Aims

The module aims to:
- Introduce students to the study of International Political Economy (IPE), and equip them with theoretical and methodological knowledge derived from the IPE literature to study key issues and developments in the global economy.
- Interrogate the ways in which globalisation has restructured the politics of production, trade and finance.
- Explore how the governance of global capitalism affects the politics of climate breakdown, inequality and poverty.
- Examine the role of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), states and social movements in designing and contesting development policies across the global South and North.

The module introduces students to a broadly defined political economy approach to study the politics of issues and developments that are often understood in exclusively ‘economic’ terms. By historicising the key components of global capitalism (e.g., production, trade and finance), the module aims to help students explore how the very processes that govern their own lives are embroidered in the fabric of the global economy, and how a wide range of actors—from states to ordinary people—shape and contest those processes on a regular basis. Students will be engaging not only with the IPE literature, but with a broad selection of political economy texts drawn from cognate disciplines such as Sociology and Geography.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will involve 11 x 1 hour lectures and 11 x 1 hour pre-recorded lectures; with a 1 hour seminar accompanying each weekly theme. Themes may include:

1. Introduction: International Political Economy–What’s in a Name?
2. Theory and Method in IPE
3. The Making and Remaking of the Global Economy
4. Social Forces, Gender and Race in the Global Economy
5. Production
6. Trade
7. Inequality & Poverty
8. Crisis
9. Climate Breakdown
10. The Global South
11. Conclusion: Towards a Post-Pandemic International Political Economy

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The 11 x 1 hour lectures and the complementary 11 x 1 hour pre-recorded lectures will enable students to gain an in-depth knowledge of complex processes within the global economy, and to be able to understand historical trajectories in the construction of global capitalism. The 11 x 1 hour small group teaching will enable students to consolidate the knowledge gained from lectures and from independent study, and to practice their oral debating skills in the discussion of key controversies associated with North-South power relationships in the globalised economy. The lectures and the small group activities combined will prepare students to complete the summative assignments and to obtain the full Learning Objectives associated with the module, and to demonstrate attainment also of key skills.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The critical review of a journal article will enable students to demonstrate their attainment of key Learning Objectives associated with knowledge and understanding of the IPE literature; and key contemporary issues around the politics of production, trade, crisis, climate breakdown and inequality (Length: 1,000 words).

The research essay assessment will allow students to express their ideas and perspectives, with engagement with relevant scholarly literature and primary sources, to interrogate controversies associated with the governance of global capitalism and its core components (e.g., production, trade, finance) (Length: 2,500 words).