Admission requirements
Admission to the MA International Relations, track Global Political Economy, or track International Studies (for students of the February 2017 intake).
Description
The rise of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) and the emergence of the G20 have recently been juxtaposed with financial crises in the US and the EU to suggest that the poles of global economic power are shifting. As a result of this shift, policy-makers are increasingly required to consider issues in contemporary international relations from a variety of non-Western standpoints. Unfortunately, the academic field of Global Political Economy (GPE) has traditionally been orientated around Western ideas and frameworks that merely incorporate the non-West as case studies, leaving policy-makers devoid of the conceptual tools necessary to address global problems today. The Global Political Economy Specialization Core Course seeks to correct this ‘Western bias’ in GPE by critically exploring a range of contemporary issues across a number of areas or regions from the vantage point of non-Western theoretical positions. In so doing, this core course challenges students to cultivate a truly international mindset that is culturally aware and can generate more effective policy in the future.
Course objectives
The course begins by addressing the key assumptions made by traditional approaches to GPE and how to reconsider and challenge these assumptions. Students then critically explore alternative and critical approaches to GPE. These approaches are applied throughout the course to a series of core issues in the study of the global political economy, including: global finance, trade agreements, financial lending, aid, and international financial institutions, migration and the globalization of production, financial crises, structural inequality and development, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and fair trade, and environmental politics. The course requires students to continually ask what human beings (can) do to change their world and to perceive issues from a myriad of cultural standpoints. With this in mind students will critically evaluate policy responses to a specific issue from an alternative viewpoint to ensure cross-cultural comparability and critique. Students will also be expected to employ the theoretical knowledge gained from the first semester concepts, ideas, and beliefs core course and comparative regionalism courses to explore alternative approaches to understanding each of the issues studied. In this way, this core module encourages students to foster a critical and comparative approach in their study of IPE that is attentive to non-Western ideas and frameworks. The concluding section explores the future of the global political economy, paying specific attention to emerging economies and new frameworks, such as the BRICS bank and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB).
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminars
Assessment method
Weekly journals (short papers): 25 percent
Participation: 15 percent
Mid-term take home examination with essay questions: 20 percent
Final paper: 40 percent
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average.
Resit
The resit is only available to students whose mark of the final examined element, the research essay is insufficient.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
T.B.A.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
Not applicable.