Area and International Studies: Political Economy

Abstract

Modern ‘political economy’ explores relationships among economic and political organizations, institutions, policies, and outcomes. There has never been a consensus on the theories and methods that should structure the exploration of these relationships and the debate over how best to understand these matters has evolved over time. The interpretation offered here simplifies both of these dimensions of difference. It distinguishes two periods of post-war history—the Fordist and Neo-liberal eras—based on the dominant paradigm of economic organization prevailing in the rich capitalist democracies of the global North. For each period, the most important theoretical approaches to political economy, the regions of the world to which they were applied, and the social science departments in which they were based are identified. It is argued that, in the second or neo-liberal era, political economy analyses can be broadly grouped into those that took a critical stance on existing economic paradigms, institutions and policies, and those which accepted the core assumptions of neo-classical economics and the neo-liberal policies and institutions that this approach to economics has legitimated. The relationship between area and international studies and political economy varies, both by period and, to some degree, by the type of political economy in question.