Global Political strongEconomystrong.pdfVIP

Global Political Economy Political Science 774 Fall Term 2011 Course Instructor Section 2 (Wednesdays 8:30:11:30 KTH 732) Robert O’Brien Office Hours: By appointment through 905-525-9140 ext. 24420 administrators in main office. obrienr@mcmaster.ca Office: KTH 528 This course provides students with a graduate level introduction to global political economy. It examines approaches to the study of global political economy, the evolution of the global political economy, its economic structures and political institutions. The course focuses upon several key issues areas: trade, production, finance, the environment, security, gender, labour, regulation and governance in the global political economy. NOTE: This course is designed for MA students who do not have a background in the subject area. MA students with some background in the field and Political Science PhD students should register in Professor Porter’s section. Learning objectives: Following completion of the course students should be able to answer convincingly the following questions:  What are the strengths and weaknesses of the main approaches to understanding global political economy?  Why are some people / countries rich while others are poor?  What role does the state play in the GPE?  How is the GPE governed?  What are the major developments in the GPE since 1945? Seminars: Teaching takes place in a seminar format. Each seminar will begin with a student presentation (or two, depending upon numbers) and the comments of another student as a discussant. The presentation will be based upon a dr