International Political Economy
Part
I
Perspectives on International Political Economy
The first chapter of the text deals with the fundamental nature of international political economy (IPE) and some analytical issues related to its multidimensional character. Chapters 2 through 4 are the core chapters of the text that explore the history and policies associated with the three dominant IPE perspectives, namely economic liberalism, mercantilism, and structuralism. These theoretical tools are useful in understanding many political, economic, and social issues in the global economy of the past as well as the present. Chapter 5 develops two alternative IPE perspectives—constructivism and feminism—that derive, in part, from the three main outlooks under study.
ChaPter
1
What Is International Political Economy?
We Are the 99%: A Haitian hillside.
Georgina Allen
When a philosopher has once laid hold of a favorite principle, which perhaps accounts for many natural effects, he extends the same principle over the whole creation, and reduces to it every phenomenon, though by the most violent and absurd reasoning. Our own mind being narrow and contracted, we cannot extend our conception to the variety and extent of nature . . . David Hume, “The Sceptic”
2
The Darkness on the Edge of Town
3
the Darkness on the eDge of town
What are the chances you will find a good paying job—or any job for that matter—when you graduate from college in the next few years? Have your parents or people you know lost their jobs, the family home, or a big chunk of their retirement savings? How are you adjusting to the financial crisis? Maybe things haven’t been that bad for you, yet! Reading the headlines of any major newspaper, you might sometimes worry that the world is on the brink of a global economic catastrophe, if not a second Great Depression. The effects of the global economic crisis have made many people feel tense, fearful, and depressed. The collapse of the U.S. housing market in
I
Perspectives on International Political Economy
The first chapter of the text deals with the fundamental nature of international political economy (IPE) and some analytical issues related to its multidimensional character. Chapters 2 through 4 are the core chapters of the text that explore the history and policies associated with the three dominant IPE perspectives, namely economic liberalism, mercantilism, and structuralism. These theoretical tools are useful in understanding many political, economic, and social issues in the global economy of the past as well as the present. Chapter 5 develops two alternative IPE perspectives—constructivism and feminism—that derive, in part, from the three main outlooks under study.
ChaPter
1
What Is International Political Economy?
We Are the 99%: A Haitian hillside.
Georgina Allen
When a philosopher has once laid hold of a favorite principle, which perhaps accounts for many natural effects, he extends the same principle over the whole creation, and reduces to it every phenomenon, though by the most violent and absurd reasoning. Our own mind being narrow and contracted, we cannot extend our conception to the variety and extent of nature . . . David Hume, “The Sceptic”
2
The Darkness on the Edge of Town
3
the Darkness on the eDge of town
What are the chances you will find a good paying job—or any job for that matter—when you graduate from college in the next few years? Have your parents or people you know lost their jobs, the family home, or a big chunk of their retirement savings? How are you adjusting to the financial crisis? Maybe things haven’t been that bad for you, yet! Reading the headlines of any major newspaper, you might sometimes worry that the world is on the brink of a global economic catastrophe, if not a second Great Depression. The effects of the global economic crisis have made many people feel tense, fearful, and depressed. The collapse of the U.S. housing market in