New Radical Political Economy

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New Radical Political Economy

2007-2008
Dr. Derek Wall (visting tutor)

Department of Politics
Goldsmiths College
University of London

Office hour 5-6pm Tuesday

Course Syllabus

This course will provide students with an understanding of key issues in the field of contemporary radical political economy. The introductory lectures will examine debates around the economic influence and effects of globalisation. The core of the course will outline and evaluate contemporary radical critiques of the globalised economy including the neo-Keynesianism of Soros and Stiglitz, the anti-corporate apporach of Korten and Klein, green political economy, ecofeminism, neo-Marxism(s) and the autonomist perspective developed by Negri and Hardt. In the final section of the course alternatives to the market including monetary reforms such as the Tobin Tax together with commons regimes, embedded markets and open source/social sharing will be analysed.

Course aims:
Examine key theories and concepts in new radical political economy.
Provide the analytical and contextual tools to understand and evaluate the functioning of a globalised world economy.
Provide an understanding of the economic aspects surrounding issues of ecological sustainability, governance and social justice.
Analyse the differences and similarities of major schools of contemporary radical political economy.
Explore the economic, ecological, political and social implications of alternatives to the market.

Learning outcomes:
After completing this course, students will be able to:
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of conventional market based approaches to global economic institutions, structures and processes.
Outline the competing theoretical approaches to the field of new radical political economy.
Demonstrate a precise understanding of the central debates around the issues of globalisation, ecological sustainability, governance and social justice.
Articulate in depth the relevance of alternatives to the market in economic, ecological, political and social terms.

Assessment: One two hour written paper (three questions to be answered), plus assessment of written coursework (one in-depth essay, approximately 5,000 words). A plan of the essay will be submitted by students at the end of the first term. Course work counts as 50% of the final mark.


Reading List:
Wall, D., (2005) Babylon and Beyond: The economics of anti-capitalist, anti-globalist and radical green movements, London: Pluto Press. This title provides a textbook for the course, additional texts are provided below.

Journals
Capitalism Nature Socialism, Capital and Class, Historical Materialism, New Left Review and New Political Economy are academic journals that contain useful articles on contemporary radical political economy. The Economist is a highly recommended source along with magazines such as New Internationalist and Red Pepper.

Seminar Topics
The required readings constitute the minimum requirement for class meetings. You are expected to have completed these readings as part of your preparation for the lectures. This will aid your understanding of the issues discussed and constitutes thus a central part of the learning experience. The readings indicated form the basis for preparing seminar presentations and essays. Some of the ‘other readings’ will be found at the Senate House and libraries of the University of London.

1. Introduction:
Legrain, P. (2003) Open World: Truth About Globalisation. New York: Little Brown.
Wall (2005) Ch 1.
Wolf, M. (2004) Why Globalization Works: The Case for a Global Market Economy. Yale: Yale University Press

2. Globalisation in Question
Hirst, P. and Thompson, G. (1999) Globalization in Question: The International Economy and the Possibilities of Governance. Oxford: Polity.
Wall (2005) Ch 1.
Weiss, L. (1997) Globalization and the Myth of the Powerless State
New Left Review September-October 1997, pp. 3–27

II. Schools
3. Soros and Stiglitz
Cammack, P. (2002) Attacking the Poor, New Left Review January-February 2002, pp. 125–34
Latham, R. (1997) ‘Globalization and Democratic Provisionism; Re-reading Polanyi’, New Political Economy, 2: 53-63.
Soros, G. (1998) The Crisis of Global Capitalism. London: Little, Brown and Co.
Stiglitz, J. (2002) Globalization and its Discontents. London: Allen Lane
Wall (2005) Ch 2.

4. Korten's anti-corporate critique
Korten, D. (2001) When Corporations Rule the World. San Francisc: Kumarian Press.
Wall (2005) Ch 3.

5. No Logo and beyond
Klein, N. (2000) No Logo, London: Harper Collins
Mertes,T. (2000) On No Logo ( review) New Left Review , July-August 2000, pp. 168–72
Wall (2005) Ch 3.

6. Development as freedom.
Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

7. Green localism
Morris, D. (1996) Free Trade: The Great Destroyer, Mander, J. and Goldsmith, E. (eds.) (1996) The Case Against the Global Economy: and for a turn towards the local. San Fransisco: Sierra Club.
Wall (2005) Ch 4.
Woodin, M. and Lucas, C. (2004) Green Alternative to Globalisation: A Manifesto. London: Pluto Press.

8. Global monetary reform
Grahl, J. (2001) The Sway of Finance? ( review) May-June 2001, pp. 149–53
Hutchinson, F., Mellor, M. and Olsen, W. (2002) The Politics of Money: Towards sustainability and economic democracy. London: Pluto.
Patomaki, H. (2001) Democratising Globalization: The Leverage of the Tobin Tax. London: Zed Press.
Wall (2005) Ch 5.

9. Marxist approaches to globalisation
Desai, M. (2004) Marx’s Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of State Socialism. London: Verso.
Fine, B and Saad-Filho, A. (2004) Marx’s Capital. London: Pluto
Wall (2005) Ch 6.

10. Marxist approaches to globalisation 2
Callinicos, A. (2003) An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Castro, F. (2003) On Imperialist Globalization: Two Speeches. London: Zed.
McNally, D. (2002) Another World is Possible: Globalization and Anti-Capitalism, Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing.
Wall (2005) Ch 6.

11. Autonomism and Empire 1.
Dyer-Witheford, N. (1999) Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High-technology Capitalism. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Glick, M. and Brenner, R. (1991) The Regulation Approach: Theory and History
New Left Review, July-August 1991, pp. 45–119.
Read, J. (2003) The Micro-politics of Capital. State University of New York Press.
Wall (2005) Ch 7.
Wright, S. (2002) Storming Heaven: Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism. London: Pluto Press.

12. Autonomism and Empire 2.
Hardt, M. and Negri, A. (2001) Empire. New York: Harvard University Press.
Hardt, M. and Negri, A. (2001a) From Movement to Society Anon. On Fire: The Battle of Genoa and the anti-capitalist movement. London: One-off Press.
Balakrishnan, G. (2000) Hardt and Negri's Empire ( review)
New Left Review, September-October 2000, pp. 142–8



13. Autonomism and Empire 3.
Capital and Class, no.85. Spring 2005 special issue on autonomism and diy culture
Dinerstein, A, (2003) Power or counter-power: the dilemma of the Piquetero movement in Argentina post-crisis. Capital and Class, no.81, autumn 2003
De Angelis, M. (2006) The Beginning of History: Value Struggles and Global Capital. London: Pluto.

14. Ecosocialism and globalisation
Wall (2005) Ch 8.
Foster, J. (2002) Ecology Against Capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press
Kovel, J. (2002) The Enemy of Nature. New York: Zed Press.

15. Feminist approaches to globalisation

Bennholdt-Thomsen, V. and Mies, M. (1999) The Subsistence Perspective: Beyond the Globalised Economy. London: Zed Press.
Peterson, J. and Lewis, M. (1999) The Elgar Companion to Feminist Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Shiva, V. (1988) Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. London: Zed Press.

III. Alternatives
16. Fair trade, free trade and embedded markets
Barret Brown, M. (1993) Fair trade : reform and realities in the international trading system. London: Zed Press.
Thekaekara, S. (2003) Beating the System: Local solutions to the globalisation crisis. London: New Economics Foundation

17. LETS, micro credit and monetary reform
Boyle, D. (ed.) (2002) The Money Changers: Currency Reform from Aristole to E-Cash. London: Earthscan.

18. Parecon and other experiments in participatory economics
Albert, M. (2004) Parecon. Life After Capitalism. London: Verso.
Wainwright, H. (2003) Reclaim the State: Experiments in Popular Democracy. London: Verso

19. Open Source
Frow, J. (1996) Information as Gift and Commodity, New Left Review , September-October 1996, pp. 89–108
Moody, G. (2001) Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Wall (2005) Ch 9.

20. Social sharing beyond cyber space
Klein, N. (2001) Reclaiming the Commons, New Left Review, May-June 2001, pp. 81–9
Ostrom, E. (1991) Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wall (2005) Ch 9.