杏吧论坛

Dr James Morrison CBG.8.06

This course is compulsory on the MSc in International Political Economy, MSc in International Political Economy (杏吧论坛 and Sciences Po) and MSc in International Political Economy (Research). This course is not available as an outside option.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access). Students who have this course as a compulsory course are guaranteed a place

This is the core course for the International Political Economy MSc degrees. It principally aims to introduce students to the wide array of approaches taken to the study of international political economy (IPE), broadly construed. This is undertaken so as to: (1) acquaint students with the diversity of approaches in the field; (2) help students identify the strengths and weaknesses of each set of approaches; and (3) enable students to employ--and, as necessary, advance--these approaches in the context of their own academic pursuits. Put more prosaically, the course aims to help students: (1) build a robust "tool kit" for understanding IPE; (2) deepen their understanding of where, when, and how to employ these "tools"; and (3) set students to task utilising these "tools" on their own projects. This should prove particularly helpful in the context of students' dissertation research; but the "core" learned here should complement students' study in all of their other IPE courses as well.

Substantively, the course will grapple with the contending theoretical, analytical, and methodological challenges and opportunities in the field of IPE. The course will also use empirical material from the past and present to both illustrate and probe these approaches. Thus, the course does speak to timeless and contemporary issues in international economic relations; although it is expected that students will develop proper specialist knowledge in their optional courses.

The first part of the course introduces students to the traditional, "mainstream" approaches to IPE. The course then considers the more "modern," "non-mainstream" approaches. The course, however, goes beyond a mere "survey" of the field or a simple "tour" of the "menu" of approaches on offer. Instead, it emphasises the connections--often, the interactions--between the various approaches. For instance, it considers how domestic-level approaches evolved as a response to the perceived failings of system-level approaches (such as Hegemonic Stability Theory). Similarly, it explores the development of feminist approaches from--but also against--o