POLS 4525-1
Spring 2015
Dr. Nadia Farah
Office: Waleed 2012
Email: nfarah@aucegypt.edu
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO
GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
Class hours: WU, 2:00-3:15pm
Class Room: Waleed CP 65
Office Hours:WU, 3:30-4:45pm
Since the end of WWII, Transnational corporations increased their efforts to penetrate
national economies that were usually highly protected by the Keynesian economic
policies. The main effort of nations after the end of the war was to stabilize market
forces in order to promote growth and lower unemployment rates. In the face of
highly protectionist economic policies, some big corporations sought to extend its
influence in other countries' national economies by establishing branches in these
countries, while the administration of these branches are concentrated in the Mother
country. The movement of Transnational Corporations led to the internationalization
not only of trade as was practiced for centuries, but to internationalize the production
of goods and services, i.e., production for the moment is carried on a world scale. In
return the growth of the TNCs infiltration of national economies on a global scale
required the integration of all economies in one international economic system based
on market forces and comparative advantages. The role of the state in regulating the
economy was gradually curtailed and the power of the International Financial and
trade Institutions such as the World Bank (WB), The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) increased tremendously as the
institutions regulating the World Economy.
The economic globalization in the second half of the Twentieth Century has affected
social groups in different and uneven ways. While owners of capital on the world
scale have increased their profits through the global market, workers, farmers and
others have suffered from the globalization of the economy. Developing Economies
had to integrate their economies in the international system and adopt free trade rules.
The WB, the IMF and the WTO imposed Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) to
restructure Third World’s economies and to bring them into the international Free
Market Systems. The transition period in developing countries has generated high
inflation, unemployment, increasing income inequalities and rising poverty levels that
threatened the political stability of many nations.
However, globalization also brought high rates of economic growth to certain
developing countries such as countries in East Asia, South Asia and a few countries in
Latin America.
Globalization also resulted in the formation of a global social movement resisting
globalization and calling for renewed state protection of jobs and weak economic
sectors. This global movement of resistance can sometimes use extreme measures like
violent demonstrations that we witness every time the WTO is holding its
international conferences.
This course investigates the new theories of political economy, the international
economic organizations ruling the global economic system, the new role of the state
in the global system, the impact of globalization on development, and the counter
globalization movement.
SCHEDULE
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2


Study of International Political Economy
New Economic Theories
Week 3



Political Significance of the New Economic Theories
Neocolonialism, Modernization and Dependency
Crisis and Restructuring of the New International Division of Labor.
Week 4
 The Trading System
Week 5
 The International Monetary System
 The International Financial System
Week 6
 The State and the Multinationals
Week 7
 The State and Economic Development
Week 8


Globalization and Development Strategies and Development Options
Globalization, Economic Policy and Employment
Week 9
 Globalization, Poverty and Inequality
Week 10
 Globalization and Gender
Week 11
 Africa: Exclusion and the containment of Anarchy
 Islamic Revolt
Week 12
 Developmental States of East Asia
 Democracy, Civil Society and Post-Development in Latin America
Week 13
 Conditions of Hegemony and Possibilities of Resistance
 Development As Resistance
Week 14
 Counter-Hegemonic Globalization
 Globalization, Popular and Protest Movements
TEXTBOOKS & PAPERS
TEXTBOOKS
 Gilpin, Robert: Global Political Economy: Understanding the
International Economic Order. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
2001
 Hoogvelt, Ankie: Globalization and the Post-Colonial World: The New
Political Economy of Development. NY: Pelgrave Macmillan, 2nd Edition,
2001.
ADDITIONAL READINGS
I. Globalization and Development
1.
Acker, Joan: “Gender, capitalism and Globalization,: Critical Sociology 30 (1), 2004
2.
Aisbett, Emma: “Globalization, Poverty and Inequality: Are the Criticisms vague, vested
or Valid,” Paper prepared for the NBER Pre-Conference on Globalization, Poverty and
Inequality, October 24-25, 2003
3.
Cagaty, Nilufer & Ertuk, Korkuk: “Gender and Globalization: A Macro-Economic
Perspective,” ILO Policy Integration Department, World Commission on the Social
Dimension of Globalization, Working Papers, No.19, May 2004
4.
Castillo, Lily M. Bravo: “Globalization Strategic Options for Developing Economies,”
orpheus.ucsd.edu/las/studies/pdfs/bravo.pdf
5.
Bardhan, Pranab: “The Impact of Globalization on the Poor,” Bureau of Research in
Economic Analysis for Development (BREAD) Policy Paper, No.003, July 2004
6.
Bardhan, Pranab: “Globalization and the Limits to Poverty Alleviation,”
www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/workshops/BardhanGlobLimit.pdf, draft: March
2003
7.
Black, Sandra E. & Brainerd, Elizabeth: “Importing Equality: The Impact of
Globalization on Gender Discrimination,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol.
57, Issue 4, 2004
8.
Goulet, Dennis: “Changing Development Debates Under Globalization,” Paper delivered
to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Workshop on Social Dimensions of
Globalization. Vatican City, 21-22 February, 1999.
9.
Heintz, James: “Globalization, Economic Policy and Employment: Poverty and Gender
Implications” Geneva: ILO, 2006
10. Lapeyre, Frederic: “Globalization and Structural Adjustment as A Development Tool,”
ILO Policy Integration Department, World Commission on the Social Dimension of
Globalization, Working Papers, No. 31, July 2004
11. Nayyar, Deepak: “ Globalization and Development Strategies,” paper prepared for
UNECTAD X: High level Round Table on Trade and Development: Directions for
the Twenty First Century. Bangkok, February 12, 2000
12. Page, John & Van Gilder, Linda: “Globalization, Growth and Poverty Reduction in the
Middle East and North Africa 1970-1999,” Paper presented to the Fourth
Mediterranean Development Forum , Amman, Jordan, April 7-10, 2002
13. Scott, Allen & Storper, Michael: “Regions Globalization Development,” Regional
Studies, Vol. 37, 2003
14. Wade, Robert Hunter: “Globalization, Poverty and Income Distribution: Does the Liberal
Argument Hold?” Development Studies Institute (DESTIN): Working Papers Series,
London: London School of Economics, No. 02-33, 2002
II. Counter Globalization & Hegemony
1.
Betts, Alexander: “Is A hegemonic Power Necessary for Functioning of International
Regimes,” Federalism E-Journal, Vol.2, 2005
2.
Brabazon, Honor: “ Development As Resistance: An Examination of the Impact of
Development on Globalization,” Undercurrent, Vol.1, No.1, 2004
3.
Deak, Andrew: “The Condition of Hegemony and the Possibility of Resistance,”
Undercurrent, Vol. II, No. 3, 2005
4.
Evans, Peter: “Counter-Hegemonic Globalization: Transnational Social Movements in the
Contemporary Political Economy,” in Janoski et.al. Handbook of Political Sociology.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005
5.
Higgott, Richard: “Globalization the Benefits and the Threats,”
6.
Lubeck, Paul: “Islamist Responses to Globalization: Cultural Conflict in Egypt, Algeria and
Malaysia,” In The Myth of "Ethnic Conflict": Politics, Economics, and "Cultural" Violence,
edited by Beverly Crawford and Ronnie D. Lipschutz. University of California Press/University of
California International and Area Studies Digital Collection, Edited Volume #98, pp. 293-319, 1998.
7.
Podonik, Bruce & Reifer, Thomas Ehrlich : “The Globalization Protest Movement in
Comparative Perspective,” Journal of World Systems Research, Vol. X, No.1, Winter 2004
8.
Ramos, Leonardo Cesar Souza: “Collective Political Agency in the XXIST Century: Civil
Society in the Age of Globalization,” CSGR Working Papers Series, No. 187/06, January
2006
9.
Walton, John: “Globalization and Popular Movements,” Paper prepared for the Conference on
The Future of Revolutions in the Context of Globalization, University of California, Santa
Barbara, January 25-27, 2001
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Participation
10%
Mid-Term Exam I
30%
Mid-Term Exam II 30%
Final Exam
30%
CLASS POLICIES
1. No one is to enter the classroom after the instructor
2. Cell phones are to be switched off
3. No taping of lectures
4. Cheating during written exams is heavily penalized. A student caught cheating
will earn an F for the Whole course and will be referred to AUC Academic
Integrity Committee.