YORK UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
AS/POLS 6281.03
Winter 2008

Topics in Political Economy: Comparative and International II

Lecture Time: Friday, 8:30—11:30AM
Lecture Location: South Ross 156
Professor: Rodney Loeppky
Office Location: Ross S631
E-mail: rloeppky@yorku.ca
Office Hours: Monday, 11:30-1:30
Telephone: 416-735-2100 x 30085

Course Prerequisite:

none

Course Description:

This course is intended to give students an opportunity to explore contemporary concepts of comparative and international political economy in relation to their own research interests. The ultimate objective of the course is to provide a workshop venue, in which students can pursue their research interests in relation to their Master’s Research Papers (MRPs) or PhD dissertations. Continuing from the rich theoretical material offered in Part I of this course, the seminar will begin with an initial foray into contemporary texts that have incorporated both comparative and international political economy, as well as provoked some intellectual controversies. Near the end of term, the seminar will be primarily student-driven, as we explore individual research projects in a productive and constructive manner.

Course Requirements, Evaluation and Due Dates:

Depending on student numbers, the instructor may require students to give one short presentation on one week’s readings. It should be only 10-15 minutes explore dominant themes in the texts. Near the end of semester, students will present their MA, PhD or other research project, following which we should have a productive and constructive discussion on the specificities of the project proposed. This part of the seminar is intended to help students get a ‘head start’ on PhD dissertations, MRPs or material for submission to academic journals. As such, fellow students should bear in mind that these are works in progress, requiring constructive but critical feedback. At the end of semester, all students are responsible for a term paper, corresponding to their project/proposal presentation. Papers should not exceed 6000 words.

Course breakdown:

Participation: 20%

Project/Proposal Presentation: 30%

Final Paper: 50%

Course Readings and Organization:

January 4: Introductions, Course Organization and Student Presentations.

January 11: IR/IPE and Historical Forays

Benno Teschke, The Myth of 1648: class, geopolitics, and the making of modern international relations (London: Verso, 2003).

January 18

Hannes Lacher, Beyond Globalization: Capitalism, territoriality and the international relations of modernity (New York: Routledge, 2006).

January 25: Imperialism in Historical and Comparative Perspective

Ellen Wood, Empire of Capital (London: Verso, 2003).

February 1: The Current Conjucture?

Robert Brenner, The Boom and the Bubble: the US in the world economy (London: Verso, 2002).

February 8: Accumulation by Dispossession?

David Harvey, The New Imperialism (New York : Oxford University Press, 2005)

**February 15 – No Class – Reading Week

February 22: Finance and Imperialism

Peter Gowan, The Global Gamble (New York: Verso, 1999).

March 1: Gender and Political Economy

Shirin Rai, Gender and the Political Economy of Development: From Nationalism to Globalization (Malden, Mass: Polity, 2001)

March 8: Capitalist Development and Variance

David Coates (ed). Varieties of Capitalism, Varieties of Approaches (New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

March 15: Differential Accumulation?

Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, The Global Political Economy of Israel (London and Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2002).

March 22

Research Presentation ________________________________

March 28 – No Class – International Studies Association Convention

April 3 – Makeup Class for February 15

Research Presentation ________________________________

April 4 – Makeup Class for March 28, if necessary.

Research Presentation ________________________________