Colloquium Topics in US History:
The World Political Economy
Hist. 495f, Section 1
Offered by the Department of History, University of Arizona
Spring Semester, 2014
Wednesday, 6:30-9:00pm
Pacheco ILC 135
David N. Gibbs, Professor of History
Office: Social Sciences 227
Office Hours: Tuesday and Friday, 2-3:30pm
Tel: 621-5416
Email: dgibbs@arizona.edu
Syllabus URL:
http://dgibbs.faculty.arizona.edu/node/19
** Class Announcements **
This course will analyze how international political relations among states interacts with the international economy. The following specific areas will be emphasized: theories of international political economy; the consequences of American hegemony during the post-1945 era; the political significance of international capital mobility (a process also known as “globalization”); the role of large corporations as independent actors in the international arena; efforts at structural adjustment in Third World and former communist states; and recent developments, such as the Great Recession.
There are no specific prerequisites, although two semesters of introductory economics are recommended. Students are expected to understand basic economic concepts and vocabulary.
Overall, this class will require approximately 50-70 pages of reading per week.
Class Attendance:
This is a class in which consistent attendance is vital. Since we will meet only once per week, for two and a half hours, in-class discussions will comprise approximately half of each class. All students are expected to have done the assigned readings for each week, and to be able to discuss the readings in class. Note that readings are to be completed by the specified class date, as listed in the syllabus. Class participation will count toward the final grade. Each student is allowed to miss one class without penalty. Thereafter, students will lose three points from their final grade for each additional class that they miss.
Students are expected to arrive in class on time. Please do not come late on a regular basis, as this is disruptive.
Note that the following circumstances constitute legitimate reasons to miss a class without penalty: illness, death in family, religious holiday, or mandatory military service. Students who claim such reasons must be prepared to present documentation, such as a note from a doctor, clergy, or commanding officer.
Students may receive up to three points extra on their final grades, in recognition of class participation. Note that participation will not count against you.
Short Papers
Students are required to write twelve short papers (of 2-3 pages each). These papers will be due at intervals throughout the semester, as indicated below. I will announce the paper topics via D2L email. The completed papers are due the following week. Each student will write his/her paper in response to the assigned question. Your papers will be graded based on the following considerations: how well the paper analyzes the question; how well the student has understood the specified reading, as indicated by the contents of the paper; and the overall quality of writing. Note that writing style and grammar will be considered in grading the papers.
My grading policy: The lowest of grade will be dropped, at the end of the semester. Thus, the overall short paper component of the final grade will comprise the highest eleven grades. Even though one grade will be dropped, students must hand in all twelve papers. If a paper is not handed in, then the grade for that paper will be recorded as an E and will not be dropped.
If you hand in a paper late, without a legitimate medical excuse, it is dropped a full grade.
Students must properly attribute any information or material borrowed from other sources. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden. For further information on this topic, see the UA Code of Academic Integrity.
Students may also consult the following classic: William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth edition (New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2000). It is short, inexpensive, and available in the UA bookstore. For those on a tight budget, an earlier version of this book is available online (click here for full text).
Final Exam
There will be a comprehensive final exam, which will synthesize the lectures, class discussions, and readings. Note that the final is not required for students who have an A average by the end of classes. The final is required for all students whose grade is lower than an A.
Grading
The final grade for the class will be calculated as follows:
Short papers -- 65 percent
Final exam -- 35 percent.
Again, note that the exam is not required for students with an A average by the end of classes.
Students must take the final exam on the scheduled date. Please look at the syllabus and make sure that the final date is open for you. If you have an engagement scheduled for one of the required dates -- if you have a wedding or a sports event, for example -- then you should take another class.
Students with Disabilities
I will be happy to arrange the assignments in any reasonable way that is consistent with the student's needs, in cooperation with the UA Disability Resource Center. It is the student's responsibility to find out what the Center requires, to fill out the forms, and to undertake the necessary "foot work" for special arrangements. The student is responsible to make sure that all deadlines are met.
Required Texts:
Theodore H. Cohn, Global Political Economy, Sixth edition (New York: Longman, 2012).
Nick Reding, Methland: The Life and Death of an American Small Town (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009).
Additional readings listed below. Note: I may make small changes in the reading list -- with advance notice -- during the course of the semester.
Please Note:
This class contains offensive material. If this is a problem for your, then you should select a different class.
January 15
General Introduction
Economist Style Guide (online). This is the standard writing guide used by journalists at The Economist magazine of London. For intoduction, click here; also read section on Jargon.
January 22
Theories of International Political Economy
Cohn, Global Political Economy, chaps. 3, 4.
Recommended:
Cohn, Global Political Economy, chap. 5.
January 29
The Era of Imperialism
V. I. Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (London: Pluto Press, 1996), chaps. 1-6. For full text, click here.
Recommended:
John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson, "The Imperialism of Free Trade," Economic History Review 6, no. 1, 1953, Available through JSTOR.
First Short Paper Due.
February 5
The Rise of American Hegemony
Jeffrey Frieden, "Sectoral Conflict and US Foreign Economic Policy, 1914-1940," International Organization 42, no. 1, 1988. Full text available through JSTOR.
Second Short Paper Due.
February 12
International Trade and Finance
Cohn, Global Political Economy, chaps. 6, 7.
February 19
The Great Depression
Charles P. Kindleberger, The World in Depression, 1929-1939 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973), pp. 19-30, 291-308. Available through D2L.
Greg Hannsgen and Dimitri Papadimitriou, "Did the New Deal Prolong or Worsen the Great Depression?" Challenge 53, no. 1, 2010. Full text available through Ebsco.
Third Short Paper Due.
February 26
The Question of Full Employment
John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (Savage, MD: Rowman & Littefield, 1991), chap. 24. For full text, click here.
Michael Kalecki, "Political Aspects of Full Employment," Political Quarterly 14, no. 4, 1943. For full text, click here.
Bradford Delong, "Keynesianism, Pennsylvania Avenue Style: Some Economic Consequences of the Employment Act of 1946," Journal of Economic Perspectives 10, no. 3, 1996. For full text, click here.
Fourth Short Paper Due.
March 5
The Political Economy of the Cold War
Fred Block, "Economic Instability and Military Strength: The Paradoxes of the 1950 Rearmament Decision," Politics & Society 10, no. 1, 1980. Full text available through Sage Journals.
Joyce Kolko and Gabriel Kolko, The Limits of Power: The World and United States' Foreign Policy, 1945-1954 (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), Introduction and Chap. 1. Available through D2L.
Fifth Short Paper Due.
March 12
The 1970s and the Shift to Conservative Economics
WIlliam Greider, Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987), chap. 1. Available through D2L.
Sixth Short Paper Due.
March 19 -- No class, Spring Break.
March 26
Development and Debt
Cohn, Global Political Economy, chap. 10.
Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2007), chap. 2. Available through D2L.
Recommended:
Cohn, Global Political Economy, chap. 11.
Seventh Short Paper Due.
April 2
The Globalization Debate
Thomas L. Freidman, "It's a Flat World, After All," New York Times Magazine, April 3, 2005. For full text, click here.
Branko Milanovic, "The Two Faces of Globalization: Against Globalization as We Knew It," World Development 31, no. 4, 2003. Available through Science Direct.
Recommended:
Robert Wade, "Is the Globalization Consensus Dead" Antipode 41, supplement 1, 2010. Full text available through Ebsco.
John Maynard Keynes, "On National Self Sufficiency," Yale Review 22, no. 4, 1933. For full text, click here.
Eighth Short Paper Due.
April 9
The Political Economy of the End of the Cold War
David N. Gibbs, "Washington's New Interventionism: US Hegemony and Inter-Imperialist Rivalries," Monthly Review 53, no. 4, 2001. For full text, click here.
Chalmers Johnson, "The Economic Disaster that is Military Keynesianism: Why the US has really Gone Broke," Le Monde Diplomatique, February 2008. For full text, click here.
Recommended:
David Stuckler, Lawrence King, and Martin McKee, "Mass Privatization and the Post-Communist Mortality Crisis: a Cross National Analysis," The Lancet 373, no. 9661, 2009. Full text available through Science Direct.
Ninth Short Paper Due.
April 16
Oil and the Persian Gulf
Doug Stokes and Sam Raphael, Global Energy Security and American Hegemony (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010), pp. 1-52. Available through D2L.
Tenth Short Paper Due.
April 23
Globalization and US Domestic Politics
Reding, Methland, readings to be determined.
Eleventh Short Paper Due.
April 30
The Great Recession
Mark Blyth, Austerity: History of a Dangerous Idea (Oxford University Press, 2013), chaps. 2 and 3. Available through D2L.
Twelth Short Paper Due.
May 7
Last Day of Class
No readings; review for final.
Final Exam: May 14, 6-8:00pm