The WTO's dispute settlement system is a much studied subject and the literature thereon is widespread. Nevertheless, there are few empirical studies on panelists' and Appellate Body members' profiles as well as their influence on the articulation of an international legal field around the dispute resolution organizations. This study aims to make available some information on these profiles and analyze them under the light of some concepts of Pierre Bourdieu's sociology, mainly the legal field and the development of social habitus, in order to understand how international legalization of the trade law takes place. The results point out the similarities between the WTO's legal field and the state legal fields.
WTO; dispute settlement system; international legalization; legal field; Pierre Bourdieu; decision-makers' profiles
