International Political Economy and Development
For this specialization we advise you to register in the Major Governance, Policy and Political Economy (GPPE)
This specialisation provides students with a better understanding of the international dimensions of development issues. The specialisation draws on the burgeoning academic field of international political economy, which is concerned with the various ways in which national political and economic processes interrelate with international (that is, global, transnational and multilateral) relations.
The IPED specialisation is concerned with the way in which important features of the contemporary international order impact on the development prospects of people living in developing countries and countries in transition. IPED students learn to understand how dominant agendas shape the structures within which national governments, private companies and civil society pursue their interests. More specifically, the specialisation focuses on the pervasive influence that neo-liberalism has had on the nature of global capitalism over the course of the past three decades, and on the agenda of global governance that has been furthered by various supporters of liberal internationalism. IPED students are educated to make a critical assessment of the claims of the contemporary proponents of the dominant political-economic agendas.
International Political Economy and Development Courses
Contemporary Capitalism and Governance: Neo-Liberalism and Beyond
This course deals with the rise of neo-liberalism and how it has become, not just one idea or set of interests among many, but the most influential agenda for the reshaping of the global order and the way political and economic life is organised. The course examines the ideological, economic and political reasons for this ascendancy and the institutional and political forces behind its success. It also looks at the processes through which neo-liberal reforms have been transplanted and the impact of these upon existing systems of social and political power.
Global Governance and Development
This course, which is focused on the global political-economic context of the development process, aims to contribute to a better understanding of the various manifestations of global governance in today’s world, as well as the arguments for global – that is, not territorially confined – public policy making. The origins of contemporary concepts of global governance are traced back to several major publications originating from the UN system, which emphasised the need to formulate ‘global responses to global problems’. The main challenges to globalism that are discussed relate to notions of national power and sovereignty, knowledge and inequality, and regionalism.
