Global Political Economy: Contemporary Theories

321 Pages·2012·2.03 MB·English

by  Ronen Palan (editor)

Global Political Economy
Global Political Economy (GPE) is a broad and varied field of study and draws insight
from a great number of fields and approaches. One of the serious problems confronting
academics and students is the sheer mass of theories and debates in the field. This
textbook provides up-to-date summaries of the debates and approaches that are currently
at the forefront of both European and American GPE.
This new revised and expanded second edition contains updated versions of most
of the original chapters. In addition, there is a new section entitled ‘Emerging issues
in contemporary Global Political Economy (GPE)’ and six new chapters.
The second edition is structured around three themes:
• Part I focuses on the six central concepts of GPE: state, firm, power, labour, finance
and globalization. Each one of them has been increasingly subjected to a rigorous
and critical evaluation in recent scholarship.
• Part II covers a select number of theories and debates currently at the forefront
of GPE: game theory; behavioural economics; neo-, sociological and evolutionary
institutionalism; neo-Marxism; development and post-development; libidinal
economies; and economic constructivism.
• Part III, which is new to this edition, is entitled ‘Emerging issues in contemporary
Global Political Economy (GPE)’ and focuses on war, state and International
Political Economy (IPE); race, gender and culture; environmental politics; and the
rise of China.
This is essential reading for all serious scholars and advanced students of IPE.
Ronen Palan is Professor of International Political Economy at City University,
London, UK.

Global Political
Economy
Contemporary theories
Second edition
Edited by
Ronen Palan
First published 2000
Second edition published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2000, 2013 selection and editorial matter, Ronen Palan;
contributors, their contributions
The right of Ronen Palan to be identified as editor of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification
and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Global political economy: contemporary theories/edited by
Ronen Palan. – 2nd ed.
p. cm. – (RIPE series in global political economy)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. International economic relations. 2. Economic policy.
I. Palan, Ronen, 1957–.
HF1411.G6469 2013
337 – dc23 2012008711
ISBN: 978-0-415-69407-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-69411-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-09776-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Baskerville
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon
Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables x
Notes on contributors xi
Acknowledgements xv
List of abbreviations xvi
1 New trends in Global Political Economy 1
RONEN PALAN
PART I
Concepts and themes in Global Political Economy
(GPE) 15
2 Late twentieth-century globalization: the evolution
and differentiation of states and forms of public
authority 17
MICK MOORE
3 The firm, the corporation and contemporary capitalism 29
RICHARD PHILLIPS
4 Labour shapes the global political economy 46
ROBERT O’BRIEN
5 Money and finance in a globalized economy 58
ANASTASIA NESVETAILOVA
6 Globalization: a project in crisis 75
PHILIP MCMICHAEL
vi Contents
PART II
Theoretical innovation and contemporary debates 89
7 Game theory: international trade, conflict and
co-operation 91
LISA CARLSON AND RAYMOND DACEY
8 New directions for international political economy:
drawing from behavioural economics 104
DEBORAH KAY ELMS
9 New institutionalism and International Relations 117
HENDRIK SPRUYT
10 An evolutionary approach to global political economy 129
HERMAN SCHWARTZ
11 Globalization and theories of regulation 140
MICHAEL DUNFORD
12 Transnational historical materialism: ‘neo-Gramscian’
theories of class formation and world order 162
HENK OVERBEEK
13 Trends in development theory 177
JAN NEDERVEEN PIETERSE
14 Constructivism in International Political Economy 193
ANDRÉ BROOME
15 Libidinal political economy: a psycho-social analysis
of financial violence 205
EARL GAMMON AND DUNCAN WIGAN
PART III
Emerging issues in contemporary Global Political
Economy (GPE) 217
16 From environmental to ecological political economy 219
SIMON DALBY, RYAN KATZ-ROSENE AND MATTHEW PATERSON
17 The rise of China and the future of the international
political economy 232
MARK BEESON
Contents vii
18 Globalizing globalization: a worldist intervention 244
L. H. M. LING
Bibliography 255
Index 298

Figures
1.1 Discrete mathematics 5
1.2 Continuous mathematics 5
7.1 Games 93
7.2 Two-level game 101
8.1 A typical value function for prospect theory 105
8.2 A hypothetical weighting function 109
11.1 Walrasian and decentralized markets 142
11.2 Trends in profitability, 1929–2010: the United States case 145
11.3 Trends in the distribution of income, 1913–2008: pre-Second
World War inequality, the post-war great compression and
the neo-liberal inequality 146
11.4 Average real income, excluding capital gains, of top 1 per cent
of tax units and remaining 99 per cent in the United States,
1913–2008 157
11.5 Average annual rates of GDP growth measured in 1990
US$ converted at Geary–Khamis PPPs over several successive
economic cycles 159
13.1 Dimensions of development theories 183
13.2 General trends in development theory over time 188
14.1 Methodological distinctions in economic constructivism 197
16.1 Herman Daly on the economy and the ecosystem 223