Part I The Nature of International Business Arbitration, 4 The Politics of Class Action Arbitration: Jurisdictional Legitimacy and Vindication of Contract Rights

Exactly one year apart, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases on “class arbitration” proceedings, one about international shipping and the other on consumer purchases of mobile telephones. Each decision inflicted damage on a claimant’s right to invoke collective action in arbitrations. Read together, the opinions serve as a prism through which to refract key elements in an increasingly politicized debate on the legal framework for arbitration, particularly within the United States. In Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds, an arbitral tribunal had been constituted to...