POLS-395 Topics in the International Political Economy: Hegemony, Globalization and Transformation Winter 2014

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1 POLS-395 Topics in the International Political Economy: Hegemony, Globalization and Transformation Winter 2014 INSTRUCTOR: Professor Wayne Cox ADDRESS: OFFICE LOCATION: MC-C304 OFFICE HOURS: Mondays Noon-1:00pm Wednesdays 10:00-11:00am CLASS DETAILS: MAC 2 Mondays 10:00-11:30 Wednesdays 8:30-10:00 Academic integrity is constituted by the five core fundamental values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility (see These values are central to the building, nurturing and sustaining of an academic community in which all members of the community will thrive. Adherence to the values expressed through academic integrity forms a foundation for the "freedom of inquiry and exchange of ideas" essential to the intellectual life of the University (see the Senate Report on Principles and Priorities) Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the regulations concerning academic integrity and for ensuring that their assignments conform to the principles of academic integrity. Information on academic integrity is available in the Arts and Science Calendar (see Academic Regulation 1), on the Arts and Science website (see and from the instructor of this course. Students are advised that incomplete standing will be granted only with the permission of the chair of undergraduate or graduate studies (as appropriate) and only where there is a clear demonstration of need. Applications for "Incomplete" standing must be made in the first instance to the instructor on the form available in the General Office. The simple fact of nonsubmission of work does not constitute an application and will result in a grade of zero for that assignment. Departures from academic integrity include plagiarism, use of unauthorized materials, facilitation, forgery and falsification, and are antithetical to the development of an academic community at Queen's. Given the seriousness of these matters, actions which contravene the regulation on academic integrity carry sanctions that can range from a warning or the loss of grades on an assignment to the failure of a course to a requirement to withdraw from the university. Students who feel that there are reasons to have their grades reviewed should follow the steps set out in the Faculty of Arts and Science s Regulation 11, Review of Grades and Examinations. Copyright of Course Materials This material is copyrighted and is for the sole use of students registered in POLS 395. This material shall not be distributed or disseminated to anyone other than students registered in POLS 395. Failure to abide by these conditions is a breach of copyright, and may also constitute a breach of academic integrity under the University Senate s Academic Integrity Policy Statement.

2 GRADING SCHEME: All components of this course will receive letter grades which, for purposes of calculating your course average, will be translated into numerical equivalents using the Faculty of Arts and Science approved scale: Arts & Science Letter Grade Input Scheme Assignment mark Numerical value for calculation of final mark A+ 93 A 87 A- 82 B+ 78 B 75 B- 72 C+ 68 C 65 C- 62 D+ 58 D 55 D- 52 F48 (F+) 48 F24 (F) 24 F0 (0) 0 Your course average will then be converted to a final letter grade according to Queen s Official Grade Conversion Scale: Queen s Official Grade Conversion Scale Numerical Course Grade Average (Range) A A A B B B C C C D D D F 49 and below

3 COURSE CONTENT AND DESCRIPTION: POLS 395 is a senior undergraduate course covering the general themes and subject matter studied in critical international political economy (IPE). It is designed as a bridge between the larger lecture courses of second year, and the more advanced IR/IPE seminars of the honours year. POLS 395 has a specific focus upon the critical and analytical approaches that are more common in the study of IPE in the English/Canadian and European traditions of IPE. We will discuss the relationship of critical IPE to mainstream approaches in IR and economics, but the focus of POLS 395 is to understand how IPE as a subfield emerged in response to the limitations of related fields of study, and how it has provided alternative lenses and research programs from the dominant discourse of mainstream IPE in the US and mainstream IR in Canada. As such, some background in introductory International Relations (IR) and Comparative Politics (CP) will help, but it is not required. Rest assured, a background in economics is not required. Some of the current themes in the literature include the evolution of capitalism, the evolution of the state, concepts of hegemony, globalization, empire, the new regionalism, gender and IPE, economic integration, colonialism and post-colonialism, critical social geography, historical sociology, and theories of economic development. The intent is to provide an introduction to these theories and concepts through which students can develop a research program, and use one of these frameworks when doing detailed caseresearch for their essay. Classes The Monday lectures will provide the framework for the week s general theme in IPE. Wednesday classes will then graft those ideas and concepts into real world issues, events, and case material. Depending upon how far we get through each week s material, I will entertain student questions at the latter half of the Wednesday class. I expect that it will be at the Wednesday sessions that students will get the full benefit of the material starting to sink in, so your presence at both sessions is a must. The lectures will not follow the readings, and it will be assumed that you have completed the readings prior to the lectures. Not keeping up on your readings will make the lectures very difficult to follow. Essay Assignment Students will be required to research and write one double-spaced page essay, and write a final two-hour essay style examination. Essay topics will be opened in terms of choice, but how you approach this essay will be highly structured. A set of questions will be distributed around a selection of theoretical approaches, and you MUST respond to that question through the use of your case analysis. Since you may select any case topic you wish, you must provide evidence that there is enough quality academic research on this topic before you proceed. This means that every student must have approval before they begin. You can get this approval by writing a research proposal with a working hypothesis and 10 academic sources. All essay topics must be submitted by October 3, 2012.

4 Essay Deadlines Students who would like feedback and comments on their essays are required to submit the paper the Monday after Reading Week (Monday February 24, 2014). All essays handed by that date will be returned with comments before the final week of classes. All other essays are due at the last class. The choice is yours, but DO NOT ask for exceptions i.e. don t expect to hand a paper after that date and ask for feedback or comments. Final Examination Your final examination will be composed of two essay questions selected out of a choice of four options for each question. The first question will be a field/course question, and it will be based entirely upon the lecture material. It will be a question that requires that you can think (i.e. how would you tie two or three of the course themes together around a single argument), and your critically-based analytical thought MUST be a reflection of your knowledge of the course work. The second question will be based upon the course readings, and it will require that you display an ability to tie the reading material into the course themes built around some type of an argument. Pure descriptions, polemics based upon personal life experiences, or regurgitation of material that you read for other courses are a one-way ticket to failure. In other words, if you miss several classes, it will be nearly impossible to pass this course, and if you do not keep up on the readings, it will be equally difficult to pass. Grades: Term Essay 50% Final Exam 50% Total 100% Required Text Richard Stubbs & Geoffrey Underhill, eds., Political Economy and the Changing Global Order, Third Edition, Toronto, Oxford, Introduction What is IPE? Week 1 January 6, 2014 SECTION I -- Introduction Questions: What are the distinctions between International Relations (IR) and International Political Economy (IPE)? Are the two a part of the same field of study, or

5 are they two separate fields of study? Is there even a single IPE, or are there those within the field who define IPE in vastly different ways? If so, what are these distinctions? Why has IPE been so opened to change and alternative viewpoints, while IR has remained largely the same (in theoretical terms) throughout its history? Has IPE been the beneficiary of an IR that has sought to exclude that subject matter and those perspectives which may alter its central problem-solving core? Monday January 6: Hello, my name is.and.what is IPE and how does it relate to IR? Wednesday January 8: What is Hegemony, what are Social Forces, and what is a Globalizing Order? Reading: Introduction: Conceptualizing the Changing Global Order, Stubbs and Underhill, pp SECTION II Capitalism and Globalization Week 2, January 13, 2014 The Evolution of the World Capitalist System State and Society Questions: For some, the brilliance of capitalism has been its ability to transform itself and the marketplace according to changing regional and global conditions. For others, the inherent evil in capitalism has come from its ability to transform itself and the marketplace according to changing regional and global conditions. Are theories that are fixed reactions to events and/or conditions at a given time and place in history relevant in understanding today s global political economy? If not, can they be modified in such a way as to incorporate change and still hold to the primary objectives of their orthodox origins (like Marxism)? If they can be modified, how much modification is acceptable, and at what point does the neo or post version of that theory itself become irrelevant? Monday January 13 The Evolutionary State Wednesday January 15 The Evolution of Civil Society G. Underhill, Political Economy: The Revival of an Interdiscipline, from, Stubbs and Underhill, pp

6 G. Underhill, Introduction: Global Issues in Historical Perspective, from Stubbs and Underhill, Week 3, January 20, 2014 Hyper-Capitalism and Globalization Questions: It has been written that many scholars yield the term globalization around like a brick. What is implied by such a comment? What exactly are the definition(s) of globalization? On the one hand globalization appears to be about a smaller more integrated world. On the other hand, globalization appears to be about (at least partly) the fragmentation of nation states into smaller groups, a growth in the gap between rich and poor both within and among states, and emerging isolated multinational regions. Can both of these be a part of globalization, or are these contradictory processes? Monday January 20, The Stages of Advanced Capitalist Development Wednesday January 22, The Stages of Advanced Underdevelopment Reading: Robert W. Cox, Problems of Power and Knowledge in a Changing World Order, from Stubbs and Underhill, Herman Schwartz, Globalization: The Long View, from Stubbs and Underhill, Week 4, January 27, 2014 Hyper-Capitalism and Globalization Continued Questions: Some have argued that the (neo)liberal approaches to IPE are an alternative to the statist approaches of IR. Critics of neoliberalism on the left, suggest that these neoliberal approaches are merely Realism with an economic focus i.e. add economics and stir. Which do you feel is accurate? Are neoliberal IPE approaches (i.e. Keohane, Kranser, Gilpin, etc.) a middle road between IR and radical IPE? Is there a distinction between economics and politics for most of these neoliberal perspectives? Is that distinction what separates neoliberal IPE from all others? Monday January 27, Neoliberalism as Idea and Practice Essay Proposals are due on January 29 th No Exceptions. Wednesday January 29, The Consequences of Neoliberalism

7 James Middelman, Globalization and Its Critics, from Stubbs and Underhill, Eric Helleiner, Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism? Towards a More Heterogeneous Global Political Economy, from Stubbs and Underhill, Week 5, February 3, 2014 Hegemony and Globalization Questions: In IR we hear a lot about hegemony, hegemonic stability, the decline of US hegemony, or hegemonic orders. Is this the same hegemony that scholars in IPE like Robert Cox, Stephen Gill, or Mark Rupert talk about? If it is not the same, what are the differences? Where does the term hegemony come from? What is counter-hegemony? Given the various definitions of hegemony and counter-hegemony, at what level is it appropriate to talk about hegemonic orders? Inside states, at the state level, globally? Monday February 3, No Class. Thanksgiving Monday Wednesday February 5, The Global Village and the Global Ghetto: Globalization and the Construction of us and other as a Means of Control Prospects for Counter- Hegemony? W.S. Cox and Claire Turenne Sjolander, The Global Village and the Global Ghetto: Realism, Structural Materialism and Agency in Globalization, in K. Burch and R. Denemark (eds.), International Political Economy Yearbook: Constituting International Political Economy, ch. 8, On Reserve. B. Moon, The United States and Globalization: Struggles with Hegemony, from Stubbs and Underhill, SECTION III Regionalism and IPE Week 6, February 10, 2014 Regionalism and the European Union Questions: Charles Pentland observed back in 1973 a process of European integration that seemed to suggest that the traditional order of nation-states in Europe was becoming less significant. With the end of the end of the Cold War, everyone seemed to be noticing the same thing all over again. Did Pentland have some type of a crystal ball to predict the future, or has the end of the Cold War forced many to notice for the first time something that has been going on all along? If so, what are the historical origins of economic and political integration in Europe? To what extent has the progression of trade agreements in North America been an attempt to catch up to the benefits of the EU? To what extent

8 was the EU been an attempt to create a marketplace that could compete with the US? Who wins and who loses in the creation of regional trade arrangements? Has the recent global economic crisis and the consequent problems of Ireland, Greece and others meant the beginning of the end for the EU? Will the EU survive over the next few years, or must it be radically changed in order to survive? If so, what needs to be changed? Monday February 10, The European Union as a Superstate Rival to the US? Wednesday February 12, The EU: Constructed from above, or below? G. Underhill and A. Reed, Regionalism and Globalization, from Stubbs and Underhill, B. van Apeldoorn, The Transnational Political Economy of European Integration:, from Stubbs and Underhill, H. Hveem, Explaining the Regional Phenomenon in an Era of Globalization, from Stubbs and Underhill, Week 7, February Reading Week NO Classes SECTION IV The Developing World and Globalization Week 8, February 24, 2014 IPE as a Not so Global Discipline Early Deadline for Essays those who want feedback Questions: In our review of the evolution of IR as a field of study, we learned about how there was an interest in issues of underdevelopment for a brief period in the late 1960s at the time that many post-colonial states earned their sovereign independence and joined the ranks of state actors on the world scene. However, we also learned about how the study of IR either ignored scholarship on dependency, or worse still, dismissed it as radical Marxism. Although this tells us a great deal about the conservative nature of IR as a field of study, have we done a disservice to the importance of issues of underdevelopment by ghettoizing into the realm of IPE? Does globalization and the emphasis upon the efficiency and potential productivity of a truly global market help to disguise the growing disparity between haves and have-nots in today s IPE? Monday February 24, Dependency Theory as an Alternative World View

9 Wednesday February 26, World Systems, Capitalism, and Post-Colonialism A. Gunder Frank, The Development of Underdevelopment, on Reserve. Immanuel Wallerstein, The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalism System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis, on Reserve. Week 9, March 3, 2014 Africa and Latin America Questions: Early in the 20 th Century, parts of Africa and Latin America were regarded as having the economic potential to join the ranks of the developed capitalist world. Argentina, Brazil, (then) Kenya, and South Africa were thought to be on a path similar to that of Canada and Australia, and yet, the development trajectory of these states has not met with expectations. Moreover, the discovery of valued natural resources in parts of both of these continents has turned out to be more of a hindrance to development and stability than anything else. Why? Monday March 3, Post-Colonialism, Globalization and Sub-Saharan Africa Wednesday March 5, Post-Colonialism, Globalization and Latin America G. Chowdhry, Post-Colonial readings of Child Labour in a Globalized Economy, from Stubbs and Underhill, T. Shaw and P. Mbabazi, Political Economies of Africa(s) at the Start of the Twentyfirst Century, from Stubbs and Underhill, N. Phillips, Latin America in the Global Political Economy, from Stubbs and Underhill, SECTION V Gender and IPE Week 10, March 10, 2014 The Prospects of IPE as a Window for Gender Studies Questions: So far, we have read that IPE as a sub-field of the study of International Relations has been dominated by critical and leftist approaches. We have also heard that IPE has had a particular focus upon defining both the state and power in much more complex ways that the assumed nature of these crucial concepts than is found in IR. So, why then has IPE been relatively silent in terms of providing gendered perspectives on world politics? Is IPE the natural location for feminism in IR, or does IPE also suffer from similar masculinist biases?

10 Monday March 10, IPE as a an Opportunity for a Gendered World View Wednesday March 12, IPE as Yet Another Field of Old, White, Men Sandra Whitworth, "Theory as Exclusion: Gender, Masculinity, and IPE", in Stubbs and Underhill, M. Marchand, Gendered Representations of the Global : Reading/Writing Globalization, from Stubbs and Underhill, Week 11, March 17, 2014 Women and Development Questions: When one is confronted with the issues of gender inequality AND poverty, is it more important that one be dealt with first, and that the other will follow? Have Western feminists appropriated the experiences of Third World women as a means to empower a feminist agenda under the dominance of privileged First World women? If so, how then can women from developing societies develop a strategy for empowerment when they have to confront their role within feminist movements along with all of those other crucial factors that keep them marginalized as both poor and women? Does globalization offer Third World women any opportunities, or has the entire globalization experience been nothing more than hyper-exploitation? Monday March 17, Normative Research in IPE Research by Women that is Research for Women Wednesday March 19, Terrorism, War, Globalization and Women in the Post 9?11 World To be assigned later. SECTION VI CASE RESEARCH IN IPE Week 12, March 24 Topics and Readings to be Distributed Later Week 13, April 3, Review and Study for Final Examination

11 All Papers Must be Submitted by Wednesday November 28 th 2012 IN CLASS NO EXCEPTIONS!