Universiteit Antwerpen
22/05/2013 - 05:12
(c)
http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=*PSW&n=91298&ct=82828&e=248895&detail=1MIPO_121

International Political Economy
 
Academic year:2010-2011
Course code module1MIPO_121
Semester:1st semester
Credits:6
Study load (hours)168
Theory (hours):30,00
Practice/Exercises(hours):15,00
Other (hours):
Part-time program:1/2
Instructor(s)Dirk De Bièvre
Language of instruction:English
Semester exam information:exam in the 1st semester
Contract restriction information:


1. Prerequisites
*Algemene competenties
  • You keep yourselves informed about current international affairs and you are interested in assessing conflicting explanations of international political and economic developments.
  • You are able to apply abstract generalising statements to concrete cases.
  • You master basic notions of Theories of International Relations and International Economics


*Sequentiality
None



2. Objectives (expected learning outcomes)
  • convey insight in some of the most important questions of international political economy
  • learn how to assess different answers to those questions
  • develop a critical reading attitude


3. Course content
    • Time: tba
    • Professor: Prof. Dirk De Bièvre PhD (UA) and Anthony Leysens (Universiteit Stellenbosch - Zuid-Afrika)
    • Place: tba, De Meerminne, Faculteit Politieke en Sociale Wetenschappen, St. Jacobstraat 2, 2000 Antwerpen.
    • This is not a course in international economics; it is a course in one of the subdisciplines of political science, International Political Economy (IPE), in which we study how economic interests structure political decision making.

    • This reading seminar offers an introduction to the subdiscipline of political science known as international political economy, and will be taught in English.

      UA-Professor Dirk De Bièvre will cover the question how economic interests affect political decision making, while Prof. Anthony Leyssens from the University of Stellenbosch (South-Africa) will elaborate on the role of critical theory for a developing countries’ perspective on globalisation. Some of the main questions treated are: Who liberalised international trade and why? Why was the World Trade Organization (WTO) created? Who initiated the liberalisation of international finance? Why do states delegate monetary policy to an independent central bank? Which role do states and interest groups play in the origins of and reaction to international financial crises? What does globalisation look like viewed from the local level in developing countries? Which sensitivity and analytical possibilities does critical theory offer in order to understand the contemporary international political economy and the place of a country like South-Africa in it?

      The prerequisites for this course are your willingness to update your knowledge of political science and international economics, excellent reading skills in English, and active participation in class.

      In formulating answers to these questions, we are primarily interested in the motives for public actors.


4. Teaching method
Direct contact:
  • Lectures
  • Seminars (possible question and answer sessions)

    • Personal work:
  • Exercises
  • Assignments - in group
  • Paper - individual

    • 5. Assessment method
    Exam:
  • Oral, with written preparation
  • Open questions

    • 6. Compulsory reading – study material

  •           

    Overview of classes:

                29 September: no class yet

    1.      6 October: Chapter 1 Introduction

    2.      13 October: Chapter 2 The WTO in the world trade system & Chapter 3 The political economy of international trade cooperation

    1. 20 October: Chapter 4 A society-centered approach to trade politics &   Chapter 5 A state-centered approach to trade politics
    2. 27 October: Chapter 6 Trade and development I: Import substitution industrialization & Chapter 7 Trade and development II: Economic reform

    3 November: no class

    1. 10 November: Chapter 8 Multinational corporations in the global economy & Chapter 9 The politics of multinational corporations

    6.      17 November: Anthony Leysens – Class 1: Global Political Economy, International Political Economy and Political Economy: Conceptualisation, Theoretical Debates and Critical Political Economy

    -       Gilpin, R. 2001. Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton University Press: Princeton. Chapters 1 and 2.

    -       Cohen, B.J. 2007. ‘The transatlantic divide: Why are American and British IPE so different?’ Review of International Political Economy, 14 (2) pp. 197-219

    -       Phillips, N. (ed.) 2005. Globalizing International Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke. Chapters 1 and 10.

    7.      Extra class: 18 November, 6 – 8 pm (evenening class!!), Room R. 212 !! : Anthony Leysens – Class 2:  The Critical Theory of Robert W Cox: A Holistic Framework of Understanding

    -      Cox, R.W. 1981. ‘Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International Relations Theory’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 10 (2): 126-155.

    -      Cox, R.W. 1983. ‘Gramsci, Hegemony and International Relations: An Essay in Method’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 12 (2): 162-175.

    -      Cox, R.W. 2004. ‘Beyond Empire and Terror: Critical Reflections on the Political Economy of World Order’, New Political Economy, 9 (3): 307-323.

    -      Schouten, P. 2009. ‘Theory Talk #37: Robert Cox on World Orders, Historical Change, and the Purpose of Theory in International Relations’, Theory Talks, http://www.theorytalks.org/2010/03/theory-talk-37.html

    -      Mahmud, S. and Kabeer, N. 2006. ‘Compliance versus accountability: struggles for dignity and daily bread in the Bangladesh garment industry’, in Newell, P. and Wheeler, J. (eds.) Rights, Resources and the Politics of Accountability. London: Zed Books.

    -      Jones, B.G. 2008. ‘The global political economy of social crisis: Towards a critique of the “failed state” ideology’, Review of International Political Economy, 15 (2): 180-205.

    8.      Extra class: 22 November, 9.30 – 12.30, Room D.014: Anthony Leysens – Class 3 :  The Global Financial Crisis: A Critical Review and Analysis

    -      Gamble, A. 2009. The Spectre at the Feast: Capitalist Crisis and the Politics of Recession. Palgrave Macmillan: Houndmills, Basingstoke. (Chapters 1, 5 and 6)

    -      Wade, R. 2008. “The First-World Debt Crisis of 2007-2010 in Global Perspective” in Challenge, 51 (4), July/August 2008.

    -      Nesvetailova, A. and Palan, R. 2008. “A Very North Atlantic Credit Crunch: Geopolitical Implications of the Global Liquidity Crisis” in Journal of International Affairs, 62 (1), Fall/Winter, 2008. (library online journals) .

    9.      24 November: Anthony Leysens – Class 4: Applying CCT to the Political Economy of South Africa

    -       Andreasson, S. 2006. “The ANC and its Critics: ‘Predatory Liberalism’, Black Empowerment and Intra-Alliance Tensions in Post-Apartheid South Africa‟, Democratization 13 (2) pp. 303-322.

    -       Koelble, Thomas A. (2004) ‘Economic policy in the post-colony: South Africa between Keynesian remedies and Neoliberal pain’, New Political Economy  9 (1), pp. 57-78.

    -       Taylor, I. 2001. Stuck in Middle Gear: South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Foreign Relations. London: Praeger (chapters 1 and 3).

    1 December: no class

    1. 8 December: Chapter 12 A society-centered approach to monetary and exchange rate policies & Chapter 13 A state-centered approach to monetary and exchange rate policies
    2. 15 December: Chapter 14 Developing countries and international finance I: The Latin American debt crisis & Chapter 15 Developing countries international finance II: A decade of crises


    • 7. Recommended reading - study material

    Regular reading of the Financial Times and/or The Economist

    For information on trade negotiations, see the website of the Geneva-based NGO 'International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development' (ICTSD), http://ictsd.net/, and the website of the World Trade Organization (WTO), http://www.wto.org/.

    For information on EU trade policy, see the European Commission Directorate-General for Trade: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/ and the publications and links at the website of the Brussels trade policy think-tank European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) in Brussels: www.ecipe.org.



    8. Tutoring
    • Blackboard
    • Email or appointment



    laatste aanpassing: last update: 15/10/2010 10:30 dirk.debievre 

     
    Inhoudsverantwoordelijke(n) : piet.devroede@ua.ac.be