International Political Economy

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

This unit combines the exposition of some topics of history and theory of international political economy with collective discussions of seminal contributions to the discipline, preparing students to autonomously explore the themes they consider more relevant to their future work. The participation in classes and the elaboration of an essay are the two components of the evaluation. Evaluation: Research essay (75%); Participation in class (25%).  

Learning Outcomes

Promote a critical and historically informed discussion of some of the main moments in the evolution of global capitalism, emphasizing the connection between ideas, social forces and institutional transformations.

Contribute to the elaboration of a map that allows students to locate some of the main moments and choices in the history of international political economy, both as a plural intellectual tradition and as a multi-scalar complex of rules and power struggles in the field of provision.

Taking as a point of departure the idea that there is nothing as practical as a good theory, we intend to promote the discussion of some seminal contributions of the various approaches that shape the discipline, thereby promoting a better understanding of the historical context in which ideas develop and their transformative power.      

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. International political economy as reasoned history: ideas, institutions and powers in historical context; the two trilemmas of international political economy;

2. Hegemonic and counter-hegemonic political economies in the nineteenth century: liberalisms, imperialisms and the intensive and extensive expansion of capitalism; the emergence of critical political economy as the intellectual weapon of the weak;  

3. Hegemonic and counter-hegemonic political economies in the twentieth century: from the crisis of liberalism to embedded liberalism; from the crisis of embedded liberalism to neoliberalism;

4. Beyond neoliberalism? The politial economies of globalization and deglobalization in times of crisis.

Head Lecturer(s)

João Pedro Amaral Cabouco Rodrigues

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Participation in class : 25.0%
Research essay : 75.0%

Bibliography

Clift, Ben (2014), Comparative Political Economy: States, Markets and Global Capitalism, London: MacMillan.

Eichengreen, Barry (2019), Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System - Third Edition, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 

Frieden, Jeffry (2019), Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century, and Its Stumbles in the Twenty-first, New York: Norton.

Hulsemeyer, Alex (2010), International Political Economy: A Reader, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rodrik, Dani (2011), The Globalization Paradox, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tooze, Adam (2019), Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World, London: Allen Lane.

Tooze, Adam (2021), Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy, London: Allen Lane.