POLS 246-01 Global Political Economy
| Pablo Toral |
| Spring 2008, MWF10:00-10:50 AM; T 11:00-11:50AM |
| Room MI 109 |
| Phone, x2166 |
| Email, toralp@beloit.edu |
| Office hours: MI 112A, |
| MWF: 3:00-5:00PM
T: 9:00-11:00AM |
| by appointment and when you catch me on campus |
Prerequisite:
POLS 160 International Politics, ECON 199 recommended.
This course may be used to fulfill requirements for the following majors and minors
Majors: international relations and political science.
Minors: It may also count for the environmental studies major and the minors in women’s and gender studies, African studies, Asian studies, European studies and Latin American and Caribbean studies, with permission of the director of these programs. If you intend to use this course for one of these minors, you need to talk to me and to the minor’s director during the first week of the semester.
Course description
Political economy is about the interaction of two elements: the political and the economic; power and wealth. Understanding how the two come into play in international politics provides a better understanding of international relations. Global political economy looks at the interplay of power and wealth on a global scale by addressing the major issues concerning globalization – a trend producing increasing interconnectedness of economies and societies. Topics include but are not limited to: issues of definition in globalization; the erosion of state sovereignty; global trade and investment; the role of the IMF, the World Bank, and other prominent actors in the world economy; the antiglobalization movement; gender; race; the environment; human rights; and cultural preservation.
Aims and Purposes
This course has two main purposes. The first one is to examine how the economy and economic institutions are embedded in a complex web of social, cultural, environmental and political networks and institutions that shape one another, at different levels, from the global to the local. The second purpose is to make students realize how politicians and social actors see the economy. For them it is an arena in which political battles are fought. The economy creates winners and losers and actors try to use the existing institutions according to their material interests. We will study the impact of the liberalization of trade and financial flows, the relocation of production facilities around the world and shifts in trade and investment patterns, as well as changes in the distribution of wealth. We will discuss some of the political effects of globalization, such as the erosion of state sovereignty and the redefinition of international politics on a global scale, as well as the concepts of citizenship and political allegiance. We will discuss the cultural effects of globalization on the protection and preservation of our cultural and linguistic heritage. We will look at how globalization is affecting gender relations. The impact of globalization on environmentalism and environmental activism will lead to a final discussion on the anti-globalization movement.
Course goals/objectives/outcomes:
An important goal of the course is to discuss critically the meaning of globalization and its impact on societies. Politicians, pundits, pop stars and the people on the streets are making value judgments about it. The course’s purpose is not to inform the students so they can take a stand but to create a space for discussion of the dominant voices of the globalization and anti-globalization debate. We will hear from different social groups in different parts of the world in order to learn how globalization is affecting their lives.
Course readings
All of the books are in the bookstore and on reserve in the library.
Bales, Kevin (2004), Disposable People. New Slavery in the Global Economy. Berkeley, University of California Press (978-0-520-24384-2).
Clarke, Kamari Maxine and Deborah A. Thomas (2006), Globalization and Race. Transformations in the Cultural Production of Blackness. Durham, Duke University Press (0-8223-3772-X).
Fredric, Jameson and Masao Miyoshi (eds.) (1998), The Cultures of Globalization. Durham, Duke University Press. (0-8223-2169-6)
Keck, Margaret E. and Kathryn Sikkink (1998), Activists beyond Borders. Ithaca, Cornell University Press (0-8014-8456-1).
Kohli, Atul (2004), State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (0-521-54525-0).
Moore, Mike (2003), A World Without Walls. Freedom, Development, Free Trade and Global Governance. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (0521827019).
Ravenhill, John (ed.) (2005), Global Political Economy. Oxford, Oxford University Press. (0-19-926584-4)
V. Spike Peterson (2003) A Critical Rewriting of Global Political Economy: Integrating Reproductive, Productive and Virtual Economies. New York: Routledge. (0415314399)
Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2006), Making Globalization Work. New York: W.W. Norton (13: 978-0-393-06122-2).
Weller, Robert (2006), Discovering Nature. Globalization and Environmental Culture in China and Taiwan. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (0521548411).
Course Requirements
3 essays, 25% each
Group project, 25%
Research essays
5 double-spaced pages each, fully referenced. Each essay will allow you to take a theme from the readings and apply it to a case study of your interest.
- First research essay: Does economic globalization exist? Illustrate with a specific case study.
- Second research essay: Does cultural globalization exist? Illustrate with a case study.
- Book review: review and critique Stiglitz’s arguments and provide your own suggestions on how to make globalization work. Your answers have to be supported by empirical evidence. In other words, this assignment is a combination of a book review and a research essay.
Group project (25%)
You are part of a group of consultants advising a government, an international organization or a non-state actor on a strategy to brave the challenges and opportunities of globalization (10 pages). In this paper (about 10 pages, double-spaced), you will need to show that you have a good understanding of the challenges and opportunities offered by globalization. You will be given a group grade for the first draft and a group grade for the final draft. You will also receive an individual grade for your section in the final draft, as well as your role in the group, as evaluated by your peers. Your final grade will be based on the three.
Extra credit
You can help boost your grade by turning in up to three assignments for extra credit. These assignments are just a one-page critique of a talk you attend at the college (it could be one of the student presentations at student symposium.) In your assignments, you need to address the following: summarize the main arguments provided by the speaker, relate them to our class readings, and provide your own critique (strengths and weaknesses of the presenter’s argument and suggestions to make the presentation stronger).
Class attendance and participation (+-30%)
Your involvement in class will make your
final grade go up or down by as much as +-30%. This offers a great opportunity for those who feel you have not done as well as you could in your assignments. If you work hard in class, you can make up! I expect you to participate in class discussions actively. Learning is not a passive exercise, in which you listen to your professor lecture on a particular topic. I expect you to participate in class discussions by asking questions about the readings, by analyzing the topics critically and by questioning the views of the authors, the professor, and those of your own peers. Critical thinking is an ongoing process of continuous assessment and reassessment of the dominant views in a field of study. My goal of is to engage everybody in a permanent dialogue with the readings and with each other. I value the quality of your comments. Do not just repeat what has been said in class. Provide an analysis of the readings. I will also ask you to give presentations in class, in which you will analyze the readings critically. I will also expect you to participate in online debates. We will be using Moodle on a regular basis for submissions and debates. Take some time to familiarize yourself with it.
Grading policy
Your grades will be a reflection of your ability to develop original arguments. I expect you to be able to understand the material that we study in class, analyze it critically, and develop original views, by building upon the ideas of the authors discussed in class or by rejecting them.
A - An original essay. The students’ arguments are supported by references to the reading assignments and class discussions, as well as by additional research. The paper has a clear focus, is well written, and has a good structure. It is rooted in one or some of the main debates in the field, provides a new and original approach and has enough evidence to support the student’s claims.
B - The paper addresses an original argument. It shows a good understanding of the main debates in the discipline and is based on a clear understanding of the reading material. It is supported by original research, but fails to make a compelling argument for lack of evidence or poor structure.
C - The student does not develop an original argument but shows a good understanding of the reading assignments and the discussions.
D- The student does not develop original ideas well and only shows a partial understanding of the reading material.
F - No original argument and poor understanding of the reading material. Use of poor or no bibliographic references (this is normally the main reason to fail an assignment). Plagiarism (to appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from another).
Late assignments
I will accept assignments up to a week after the deadline, but the grade will fall by half a letter grade each day.
If you need help with your research in the library, try the “Ask a Librarian” link on the library home page, http://www.beloit.edu/~libhome or contact Chris Nelson at ext. 2544 or via email at nelsoncn@beloit.edu.
If you have a disability and would like to speak to someone about possible accommodations, please visit the LSSC (Learning Support Services Center) located on the first floor of 635 College St. You will need to provide appropriate documentation of your disability to Diane Arnzen, Director of the LSSC (arnzend@beloit.edu). If you wish to receive accommodations in my class please provide me the LSSC Accommodation Verification Letter dated for this semester as soon as possible so your learning needs may be appropriately met.
Free individual peer tutoring is available for most courses through the Learning Supports Services Center, 635 College Street, X 2572. Professors recommend all tutors who are then trained by the LSSC staff. Contact the LSSC to find out more.
Course Outline
| Week 1 What is global political economy?, Jan. 16-19 |
| Ravenhill, 1 (in Global Political Economy, GPE) |
| Week 2 What is globalization?, Jan. 22-26 |
| McGrew (GPE), Barber, Hobsbawn, Huntington, Appadurai (reserves) |
| Week 3 Economic globalization: global trade, Jan. 29-Feb. 2 |
| Winham (in GPE), Ravenhill, 5 (in GPE) |
| Week 4 Economic globalization: global finance, Feb. 5-9 |
| Helleiner (GPE), Pauly (GPE), rugman (GPE) |
| Week 5 Economic globalization: states vs markets, Feb. 12-16 |
| Moore/Kohli |
| First essay due on Friday at 5:00PM |
| Week 6 Economic globalization: promise of development?, Feb. 19-23 |
| Wade (GPE), Thomas (GPE) |
| Group project: abstract due on Wednesday at 5:00PM |
| Week 7 Economic globalization: slavery, Feb. 26-March 2 |
| Bales |
| Group project: first draft due on Wednesday at 5:00PM |
| Week 8 Political globalization: states withering away?, March 12-16 |
| Hay (GPE), Williams (GPE) |
| Group project: final draft due on Friday at 5:00PM |
| Week 9 Political globalization: a new international society?, March 19-23 |
| Keck and Sikkink |
| Week 10 Cultural globalization, March 26-30 |
| Fredric and Miyoshi |
| Week 11 Cultural globalization: a global race?, April 2-6 |
| Clarke and Thomas |
| Second research essay due on Friday at 5:00PM |
| Week 12 Gendered globalization, April 9-13 |
| V. Spike Peterson |
| Week 13 Globalization and the environment, April 16-20 |
| Dauvergne (GPE), Weller |
| Week 14 Resisting globalization, April 23-27 |
| Esteva and Prakash, Harding, Shiva, Subcomandante Marcos, World Social Forum, International Forum on Globalization (reserve) |
| Week 15 Making globalization work, April 30-May 2 |
| Stiglitz |
| Book review due on Wednesday at 5:00PM |
Congratulations! You made it!
