Political Economy and International order
Prerequisiti
Nessun prerequisito, qualunque anno di corso
Programma
Programme
The course provides the conceptual and analytical tools for understanding international political economy and the transformations of capitalism, in parallel with the dynamics of the State system and the international order.
Approaches to international political economy and the world system will be assessed, focusing on the age of Neoliberalism and globalisation, exploring economic processes such as production, technology, trade, labour, finance, money and currencies, and the related policy frameworks.
Approaches to international relations and hegemonic systems will be assessed, considering the logic of State power, international hierarchies, global governance frameworks, the interplay of domestic and foreign policies, the changing relationships between markets and States.
The decline of the US hegemonic system – in its economic and political dimensions - will be examined as part of the current transition, characterized by the rise of China and East Asia, in an international order that is becoming more complex, fragmented and unstable.
Hegemonic transitions are often associated to a return of military conflicts – including the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza. The role of the military power of States and international alliances in shaping the international order will be examined, in the context of the relationships between States, war and capitalism. Alternative perspectives on how political and economic arrangements could contribute to an international order based on common security, human rights and peace will be examined.
The question of democracy – within States and in the international order – will be addressed, considering how the changing relationships between capitalism, States and societies reshape domestic political processes and the space for international cooperation. Attention will be given to non-State actors, civil society, and the conflicts emerging from transnational social movements on economic justice and peace issues, exploring how they may affect the international order.
Detailed programme
Session N. 1 Capitalism, international political economy and the world system
14 January 2025, h.14-17
Session N. 2. Hegemonies
15 January 2025, h.14-17
Session N. 3. The international order
21 January 2025, h.14-17
Session N. 4. The Neoliberal economic order
22 January 2025, h.14-17
Session N. 5. The changing world political and economic order
28 January 2025, h.14-17
Session N. 6. Military power, security and a peace order
29 January 2025, h.14-17
Session N. 7. Civil society, conflict and democracy in the international order
4 February 2025, h.14-16
Obiettivi formativi
The goal of the course is to provide students with the conceptual, analytical, empirical and policy tools needed to understand political economy and the international order. The aim is to encourage students to explore the relationships between the world context – with its order, structures and processes - and specific cases of economic and political issues – with their actors, objectives and forms of agency. The tools developed in the course could be related to the themes of the PhD projects of students.
Riferimenti bibliografici
Detailed bibliographic references
Session N. 1 Capitalism, international political economy and the world system
A. Smith, The wealth of nations, Penguins books, 1974, book I, ch.1-2.
R. Gilpin, Global political economy. Understanding the international economic order, Princeton University Press, 2001, ch.1,2,4
G. Arrighi, The long XX century. Money, power and the origins of our time, Verso, 2nd edn 2010, Introduction, ch.1, Epilogue
Session N. 2. Hegemonies
G. Arrighi, B. Silver, Chaos and Governance in the Modern World System, University of Minnesota Press, 1999. Introduction, Conclusions
A. Cooley and D. Nexon, Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, ch.1
Session N. 3. The international order
R. Keohane, After Hegemony, Princeton University Press, 1984, ch.2,3,9
D. Lake , L. Martin, T. Risse, Challenges to the Liberal Order: Reflections on International Organization, International Organization, 2021, pp. 225 - 257
Session N. 4. The Neoliberal economic order
D. Harvey, A brief history of neoliberalism, Oxford University Press, 2005, Introduction, Ch.1,3,6.
R. Gilpin, Global political economy. Understanding the international economic order, Princeton University Press, 2001, ch.4,9,10
R. O'Brien, A.M. Goetz, J.A. Scholte, M. Williams (eds) Contesting Global Governance. Multilateral Economic Institutions and Global Social Movements, Cambridge University Press, 2009, ch.1
Session N. 5. The changing world political and economic order
G. Ikenberry Three Worlds: the West, East and South and the competition to shape global order, International Affairs, 2024, 1, pp.121-138
J. Stiglitz, D. Rodrik, Rethinking Global Governance: Cooperation in a World of Power, June 2024, https://drodrik.scholar.harvard.edu/sites/scholar.harvard.edu/files/dani-rodrik/files/rethinking_global_governance_06212024.pdf
D. Rodrik, S. Walt, How to construct a new global order, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2024, 40, 256–268.
Session N. 6. Military power, security and a peace order
J.M. Keynes, The economic consequences of the peace, Macmillan, 1919
M. Mann, Capitalism and militarism, in M. Shaw (ed.) War, state and society, Macmillan, 1984.
E.P. Thompson, Notes on exterminism, the last stage of civilisation, in Exterminism and cold war, Verso, 1982
J. Galtung, There are alternatives! Four roads to peace and security, Spokesman, 1984, ch.1,4.
O.Palme Commission, Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues, Common security: a blueprint for survival, Simon & Schuster, 1982
Session N. 7. Civil society, conflict and democracy in the international order
B. Silver, C. Payne, Crises of World Hegemony and the Speeding Up of Social History, in P. Dutkiewicz, T. Casier, J. A. Scholte (eds), Hegemony and world order, Routledge, 2021.
J.A. Scholte, After Liberal Global Democracy: New Methodology for New Praxis, Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-019-00265-3
D. della Porta (ed.) The Global Justice Movement, Paradigm, 2007, Ch.1, 2.
R. Marchetti, M. Pianta, Global social movement networks and the politics of change, in P. Utting, M. Pianta, A. Ellersiek (eds) Global justice activism and policy reform in Europe, Routledge, 2012.