Introduction to International Political Economy

Wintersemester 2017 Dr. Mathis Lohaus

Master Politikwissenschaft Lehrstuhl für Internationale Beziehungen
Modul „Internationale Beziehungen“ mathis.lohaus@uni-greifswald.de

International Political Economy (IPE) refers to “the study of the interplay of economics and politics in
the world arena” (Frieden/Lake 2000), asking how politics affect markets and vice versa.
Traditionally, IPE research has emphasized issues such as trade, production and investment.
However, issues such as migration and the environment are increasingly being addressed, and IPE
does not ignore the role of power dynamics in international politics.

In this class we first turn to IPE’s theoretical foundations; then we apply them to different issue
areas. The theoretical part focuses on the contemporary mainstream literature, but includes earlier
approaches as well as critical perspectives. In the end, students will have an idea of how the
discipline evolved and what the main theoretical arguments are. In the issue-specific part of the class
we address typical issues and themes such as trade and production, with emphasis on recent trends.

Important information
Please make sure to sign up on Moodle. The password for this class is “IPEIntro”.

I expect all students to carefully read the texts and to participate in discussions. I require everyone to
submit comments and/or questions related to the literature until 9 in the morning on Tuesday. I will
set up Moodle in a way that makes this process very convenient for you and me.

In accordance with the examination regulations, you have to write a paper of 20-25 pages to receive
a grade for this class. We will use the last session of the semester to discuss your paper ideas, which
means that you should have developed a short exposé until then. I am happy to talk about project
ideas and will provide information on formal criteria via Moodle.

We will discuss in English. You are free to submit written assignments in English or German.

Introductory literature
Broome, André (2014): Issues & Actors in the Global Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Blyth, Mark (ed.) (2009): Routledge Handbook of International Political Economy (IPE). Routledge.

Cohn, Theodore H. (2010): Global Political Economy. Theory and Practice. 5th edition. Pearsson.

Cohn, Theodore H. (2016): Global Political Economy. Theory and Practice. 7th edition. Routledge.

Cohen, Benjamin J. (2008): International Political Economy. An Intellectual History. Princeton University Press

Phillips, Nicola (ed.) (2005): Globalizing International Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Ravenhill, John (ed.) (2014): Global Political Economy. 4th edition. Oxford University Press.
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Schedule and readings
*** = optional readings

Week 1 · October 17, 2017 · Introduction

Balaam, David N./Bradford Dillman (2014): What is International Political Economy? In: Balaam,
David N./Bradford Dillman, Introduction to International Political Economy. 6th Edition. Pearsson.

*** Ravenhill 2014, chapter 1 (The Study of Global Political Economy)

*** Blyth 2009, chapter 1 (International political economy as a global conversation)

Week 2 · October 24, 2017 · Realism, mercantilism, economic nationalism

Cohn, Theodore H. (2010): Global Political Economy. Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Pearsson, 55-76.

*** Pickel, Andreas (2005): Introduction: False Oppositions. Recontextualizing Economic Nationalism
in a Globalizing World. In: Helleiner, Eric/ Andreas Pickel (eds.): Economic Nationalism in a
Globalizing World. Cornell University Press, 1-17.

*** Gilpin, Robert (2001): Global Political Economy. Understanding the International Economic Order,
chapter 1 (The New Global Economic Order)

Week 3 · October 30, 2017 · Holidays

Reformation Day on Oct. 31…

Week 4 · November 7, 2017 · Liberalism and institutionalism

Cohn, Theodore H. (2010): Global Political Economy. Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Pearsson, 77-102.

*** Keohane, Robert O./ Joseph S. Nye (2003): Realism and Complex Interdependence. In: Goddard,
C. Roe/ Patrick Cronin/ Kishore C. Dash (eds.), International Political Economy. State-Market
Relations in a Changing Global Order. 2nd Edition. Lynne Rienner, 49-58.

Week 5 · November 14, 2017 · Constructivist approaches

Abdelal, Rawi (2009): Constructivism as an approach to international political economy. In: Blyth,
Mark (ed.), Routledge Handbook of International Political Economy (IPE). Routledge, 62-76.

Chwieroth, Jeffrey M. (2010): Capital Ideas. The IMF and the Rise of Financial Liberalization.
Princeton University Press, 1-22.

*** Duina, Francesco (2010): Frames, Scripts, and the Making of Regional Trade Areas. In: Abdelal,
Rawi/ Mark Blyth/ Craig Parsons (eds.), Constructing the International Economy. Cornell University
Press, 93-113.

Week 6 · November 21, 2017 · Critical approaches

Cohn, Theodore H. (2010): Global Political Economy. Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Pearsson, 103-129.

*** Bedford, Kate/ Shirin M. Rai (2010): Feminists Theorize International Political Economy. Signs:
Journal of Women in Culture and Society 36(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1086/652910

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*** van Apeldoorn, Bastian (2001): The Struggle over European Order. Transnational Class Agency in
the Making of ‘Embedded Neo-Liberalism’. In: Bieler, Andreas/ Andrew Morton (eds.), Social Forces
in the Making of the New Europe. Palgrave, 70-89.

*** Wallerstein, Immanuel Maurice (2005): After Developmentalism and Globalization, What? Social
Forces 83(3), 1263-1278. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2005.0049

Week 7 · November 28, 2017 · Regulating global trade flows

Cohn, Theodore H. (2016): Global Political Economy. Theory and Practice. 7th ed. Routledge, 215-254

Gertz, Geoffrey (2017): What will Trump’s embrace of bilateralism mean for America’s trade
partners? Brookings Future Development Blog, Feb 8, 2017. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-
development/2017/02/08/what-will-trumps-embrace-of-bilateralism-mean-for-americas-trade-
partners/

*** Griswold, Daniel T. (2010): Free Trade Agreements: Steppingstones to a more Open world. In:
Thomas Oatley (Ed.), Debates in International Political Economy. Longman, 68-75.

*** Bhagwatil, Jagdish (2010): Why PTAs Are a Pox on the World Trading System. In: Thomas Oatley
(Ed.), Debates in International Political Economy. Longman, 76-91.

Week 8 · December 5, 2017 · Production, labor, and value chains

Thun, Eric (2014): The Globalization of Production. In: John Ravenhill (Ed.), Global Political Economy.
4th ed. Oxford University Press, 283-304.

Spar, Debora/ David Yoffie (2010): Multinational Enterprises and the Prospects for Justice, in:
Thomas Oatley (Ed.), Debates in International Political Economy. Longman, 151-166.

Drezner, Daniel W. (2010): Bottom Feeders. In: Thomas Oatley (Ed.), Debates in International Political
Economy. Longman, 167-175.

Week 9 · December 12, 2017 · Foreign direct investment

Jensen, Nathan M. (2003): Democratic Governance and Multinational Corporations: Political Regimes
and Inflows of Foreign Direct Investment. International Organization 57(3), 587-616.

Simmons, Beth A. (2014): Bargaining over BITs, Arbitrating Awards: The Regime for Protection and
Promotion of International Investment. World Politics 66(1), 12-46.

Week 10 · December 19, 2017 · Money and finance

Helleiner, Eric (2014): The Evolution of the International Monetary and Financial System. In: John
Ravenhill (Ed.), Global Political Economy. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 173-197.

*** Pauly, Louis W. (2014): The Political Economy of Global Financial Crises. In: John Ravenhill (Ed.),
Global Political Economy. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 198-222.

Week 11 & 12 · Holidays

Enjoy the winter break!

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Week 13 · January 9, 2018 · Economic power and hegemony
Kirshner, Jonathan (2008): Dollar Primacy and American Power. What’s at Stake? Review of
International Political Economy 15(3), 418-438.

Starrs, Sean (2013): American Economic Power Hasn’t Declined—It Globalized! Summoning the Data
and Taking Globalization Seriously. International Studies Quarterly 57(4), 817–830.

***Strange, Susan (1987): The Persistent Myth of Lost Hegemony. International Organization 41(4),
551-574.

*** Wallerstein, Immanuel Maurice (2008): The Three Instances of Hegemony in the History of the
Capitalist World-Economy. In: Angus Cameron/ Anastasia Nesvetailova/ Ronen Palan (Ed.),
International Political Economy. Vol. II. Sage, 209-217.

Week 14 · January 16, 2018 · States and markets – who’s in charge?

Strange, Susan (1997): The Retreat of the State. The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy.
Cambridge University Press, chapter 5, 66-87. (*** chapter 1, 3-15)

Bremmer, Ian (2009): State Capitalism Comes of Age: The End of the Free Market? Foreign Affairs
88(3), 40-55.

*** Barrow, Clyde W. (2005): The Return of the State: Globalization, State Theory, and the New
Imperialism. New Political Science 27(2), 123-145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07393140500098235

*** Levy, Jonah D./ Stephan Leibfried/ Frank Nullmeier (2015): Changing Perspectives on the State.
In: Stephan Leibfried/ Evelyne Huber/ Matthew Lange/ Jonah D. Levy/ Frank Nullmeier/ John D.
Stephens (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Transformations of the State. Oxford University Press, 33-57.

Week 15 · January 23, 2018 · Inequality, poverty, and justice

Milanovic, Branko (2012): Global Income Inequality by the Numbers. In History and Now. Policy
Research Working Paper No. 6259. World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12117

Rodrik, Dani (2017): Is Global Equality the Enemy of National Equality? Harvard Kennedy School
Working Paper No. RWP17-003. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2910603

*** Deaton, Angus (2010): Price Indexes, Inequality, and the Measurement of World Poverty.
American Economic Review, 100(1): 5-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.100.1.5

*** Wade, Robert H. (2014): Growth, Inequality, and Poverty. Evidence, Arguments, and Economists.
In: John Ravenhill (Ed.), Global Political Economy. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 305-343.

Week 16 · January 30, 2018 · Conclusion and colloquium

We will discuss your seminar papers. Please make sure to upload them to Moodle early enough so
everyone has a chance to look at the proposals and you can get useful feedback.

*** Cohn, Theodore H. (2016): Chapter 12 – Current Trends in the Global Political Economy. In: Cohn,
Theodore H., Global Political Economy. Theory and Practice. Seventh edition. Routledge, 385-409.