IR470      Half Unit
International Political Economy

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

This is the core course for the International Political Economy MSc degrees. The course examines the role of power and politics in international economic relations. Besides international structural factors and global inequalities, it emphasises the role of domestic political interests and their influence over foreign economic policies. The course will help students understand current and historical debates on topics such as trade, development, globalisation and the retreat of the state, monetary policy, and the political roots of financial crises.  

This course design ensures that it will be accessible to students who have limited (or no) prior study in the field of International Political Economy. Those who do have such training will have the opportunity to broaden and advance their skills. Thus, previous training in International Political Economy is helpful, but it is not required. The same is true with the cognate fields of international relations (more generally), international economics, comparative politics, sociology, and history. Background in these fields is helpful, but it is not a requirement. The same is true of practical, work experience. It is quite valuable but not required. 

15 hours of seminars and 15 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Students will submit regular memos throughout the term. The formative memos provide students with an opportunity to write on weekly topics to support their preparation for the summative essay.

It is advisable to begin reading before the lectures start, particularly for students with no prior training in International Political Economy. The following texts are a good starting point. A more complete source list is provided in the course outline.

• S Strange, States and Markets; 

• A Amsden, Asia’s Next Giant, ; 

• Blythe Baccaro and Pontusson (ed), Diminishing Returns; 

• HJ Chang Kicking Away the Ladder, 

• J Frieden & D Lake, International Political Economy; 

Essay (100%, 2500 words) in January