The Global and International Studies Program would like to announce our fourth Works-in-Progress speaker, Dr. Randall Germain, whose paper “E.H. Carr and IPE: pathways to political economy” will be presented on Friday, January 15th at 12pm in Room 2420 R River Building. The discussant for this paper will be Dr. David Long (Carleton University, NPSIA).
All papers will be pre-circulated two weeks in advance of each paper presentation. Please register in advance using the form below in order to receive copies of discussion papers.
Although the work of E.H. Carr has a prominent place in the scholarly history of International Relations (IR), it is notably absent from the discipline of International Political Economy (IPE). This is puzzling, because Carr’s analysis of international politics places a strong emphasis on the organic connection between politics and economics on an international scale. On this reading, his principal publications on IR can also be seen to chart a sophisticated conceptualization of what I want to label historical IPE. This article builds on Carr’s articulation of this tradition to explore the consequences for financial governance at the global level arising out of the 2007/2008 financial crisis. Using insights generated by his analysis of the transformations experienced during the middle decades of the 20th century, most importantly concerning the role and purpose of national political institution and the effects of changes in the inter-state balance of power on economic governance, I argue that the principal consequence of the crisis for financial governance is a retrenchment of the locus of governance authority to the institutions of the nation-state. Today, the ‘global’ element of financial governance, despite the level of activity often associated with it, is receding in significance. Returning to the work of E.H. Carr helps us to understand why this is happening, and suggests that an approach to IPE rooted in the historical mode of analysis which he advanced has much to offer the field.