk about TTIP

Part of the anti-TTIP camp. Image from War on Want.The debate about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – a bilateral trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and US - has often brought out the worst in people. Opponents have misconstrued and drifted into ad-hominem, proponents have patronised and belittled. Few involved have emerged hands clean, myself included.

Both camps have pitched their tents upon a unifying acronym, but the respective points of reference are worlds apart. Neither is discussing the same thing. Advocates of TTIP see it as a simple trade agreement; its opponents want to save the world.

Yet even the most ardent critic would likely concede that in a globalised world facing global problems it is not possible for national governments to act entirely off their own volition. All international agreements put constraints on governments, almost by definition.