Global Political Economy: Regions and Network
| Title | Global Political Economy: Regions and Network / Global Political Economy: Regions and Network |
| Code | ESC401 |
| Faculty | Social and Economic Sciences |
| School | Political Sciences |
| Cycle / Level | 2nd / Postgraduate |
| Teaching Period | Winter/Spring |
| Coordinator | Ioannis Papageorgiou |
| Common | No |
| Status | Active |
| Course ID | 600022601 |
Programme of Study: International Studies: Specialization in European Studies
Registered students: 8
| Orientation | Attendance Type | Semester | Year | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KORMOS | Compulsory Course | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| Academic Year | 2025 – 2026 |
| Class Period | Spring |
| Faculty Instructors | |
| Class ID | 600281737
|
Course Type 2021
Specific Foundation
Mode of Delivery
- Face to face
Digital Course Content
- e-Study Guide https://qa.auth.gr/en/class/1/600281737
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
- English (Instruction, Examination)
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will:
- know the global perspective of political economy
- understand the international economic and commercial role of the European Union;
- appreciate the reasons for China's economic rise as an economy fully integrated into the global trading system from the perspective of investment, finance and development aid;
- have developed the necessary 'soft' skills to critically observe current global political and economic affairs from different perspectives, drawing from analysis useful suggestions for policy options
General Competences
- Apply knowledge in practice
- Retrieve, analyse and synthesise data and information, with the use of necessary technologies
- Adapt to new situations
- Make decisions
- Work autonomously
- Work in teams
- Work in an international context
- Work in an interdisciplinary team
- Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
- Demonstrate social, professional and ethical commitment and sensitivity to gender issues
- Be critical and self-critical
- Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
The programme is divided in two parts: International Political Economy (defined, in its evolution, as Global Political Economy), and Political Economy of East Asia, with a focus on the People's Republic of China.
PART I: GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY (GPE) AND THE ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
- The birth and the evolution of the discipline, the classical theories of Liberalism, Marxism, and Mercantilism; the historical roots of theoretical traditions and the American and the British school.
- The domestic sources of foreign economic policies (in trade, investment, immigration and money).
- Global trade (the evolution of the global trade regime and regional trade agreements).
- Global finance (the evolution of the international monetary and financial system and the political economy of global financial crises).
- Globalization and its consequences (the logics of economic globalization and its impact on states; the globalization of production and global value chains).
PART II: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF EAST ASIA
- East Asian Economic and Institutional Innovations.
- The political economy of regional integration in East Asia.
- The political economy of the developmental state.
- The political economy of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
TEACHING METHODS
In the front lectures, all course content is taught, offering different perspectives to look at different issues in IPE. The course hosts some 'TOChina spring seminars', organized by the Department's 'TOChina center' within the courses of 'International Political Economy and Political Economy of East Asia', and 'International Relations of East Asia'. Seminars host qualified academic and business experts, and national and international officials, thereby allowing students to be exposed to actor dealing daily with issues of global political economy.
As far as oral presentations are concerned, students are divided in four groups according to their preferences (possibly adjusted by the need to have same-size groups), each devoted to the latest global developments respectively in trade, money and finance, investment and global supply chain, and economic development. A rotating member from each group must alert the class every week on 'the news of the week' for their topic, suggesting a document - e.g., newspaper article, blog post, policy paper - related to the same news. In the final class of the course, every group presents its final work (indicatively, a 15-20 page-long report), delivering policy suggestions adopted by the group to solve those critical problems observed in their analysis of the current world political and economic situation.
Keywords
global economy, political economy, China, international trade
Educational Material Types
- Notes
- Slide presentations
- Audio
- Multimedia
- Book
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
- Use of ICT in Course Teaching
Description
To facilitate e-learning, at the end of every week of the semester, the professor uploads - on moodle platform - the keypoints of the topics taught in virtual class.
There is room for discussion and/or clarification, also via the Webex chat.
Attendance to those TOChina spring seminars' that are hosted in other courses is strongly recommended.
Within the course, all activities and opportunities offered by the Department's 'TOChina center' will be thoroughly presented (e.g., China Double Degrees, ChinaMed Business Program, and TOChina Summer School). For more information, see the website www.tochina.it
In order to evaluate the degree of uniformity in students' background, in the first lecture students are asked to introduce themselves, stating the nature of their BA, and their knowledge of political economy and international economics fundamentals.
Powerpoint slides are uploaded on the instructor's page in 'Material didattici' section or on moodle platform, and made available to students (some with password access, eventually, and available for non-attending students upon request).
Course Organization
| Activities | Workload | ECTS | Individual | Teamwork | Erasmus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 39 | 1.4 | |||
| Seminars | 15 | 0.5 | |||
| Reading Assigment | 125 | 4.5 | |||
| Project | 12 | 0.4 | |||
| Written assigments | 55 | 2 | |||
| Exams | 2 | 0.1 | |||
| Other / Others | |||||
| Total | 248 | 9.0 |
Student Assessment
Description
For all students, the final exam consists of two tests (written and oral) on the entire programme.
The written text consists of a 2,000/2,400 word-long paper, choosing among one of the topics given by the professor at the end of the course (those non attending the course must contact the professor - giuseppe.gabusi@unito.it - to have the list of topics).
Writing a good and adequate paper means articulating the chosen topic starting from the notions acquired by studying J Ravenhill's textbook, and applying them to current events in global political economy. It is likely that students will need further readings (which must be listed in the paper references), but in any case students must prove to be able to articulate the argument by applying their theoretical knowledge to current global affairs. Simply "copying" the textbook will not make students pass this written test.
Students' papers must uploaded on the relevant section of the course's Moodle platform at least 10 days before the scheduled date for the "scritto non verbalizzante" test. Papers will be evaluated on a range between 1/30 and 15/30. If the student accepts the mark of the paper, it can be carried on to other "appelli" dates, in case he/she does not accept the grade for the oral part of the exam.
The oral test consists of a semi-structured test (oral exam), to gauge the overall level of proficiency, by putting forward increasingly-complex questions, of which at least one regarding the special module of the course (up to 15 points out of 30, eventually scoring 30 cum laude).
For students attending the course, their involvement in virtual classes and in the working groups represents a further chance of learning self-evaluation, contributing to their advance in knowledge, understanding and critical analysis, that students could input in their written and oral tests. The participation to the group's final work gives students 1 point (1/30), to be added to their final market (obtained by adding the written test result and the oral test result).
In conclusion, then, the final mark of the exam will consist of the sum of the following:
written test (paper) up to 15/30
oral test up to 15/30
additional point (1/30, or laude, eventually) for the presentation in class
Student Assessment methods
- Written Exam with Multiple Choice Questions (Formative, Summative)
- Oral Exams (Formative, Summative)
Bibliography
Additional bibliography for study
There are three compulsory readings for all students, irrespective of their attendance.
Textbook:
1. J. Ravenhill (ed.), Global Political Economy, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2020 (ONLY Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11)
Other texts:
2. G. Gabusi (2017), "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated: China and the Developmental State 25 years after "Governing the Market", The Pacific Review, 30(2), 232-50.
3. G. Gabusi (ed.) (2021) Drivers of Global Change: Responding to East Asian Economic and Institutional Innovation, Turin: Torino World Affairs Institute
Last Update
29-05-2023
