International Politics and Contemporary Global Change

  • Programme runs: Monday 23 July to Friday 10 August 2012
  • Facilitated by the Geography, Politics and Sociology

    • Programme outline

    Are you interested in understanding the politics of contemporary global change? What is the future of globalisation? Does the nation-state have a role in the global political economy? This module looks at the transformations that are taking place in issue areas such as finance, production, culture, development and social movements.

    The programme is organised in three sections:

    • Theories of international political economy - Students look at current theoretical debates in international political economy, in particular, with reference to the role of the state and concepts of power, hegemony and globalisation.
    • Global transformations - Students examine the origin and current role of contemporary international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF; off-shore banking, and financial de-regulation; multinational corporations, the new international division of labour; and global culture.
    • Problems of development - Students explore the causes and consequences of the debt crisis, structural programmes of adjustment, and alternative paths to development, such as those associated with the new social movements.

    Outline of Syllabus

    • Introduction: The great globalisation debate
    • Global Change: Theoretical perspectives
    • Bretton Woods: The rise and demise of embedded liberalism
    • Off-shore banking and financial deregulation: The expansion of global finance
    • Corporate Power and Global Production: The rise of the multinational corporation
    • Contemporary Patterns of Global production: Global networks
    • Global trade: Global markets
    • Globalisation and Culture: Concepts and current debates
    • Mobile People: Globalisation and migration
    • Globalisation and the Environment: Problems and responses
    • Global inequality: Poverty, development and hunger
    • The Debt Crisis: causes and consequences
    • Global Governance: Structures, institutions and civil society
    • The New Social Movements: from local activism to the World Social Forum
    • Concluding session

    Preparation and assessment

    Students will be given advance notice of all pre-programme reading material.

    Students will be assessed by a group presentation and a 2,500 word individual essay. At the end of the summer school students will be awarded a certificate stating the programme studied and their grade.