From PhD to publishing success
She may have only started learning English intensively in 2002, but a Victoria University of Wellington law graduate has gone on to write a book about international trade with a leading British academic publisher.
Michelle Limenta did her PhD in International Economic Law at Victoria, graduating in 2012, and is currently the director of a research centre in Indonesia that promotes trade-related academic activities.
Michelle has just put out a book about the World Trade Organisation (WTO) settlement process with leading British academic publisher Hart—it’s an expanded version of the PhD thesis she wrote at Victoria University.
She says her achievement would not have been possible without the support of Victoria’s Law School.
“The people at Victoria were kind and very helpful,” she says. “I had only been seriously learning English for a year or two when I came to Wellington in 2004 —my supervisors and the staff at Student Learning Support were really dedicated to helping me improve my writing skills, and the Law School encouraged and sponsored me to present my research at international conferences.
“Studying for my PhD was very tough, but lots of fun at the same time—I made wonderful friends from many different countries during my time at Victoria.”
Michelle’s book, WTO Retaliation, looks into the World Trade Organisation dispute settlement process. “Most WTO members comply with adverse rulings, but there are a few examples of disputes where the losing party fails to comply, which raises the questions over the efficacy of the retaliation process,” explains Michelle. “Retaliation by the WTO—where sanctions might be imposed on a country when a trade dispute is unresolved—is commonly viewed as a way to force an offending state to comply. But it’s been criticised as a frustrating way of inducing compliance. My book evaluates these criticisms, and takes a fresh approach in measuring the effectiveness of retaliation by using a purpose-based approach as a tool.”
She says she feels very proud of what she’s achieved. “I’m really grateful that Hart Publishing gave me this opportunity. For someone who was born on a small island in Indonesia where the quality of education lags far behind the rest of the world—and who only started learning English intensively in 2002—this kind of publication would ordinarily be a dream,” says Michelle. “But I did it—and it wouldn’t have been possible without the generous help and opportunities given to me by many people, including those at Victoria.”
Michelle hopes her current book will mark the start of many more publications in the future.