Critical Review of Theoretical Approaches to Global Political Economy
Critical Review of Theoretical Approaches to Global Political Economy This paper will outline the different theoretical approaches to GPE, by critically reviewing three articles on international political economy, globalisation and strategic interests. The articles chosen for the study are as follows:
1. Greenwold, Stephen (1999). ‘Strategic Interests and International Political Economy’, New Political Economy, 4 (1), 97-112. 2. Krugman, Paul (1994). ‘Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession’, Foreign Affairs, 73 (2), 28-44. 3. Sassoon, Anne Showstack (2001), ‘Globalisation, Hegemony and Passive Revolution’, New Political Economy. 6 (1), 5-17.
According to Sassoon (2001) the importance of politics in shaping the existence of global political economy and its future trends has been highly discussed and challenged within the realm of globalisation. This debate of the role of politics in the development of globalisation has been highly controversial due to the shifting attitudes of theorists and anyone concerned with globalisation on the one hand the positive advantages offered and on the other the negative harmful consequences to any economy. Sassoon highlights the benefits of Gramsci’s concepts in today’s understanding of globalisation by extending our research beyond the political changes taking into consideration social and economic changes. However Sassoon goes on to criticise the works of Cox and Gill in the ‘Gramscian turn’ in international relations suggesting that “…Gramsci’s ideas are obscured and that they are transferred on to inappropriate objects.” (Sassoon, 2001. pg.7.) Despite these criticisms, Gramscian analysis has a number of important strengths, taking for example the idea of hegemony; realist and liberals define hegemony in state-centric terms and therefore can only identify a small amount of examples of when there was a hegemonic state, therefore their attempts to examine the effects of hegemony on IPE is restrictive. (Cohn,
1. Greenwold, Stephen (1999). ‘Strategic Interests and International Political Economy’, New Political Economy, 4 (1), 97-112. 2. Krugman, Paul (1994). ‘Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession’, Foreign Affairs, 73 (2), 28-44. 3. Sassoon, Anne Showstack (2001), ‘Globalisation, Hegemony and Passive Revolution’, New Political Economy. 6 (1), 5-17.
According to Sassoon (2001) the importance of politics in shaping the existence of global political economy and its future trends has been highly discussed and challenged within the realm of globalisation. This debate of the role of politics in the development of globalisation has been highly controversial due to the shifting attitudes of theorists and anyone concerned with globalisation on the one hand the positive advantages offered and on the other the negative harmful consequences to any economy. Sassoon highlights the benefits of Gramsci’s concepts in today’s understanding of globalisation by extending our research beyond the political changes taking into consideration social and economic changes. However Sassoon goes on to criticise the works of Cox and Gill in the ‘Gramscian turn’ in international relations suggesting that “…Gramsci’s ideas are obscured and that they are transferred on to inappropriate objects.” (Sassoon, 2001. pg.7.) Despite these criticisms, Gramscian analysis has a number of important strengths, taking for example the idea of hegemony; realist and liberals define hegemony in state-centric terms and therefore can only identify a small amount of examples of when there was a hegemonic state, therefore their attempts to examine the effects of hegemony on IPE is restrictive. (Cohn,
References: Cohn, Theodore H. (2002). Global political Economy: Theory and Practice, Longman:New York, London Greenwold, Stephen (1999). ‘Strategic Interests and International Political Economy’, New Political Economy, 4 (1), 97-112. Krugman, Paul (1994). ‘Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession’, Foreign Affairs, 73 (2), 28-44. Papers For You (2006), “C/P/45, Theoretical Approaches to GPE” Available from http://www.papers4you.com, retrieved on 6th Nov, 2008. Sassoon, Anne Showstack (2001), ‘Globalisation, Hegemony and Passive Revolution’, New Political Economy. 6 (1), 5-17.