The Political Economy of International Trade (POL3169)
This module description relates to the academic year 2012/3.
| Lecturer(s) | Dr Matthew Eagleton-Pierce |
|---|---|
| Credit Value | 30.00 |
| ECTS Value | 15 |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Duration of Module | Two terms |
| Total Student Study Time | 300 Hours (22 x 2 hour seminars and 256 hours independent study) |
Aims
This module examines the relationships between politics and economics in the area of international trade. The examination of world trade is important for how it sheds light on the complexity of capitalism, including its structures, processes, and outcomes. The module is organised around debates in four areas: (1) conceptual frameworks derived from the broader study of political economy; (2) the history of ideas on trade from the seventeenth century to the present; (3) the post-war international, institutional organisation of trade; and (4) major contemporary problems, including those related to agriculture, industrial policy, services, intellectual property, 'fair trade' branding, preferential agreements, and the environmental crisis. Students are asked to think critically about how trade is conceived and governed in the international system, in particular through attention to issues of power and equity. Struggles over the meaning and practice of 'development' connect many of these issues. There are two main questions addressed throughout the module: (1) why and how does the political economy of international trade take its current form? (2) how does the international trading system impact on particular actors, including governments; firms and other producers; civil society groups and other people?
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to demonstrate:
Module-specific skills:
1) Detailed knowledge of debates within the political economy of international trade, including relevant conceptual frameworks, the history of ideas on trade, the multilateral institutional organisation of trade, and major contemporary problems in key issue areas.
2) Demonstrate the ability to articulate ones' own ethical and political positions on questions of the political economy of international trade.
Discipline-specific skills:
3) Ability to critically analyse both empirical and theoretical material.
4) Ability to deploy theoretical arguments and apply them to empirical case studies.
5) Ability to engage in critique.
Personal and key skills:
6) Ability to construct reasoned argument.
7) Ability to communicate effectively in speech and writing.
8) Ability to work independently and with peers to achieve common goals.
9) Use ICT appropriately.
Learning/Teaching Methods
The module includes 22 weekly two-hour seminar classes. Attendance of seminars is mandatory. Every student is expected to have performed a critical reading of core assigned materials before each seminar and demonstrate familiarity in class debate. Students are also strongly encouraged to read texts under the 'recommended readings' each week. With the exception of weeks 1 and 20, which are largely devoted to watching films, each seminar will feature two solo student presentations of 10 minutes each. Each presenter will address one of three questions listed above the readings of each week. Handouts and visual aids to accompany presentations are necessary. Each seminar will also feature exercises among small groups, including the discussion of a presentation or a new question or problem. At the beginning and end of each seminar, the lecturer will provide some guidance on the main points. Week 13 will take the form of policy simulation exercise in the style of an international trade negotiation.
Assignments
Formative Essay Plan 1-2 pages
Seminar presentation 10 minutes
First Essay 2,500 words
Second Essay 2,500 words
Assessment
subject to confirmation
50% Exam 2 hours
20% First Essay 2,500 words
20% Second Essay 2,500 words
10% Seminar presentation - 10 minutes + handout
Syllabus Plan
1. Introduction
Part I: Analytical Tools of the Trade
2. Visions and Divisions of International Trade
3. Concepts of Power in the Political Economy of Trade
Part II: The History of Ideas on International Trade
4. The Mercantilist Writers and the Rise of the Nation-State
5. Classical Liberal Thought: Adam Smith and His Legacy
6. Trade Politics in the Age of Extremes
7. From Embedded Liberalism to Neoliberalism
Part III: The International Organisation of Trade
8. The Making of a Western Club: The GATT
9. Critiquing the Orthodoxy: The 'Rise and Fall' of UNCTAD
10. Unpacking the Institutional Architecture of the WTO
11. Beyond the Technocrats: The 'Democratisation' of Trade Politics
Part IV: Contemporary Problems
12. Agricultural Trade I: Offensive and Defensive Interests
13. Agricultural Trade II: Simulation of the African Cotton Problem
14. Making the Next iPod: Industrial Policy and Trade Policy
15. All the World's a Call Centre: Trade in Services
16. Intellectual Property and its Discontents
17. The New Ethics of Consumerism: Branding 'Fair Trade'
18. Preferential Agreements: Motives and Consequences
19. The Trade-Environment Nexus: The Slow Ecological Awakening
20. Documentary: Manufactured Landscapes
21. Summary and Future Directions
22. Revision and Exam Strategy
Indicative Basic Reading List
Bernard M. Hoekman and Michel M. Kostecki, The Political Economy of the World Trading System
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).
Douglas Irwin, Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996).
Fatoumata Jawara and Aileen Kwa, Behind the Scenes at the WTO: The Real World of International Trade Negotiations/Lessons of Cancún (London: Zed Books, 2004).
Andrew Lang, World Trade Law after Neoliberalism: Reimagining the Global Economic Order (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Amrita Narlikar, The World Trade Organization: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).
Indicative web based resources e.g. Webct:
Other web-based resources:
World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development http://ictsd.org
