International Relations
POL 208: EXAM
READING SUMMARIES (JAN-MAR)
1. January 10: Introduction to International Political Economy
Gilpin, Robert. 1987. The Political Economy of International Relations. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 25-64
Adaline Zaman
The three ideologies: liberalism, nationalism, and Marxism • Ideology: system of thought and belief by which [individuals and groups] explain how their social system operates and what principles it exemplifies • Conflict among 3 moral/intellectual positions revolve around role and significance of market in organization of society and economic affairs • Three ideologies differ on broad range of questions: what is the significance of the market for economic growth and the distribution of wealth among groups and societies? What ought to be the role of markets in the organization of domestic and international society? What is the effect of the market system on issues of war or peace? • Three ideologies are different in their conceptions of relationships among society, states, and market • Every controversy in field of international political economy is reducible to differing conceptions of these relationships • Economic liberalism, Marxism, and economic nationalism define the conflicting perspectives that individuals have w/ regard to implications of market system for domestic and international society • Term ‘ideology’ is used rather than ‘theory’ because each position entails a total belief system concerning the nature of human beings and society and is thus akin to what Thomas Kuhn has called a paradigm • Economic nationalism (originally called mercantilism), which developed from practice of statesmen in early modern period, assumes and advocates the primacy of politics over economics • It is a doctrine of states building and asserts that the market should be subordinate to the pursuit of state interests • It argues that political factors do, or should determine
READING SUMMARIES (JAN-MAR)
1. January 10: Introduction to International Political Economy
Gilpin, Robert. 1987. The Political Economy of International Relations. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 25-64
Adaline Zaman
The three ideologies: liberalism, nationalism, and Marxism • Ideology: system of thought and belief by which [individuals and groups] explain how their social system operates and what principles it exemplifies • Conflict among 3 moral/intellectual positions revolve around role and significance of market in organization of society and economic affairs • Three ideologies differ on broad range of questions: what is the significance of the market for economic growth and the distribution of wealth among groups and societies? What ought to be the role of markets in the organization of domestic and international society? What is the effect of the market system on issues of war or peace? • Three ideologies are different in their conceptions of relationships among society, states, and market • Every controversy in field of international political economy is reducible to differing conceptions of these relationships • Economic liberalism, Marxism, and economic nationalism define the conflicting perspectives that individuals have w/ regard to implications of market system for domestic and international society • Term ‘ideology’ is used rather than ‘theory’ because each position entails a total belief system concerning the nature of human beings and society and is thus akin to what Thomas Kuhn has called a paradigm • Economic nationalism (originally called mercantilism), which developed from practice of statesmen in early modern period, assumes and advocates the primacy of politics over economics • It is a doctrine of states building and asserts that the market should be subordinate to the pursuit of state interests • It argues that political factors do, or should determine
Links: Sachs, Jeffrey. 2001. “The Strategic Significance of Global Inequality.” The Washington Quarterly. 178-198 Tarun Iyer