Abstract

This Essay examines the vocation of the international arbitrator. It begins by evaluating, under sociological frameworks developed in literature on Weberian theories of the professions, how the arbitration community is organized and regulated. Arbitrators operate in a largely private and unregulated market for services, access to which is essentially controlled by what might be considered a governing cartel of the most elite arbitrators. The Essay concludes its description with an account of how recently international arbitrators have begun to display a professional ...