2007 Handbooks

The political economic focus within the discipline of international relations considers the way in which societies apply political power to organise their productive forces and resources to generate wealth. The way in which a country 'orders' its system of wealth generation is a crucial factor in defining how national political and economic systems mesh with the world system. The unit critically assesses the major theories of how the economic system works, the sources and forces of change and their impact on national and international distribution of wealth. Core components of the IPE include foreign investment, trade, international finance, multinational corporations, states, NGOs and multilateral organisations like the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. A primary research element of the course is the group presentations of case studies that investigate multinational corporations, international institutions and processes of globalisation.