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CHAPTER 5
ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
Overview:
International Political Economy (IPE) is about states and markets, but it is about more than just states and
markets, as the analysis of the past four chapters should have made clear. Still, it is deceptively easy to oversimplify
IPE. Liberalism focuses on laissez faire, free markets, and greed. Economic nationalism is about states, state power,
and security. Structuralism focuses on capitalist exploitation and class warfare. Each of these over-simplifications
contains a kernel of truth, but much is lost in the process of simplifying, too. As Einstein said, it is important to
make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.
An important intellectual initiative within IPE is the movement to expand the field, make it more inclusive
of different ideas, and keep it from being oversimplified. This chapter presents two alternative perspectives of
mainstream IPE theory that expand IPE’s domain and make it even more relevant and interesting.
We begin with constructivism, which argues that our values, interests, and beliefs are critical variables in
explaining institutional processes and actions. Ideas have causal power, and the transformation of ideas can create
political, economic, and social changes.
The feminist contribution to IPE focuses on dominant gender roles and values. Feminist IPE is concerned
about the status of women and the intellectual biases that are introduced when we ignore gender. Feminist IPE
reminds us of the importance of family security, reproduction, and gendered beliefs in today’s world.
Learning Objectives:
• To discuss how fundamental changes in values and norms lead to policy changes.
• To understand some dynamics of conflict and cooperation through a focus on non-material and non- military
forces.
• To discuss the actors and mechanisms that spread norms and beliefs to policy makers, states, and international
institutions.
• To understand the main tools and concepts used in constructivist analysis and apply them to specific political
economy issues.
• To discuss the difference between gender and sex and how it is relevant to social science and IPE analysis.
• To point out different assumptions and assertions within the feminist perspective in IPE.
• To identify and discuss the ways that economics and IPE are biased in favor of masculine gender values and
behaviors.
• To explain how economic development alters gender roles and its importance.
• To explain how global processes have differential impacts on men and women.
Chapter Outline:
INTRODUCTION
a) Although the mainstream IPE theories capture the ideas that have been important historically to understand
the international political economy, they are not the only perspectives we need to consider.
b) This chapter presents two additional perspectives that critique mainstream IPE in particular and social
science analysis in general.
c) Warning! This is only an introduction, so we only scratch the surface here. If your students really want to
understand these critical perspectives in a really meaningful way, they must research more deeply into
these topics. See the Suggested Readings for some good portals to the literature.
CONSTRUCTIVISM
a) The Constructivist perspective argues that the structures and institutions analyzed by IPE have no intrinsic
causal power that is distinct from the values, beliefs, and interests that underlie them.
Views of Conflict and Cooperation
a) States are not only political actors; they are also social actors insofar as they adhere to rules, norms, and
institutional constructs that reflect society’s values and beliefs.
b) Unlike realism, which assumes that anarchy causes all nation-states to behave in a self-help manner,
constructivism argues that anarchy is “what the states make of it.” Anarchy is not sufficient to produce a
self-help world. A combination of social processes associated with different actors’ identities and
subjective interests causes us to view anarchy in terms of a world of potential chaos and disorder.
c) Values, beliefs, and interests are not static; they are the result of ongoing social construction. An evolution
in values can have a transformative effect on social institutions.
d) Sometimes seemingly implacable rivals cooperate with one another because they come to have a shared
understanding that they are part of a security community.
e) The “nuclear taboo” is the strongly held norm among the permanent members of the Security Council that
first use of nuclear weapons is unthinkable.
Actors that Spread New Norms and “Socialize” States
a) Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs) act as “norm entrepreneurs,” using testimonies, symbolism,
and name-and-shame campaigns to create a shared belief among political elites and social actors.
b) Epistemic communities are global networks of experts who have detailed knowledge about complex
issues and who share common understandings of the truth about these issues based on the standards of their
profession.
c) International organizations (IOs) are also norm entrepreneurs that “teach” states the interests they should
have, the norms they should adhere to, and the policies they should adopt. They define what a state is (its
identity), wants (its interests), and does (its policies).
Box: Landmines
a) Anti-personnel landmines were used extensively during the Cold War.
b) Opposition to landmines grew in the 1990s as a result of publicity generated by many celebrities, including
Princess Diana.
c) As a result of shifting public consciousness on the issue of landmines, a global anti-landmine campaign
gained prominence, and tens-of-millions of landmines have been disarmed with the help of many national
governments and a network of NGOs.
d) This example illustrates how a change in social values can influence international humanitarian policy and
the military policies of those nations that have banned landmines.
Tools and Concepts of Analysis
a) Framing is the ability to define what the essence of a global problem is: what is causing it, who is
involved, its consequences, and therefore the approach to resolving it. Some examples of issues that have
been framed are loss of biodiversity, U.S. failure in Afghanistan, and blood diamonds.
b) Problematization is a process by which states and TANs construct a problem that requires some kind of
coordinated, international response. Examples of issues that have been problematized, i.e., talked into
needing to be dealt with, include money laundering, drug trafficking, and Iran as a pariah.
c) Discourse analysis traces where important concepts and terms come from and how they shape state
policies. Language and rhetoric in the speeches and works of important officials regarding Islamic
terrorism, torture, and the Clash of Civilizations are discussed.
d) The life cycle of ideas looks at where ideas and norms originate, how they spread, the other ideas they
come in conflict with, and how they become “naturalized” by states and IOs. Examples areWorld Bank
ideas, liberalization, and preservation of the environment.
FEMINIST CONTRIBUTIONS TO IPE
a) The Feminist Critique of IPE considers that many elements of IPE theory and policy are shaped by
gender, which refers to the socially constructed attitudes and stereotypes that exist about men and women.
IPE, like social science generally, reflects the biased nature of society regarding gender issues.
Women Matter; Gender Matters
a) The Feminist Critique also takes aim at economics and its influence on IPE. Economics tends to emphasize
“masculine” values (reason, production) over “feminine values” (feeling, reproduction). Much of the work
of women is not even included in economic measures of national output because it takes place in the home
rather than in the factory.
b) Gendered analysis takes into account gender as the socially-constructed norms that determine what is
masculine or feminine.
c) Gender-influenced things shape markets and affect the distribution of power and resources in society.
Liberal Feminisms
a) Classical Liberal Feminists are most concerned with individual freedoms, freedom from coercion, and
“self-ownership” for men and women. For some, free trade and globalization are seen as having great
benefits for women in many poorer countries.
Feminist Critiques of Mercantilist Perspectives
a) Feminist scholars have questioned the assumptions of mercantilists and realists, redefining our
understanding of international power and national security.
b) These scholars are less state-centric, looking at the importance of households and informal economies.
c) Feminist security theory shows how the invisibility of gender in theories of war has masked important
dynamics. It is a myth that wars are fought to protect society’s most vulnerable.
Structuralist Feminism
a) Structuralist feminists argue that there is a link between the power mechanisms that determine international
relations and those that determine race, class, and gender relations.
b) Women also tend to be disproportionately hurt by the restructuring of the global economy and adjustments
to crises within it.
c) Melissa Wright asserts that factories in northern Mexico (called maquiladoras) and southern China treat
women as “disposable,” paying them low wages in dead-end jobs.
Box: Smuggling in Senegal: Gender and Trade Policy
a) Sugar smuggling into Senegal is a highly gendered activity.
b) This case illustrates both the complexity and the gendered nature of the globalization of production.
Opportunities available to women are very different from those available to men.
CONCLUSION
a) These two critical perspectives introduce new ideas and variation of the three major IPE analytical
perspectives. In some ways they challenge the dominant IPE perspectives, but also add a good deal of
“color” to analyses by virtue of their focusing on slightly different issues and problems that are not key
issues in the three main perspectives.
b) It may be too soon to tell how much influence any of these perspectives are or will have, but we should
take them seriously because, according to Keynes, ideas have great power, much more power than special
interests.
Key Terms:
• Constructivism
• Security community
• Nuclear taboo
• Transnational advocacy networks (TANs)
• Epistemic communities
• Framing
• Problematization
• Discourse analysis
• Life cycle of ideas
• Maquiladoras
Teaching Tips:
• If your aim is to teach only constructivism, you have enough to provide a basic framework, but you might want
to add in some of your own examples.
• You might turn this chapter over to the students and ask them to come to class with ideas and examples based
on whichever perspective they find most interesting. You will get a fairly diverse set of viewpoints from this (in
our experience, students tend to be drawn more toward the constructivist perspective). You can easily have two
or three classes driven entirely by this sort of discussion if you like.
• You could also select a news story and ask your class to analyze it in terms of the two perspectives. The U.S.–
China trade versus human rights issue, terrorism, global warming, informal work, unemployment, women in the
military, and many more problems lend themselves to any of the two critiques in the chapter.
Sample Essay-Discussion Questions:
1. How has gender crept into IPE theories and why is this important?
2. Compare and contrast the constructivist perspective with the feminist critique of IPE. Do you think that these
perspectives have much in common or are they fundamentally opposed?
3. Outline the main elements of constructivism and discuss how it applies to IPE. Discuss why this particular
outlook has become so popular recently.
4. If a constructivist were discussing the issue of terrorism (or pick something else), how would he/she differ from
a proponent of the liberal, mercantilist, or structuralist perspective?
5. Do you agree or disagree with those who feel that constructivism should be another major approach to IPE?
Why?
6. Why do you suppose some theorists and students are critical of the feminist outlook? Is it theoretically weak?
Does it put too much attention on gender over other important factors?
7. How would both the feminist and constructivist perspectives frame an analysis of the global financial crisis?
What actors and issues would each highlight? What policy recommendations would they likely make? What
new elements would each introduce into the discussion?
8. What insights come from looking at war, conflict, and security from a feminist perspective? Give specific
examples.
9. State four examples of policies or processes that feminists argue have different impacts on women and men.
Sample Examination Questions:
1. All of the following are central elements of constructivist analysis EXCEPT:
2. Questions of identity and interest formation are considered to be analytically irrelevant to realists. Realists hold
that beliefs and values do not have causal power because they will always be overwhelmed by
3. Which of the following is the best example of the impact of a “security community”?
a) When allies disagree with one another about their security interests and costs.
4. All of the following have an international “taboo” element about them EXCEPT:
a) the use of nuclear weapons.
5. Which of the following important “norm entrepreneurs” mentioned in the constructivist section are often made
up of scientists with expertise in a policy-relevant domain?
d) maquiladoras
6. Which of the following constructivist tools looks at political constructs or lenses that focus on a particular story
to analyze a complex problem?
d) discourse analysis
7. All of the following actors are civil society groups that participate in a transnational advocacy network
EXCEPT:
a) Greenpeace.
8. All of the following scholars would probably be considered a constructivist with the exception of:
a) Alexander Wendt
9. Which of the following is NOT an example of the life cycle of ideas?
a) spread of ideas about preservation of the environment
10. All of the following are elements of feminist analysis applied to IPE except which one?
a) Globalization has positive and negative effects on women everywhere, offering some new opportunities to
work in factories while subjecting others to oppressive conditions in their homes.
d) The level of women’s rights determines a country’s overall economic health.
12. Which of the following statements most likely reflects a liberal feminist point of view?
a) Globalization has not benefited many poor women in developing countries.
13. The book Bananas, Beaches and Bases was written by which feminist?
a) Martha Finnemore
14. Which policy issue do the ICBL, APLs, and HALO Trust care about?
a) the environment
15. In the story about Fatou Cisse, Cynthia Howson’s main point is that
a) women are just as corrupt when it comes to the sugar trade in Senegal.
Part II: STRUCTURES OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
6 The Production and Trade Structure
7 The International Monetary and Finance Structure
8 International Debt and Financial Crises
9 The Global Security Structure
10 The Knowledge and Technology Structure
The first five chapters of this book have provided you with an intellectual foundation upon which a
sophisticated understanding of the international political economy can be built. We covered many of the basic ideas
and fundamental assumptions about international political economy, the three principal IPE perspectives that are
most often used to analyze IPE interactions, and two other perspectives that account for developments outside the
three most popular IPE perspectives. The next five chapters look at the sets of relationships or “structures” that tie
together nation-states and other actors and that link national and global markets in the IPE. Professor Susan Strange,
a leading IPE thinker, proposed that in thinking about the main elements and arrangements of the international
political economy we focus on four structures—production, finance, security, and knowledge.
A word of explanation is useful at this point concerning the use of the term “structure” and its relationship
to “Structuralism” discussed in Chapter 4. Each of the four main IPE structures is a network of bargains,
agreements, institutions, and other relationships that connect in various ways the people of the world. Think of a
structure as a computer network, for example, in the sense that people are interconnected in particular ways by the
“hardware” (institutions and their structural power) and “software” (individual bargains and personal arrangements
with their relational power) of the network’s current set up. In this section we discuss and explain how the four main
structures of IPE serve as its underlying institutional arrangements and interconnected systems that ultimately
connect the people of the world and condition the behavior of states and markets. This is a general framework of
analysis that can be approached from many different points of view.
As we learned in Chapter 4, structuralists believe that the best way to understand IPE is to focus
specifically on the capitalist elements of the IPE structures. They believe that the structures of capitalism condition
or determine the outcomes of IPE. Each structure accounts for a set of relationships or arrangements and distinct
rules (if not tacit understandings) between and among different political, economic, and social actors in each of these
areas. In looking at the characteristics of each structure, Strange also encourages us to ask the simple question “cui
bono?” (who benefits?). Asking this question forces us to go beyond description to analysis—to identify not only the
structure and how it works but what benefit it provides to those who founded it or to those who manage it today.
What sources of power did they use to create the structure and how has it been managed since?
Professor Strange also encouraged us to not only ask questions about the role of each structure in the IPE
but the relationship of one structure to another. Perhaps the most interesting thing about IPE is the fact that states
and markets along with an increasing number of other import actors are generally involved in a number of
simultaneous structural relationships, often on different terms, and usually with different partners.
Finally, it is important to note that elements of one structure routinely influence developments in another
structure. A good example here is the way many officials promote trade (an element of the production structure) as
an “engine to growth” and at the same time, often attempt to use it as a means or tool of foreign policy to punish
another nation (an element of the security structure) by withholding it from that nation.
The information in this section is important in its own right, but it will be especially useful to us in the
second half of the text where we tackle a number of international and global problems. In these later sections we will
build upon the foundation of the three IPE perspectives and the framework of the IPE structures to construct a clear
and sophisticated understanding of some of the most important issues of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
In Chapter 6 we begin with the production and trade structure, which encompasses a number of critical
issues about international production and trade. Production accounts for who produces what, where, under what
conditions, and how it is sold, to whom, and on what terms. Some scholars have characterized the production part of
this structure as the “international division of labor,” but it means more than simple categories of nations that
produce different types of goods given their local resources and labor conditions.
In IPE, production frequently accounts for issues involving international trade. The issue of trade deals with
a number of controversies surrounding where goods are produced (at home or abroad), who gains as a result of this
production, and what terms or conditions prevail when it comes to the sale or exchange of these goods. Because of
their connection to earning income, a politically charged issue in particular, questions of production and trade are
among the oldest, most controversial, most timely, and most important in IPE.
We next analyze the finance structure, which is most effectively divided into two parts: a beginner’s guide
to international finance, which provides vocabulary and basic concepts that everyone needs to know (Chapter 7)
along with a discussion of recent events in international finance, highlighting the Asian financial crisis and the
current global financial crisis. These two situations have raised many criticisms by even economic liberals about the
viability of economic liberal ideas and polices.
In Chapter 8 we extend the coverage of Chapter 7 to explain and discuss why most countries have incurred
high amounts of debt. Many experts suggest that these developments threaten the stability of the global finance
system. Toward the end of this chapter we discuss some of the proposed solutions offered to solve what seems to be
a number of different types of intractable debt problems related to the recent financial crises that appear to be
reoccurring regularly in the industrialized nations.
The security structure or network of war and peace (Chapter 9) defines the sets of relationships and rules of
behavior that affect the safety and security of states, groups, and individuals within the international political
economy. Hardly anything is older or more important than this problem that increasingly affects and is affected by
international economic developments. Some parts of the security structure are easy to recognize such as the formal
security alliances that comprise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Other parts are not. Recent major
changes in the security structure reflect the expanding role of terrorists, but also the evolution of any number of
conventional but especially nonconventional weapons related to the expanding role of new technologies to mass
communications systems.
Finally, states and markets are also linked together by a set of relationships involving knowledge, ideas,
and technology (Chapter 10). Who has access to knowledge and technology, and on what terms, is a question of
growing importance in the study of IPE today. In this chapter we examine in some detail a number of issues
surrounding intellectual property rights (IPRs) which indicate that more and more, knowledge and technology
represent the ability to “do things” that dramatically affect the balance of power between and among actors in the
finance, production, and security spheres of life. Knowledge is power, it is said, but who has this power and how
will it be used?
