International Political Economy (IPE) is the rapidly developing social science field of study that attempts to understand international and global problems using an eclectic interdisciplinary array of analytical tools and theoretical perspectives. The growing prominence of IPE as a field of study is in part a result of the continuing breakdown of disciplinary boundaries between economics, international relations and politics in particular and among the social sciences generally. Increasingly, the most pressing and interesting problems are those that can best be understood from a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary point of view.
IPE is the study of a problématique, or set of related problems. The traditional IPE problématique includes analysis of the political economy of international trade, international finance, North-South relations, multinational corporations, and hegemony. This problématique has been broadened in recent years as many scholars have sought to establish a New IPE that is less centered on International Politics and the problems of the nation-state and less focused on economic policy issues
The course has four sections:
I. Perspectives on International Political Economy
1. What Is International Political Economy?
2. “Laissez-Faire, Laissez-Passer”: The Liberal IPE Perspective.
3. Wealth and Power: Mercantilism and Economic Nationalism.
4. Economic determinism and Exploitation: The Structuralist Perspective.
5. Constructivism.
II. IPE Structures: Production, Finance, Security and Knowledge
6. The Global Production Structure.
7. The International Trade Structure
8. The International Financial and Monetary Structure.
9. The Global Security Structure.
10. The International Knowledge Structure
III. States and Markets in the Global Economy
11. The Development Challenge
12. The Fragmentation of the European Union: The Crossroads Redux
13. Moving into Position: The Rising Powers
14. The Middle East and North Africa: Things Fall Apart
Part IV: Transnational problems and dilemmas
15. The Illicit Global Economy: The Dark Side of Globalization
16. Energy and the Environment: Navigating Climate Change and Global Disaster
17. Global Health: Refugees and Caring for the Forgotten
International Political Economy
I. Perspectives on International Political Economy 1. What Is International Political Economy?2. “Laissez-Faire, Laissez-Passer”: The Liberal IPE Perspective. 3. Wealth and Power: Mercantilism and Economic Nationalism. 4. Economic determinism and Exploitation: The Structuralist Perspective. 5. Constructivism. II. IPE Structures: Production, Finance, Security and Knowledge 6. The Global Production Structure.7. The International Trade Structure 8. The International Financial and Monetary Structure. 9. The Global Security Structure. 10. The International Knowledge Structure III. States and Markets in the Global Economy11. The Development Challenge 12. The Fragmentation of the European Union: The Crossroads Redux13. Moving into Position: The Rising Powers 14. The Middle East and North Africa: Things Fall Apart Part IV: Transnational problems and dilemmas 15. The Illicit Global Economy: The Dark Side of Globalization 16. Energy and the Environment: Navigating Climate Change and Global Disaster17. Global Health: Refugees and Caring for the Forgotten
Instruction will be by means of lectures and class discussion.
Each week there will be a two hours lecture. Lecture notes will be posted on Brightspace before (or immediately after) each class.
Lecture notes are not a substitute for you completing the readings! They are a complement. Students are expected to keep up-to-date with the readings and with topical issues in both the international and the Irish political economy arenas. Please be ready to discuss all of the required readings in class. They are essential to understanding the course.
For your essay, you are expected to go beyond the list of required readings and find other sources independently. You are also very welcome to raise issues from the further readings.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 100 |