Refresher · IR Foundations

Anarchy and Three Traditions

  • Anarchy: no central authority above states (Waltz 1979)

Realism

Anarchy as structure: self-help, relative gains, security through own means (Waltz 1979)

International liberalism

Anarchy's problems as solvable: institutions, interdependence, iterated cooperation (Keohane 1984)

Constructivism

"Anarchy is what states make of it" — its meaning set by ideas and identities (Wendt 1992)

Waltz 1979 · Keohane 1984 · Wendt 19920
DWA 103 · The Contested World Economy · Occidental College

Week 1: Global Roots of International Political Economy

Course text: Eric Helleiner, The Contested World Economy: The Deep and Global Roots of International Political Economy (Cambridge University Press, 2023)
DWA 103 · Fall 20261

International Political Economy: Definition

  • Study of politics and economics at the global level
  • Interactions of states, markets, societies
States power · politics Markets wealth · economics IPE who wins? who loses? who sets the rules?
Helleiner 2023, ch. 12

Field Formalization, 1971–1974

1971 End of dollar–gold convertibility 1973 OPEC oil crisis 1974 Demands for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) Three shocks preceding the field's academic formalization
Helleiner 2023, ch. 13

The "Rebirth" Thesis

  • Strange: 1970s IPE = revival of pre-1945 political economy, not a new field
Standard account 1970 present Helleiner 2023 c. 1700 1970 present
Helleiner 2023, ch. 14

Helleiner 2023: Two Claims

1 · A global history

Pre-1945 debates included thinkers across Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East.

Idea flows ran in multiple directions — East→West, South→North.

2 · Beyond three orthodoxies

Debates exceeded the liberal–neomercantilist–Marxist triad.

Also present: autarkism, environmentalism, feminism, pan-movements, regionalism.

Helleiner 2023, introduction5

The Three Orthodoxies, 19th–20th c.

Economic Liberalism

Free trade · free markets · commerce–peace link

Smith · Ricardo · Cobden · J.S. Mill

Neomercantilism

Strategic protection · state-built industrial power

Hamilton · List · Carey · Witte

Marxism

Class conflict · global exploitation · revolution

Marx · Lenin · Luxemburg

Helleiner 2023, chs. 2–46

Economic Liberalism: Core Texts

  • Smith 1776: "simple system of natural liberty" — individual self-interest, not government direction
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." — Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776, bk. I, ch. 2
Smith 1776 · Helleiner 2023, ch. 27

Global Adaptations, by Tradition and Region

AmericasAfrica / OttomanSouth AsiaEast Asia
Liberalism Calvo ArgentinaSilva Lisboa Brazil Equiano liberal case vs. slave tradeD'Ghies Tripoli Rammohun Roy India Yan Fu ChinaTaguchi Ukichi Japan
Neomercantilism Hamilton · Carey United States Ranade "economic nationalism" vs. British policy Sun Yat-sen Chinapre-contact thought Japan
Marxism Mariátegui Peru — Indigenous realities M.N. Roy India — agrarian focus Mao China — peasantryKōtoku Shūsui Japan

Some Chinese scholars: Confucian texts endorsed market policies before Smith (Helleiner 2023). All entries: Helleiner 2023, chs. 2–4.

Helleiner 2023, chs. 2–48

Neomercantilism: List 1841

  • "Kicking away the ladder": Britain industrialized behind protection, then urged free trade on others (List 1841)
"The power of producing wealth is therefore infinitely more important than wealth itself." — Friedrich List, The National System of Political Economy, 1841
1 · Protection tariffs shield infant industries 2 · Industrial lead "productive power" accumulates 3 · Free trade urged on others the ladder is kicked away (List 1841)
List 1841 · Helleiner 2023, ch. 39

Marxism: Theories of Imperialism

  • Lenin 1917: imperialism as capitalism's "highest stage," driven by finance capital (Lenin 1917)
  • Luxemburg 1913: capital accumulation requires expansion into non-capitalist territories (Luxemburg 1913)
  • Shift in adaptation: urban proletariat → agrarian peasantry — M.N. Roy, Mao
Lenin 1917 · Luxemburg 1913 · Helleiner 2023, ch. 410

Pre-1945 Perspectives Beyond the Triad

Liberalism Neomercantilism Marxism Autarkism national self-sufficiency, beyond protection Environmentalism ecological cost of industrial capitalism Feminism women's labor in the world economy Pan-movements Pan-African · Pan-Islamic · Pan-Asian Regionalism regional economic integration
Helleiner 2023, chs. 5–911

Feminism · Environmentalism, pre-1945

  • Feminist political economists: global wealth relied on unpaid and undervalued women's labor
  • Environmental critics: industrial capitalism linked to resource depletion and long-term impoverishment
  • Both literatures predate the field's 1970s formalization
Helleiner 2023, chs. 7–812

Pan-Movements

  • Pan-Africanism: Du Bois, Garvey — economic solidarity across the African diaspora
  • Pan-Islamism, Pan-Asianism: transnational religious or civilizational identity as economic basis
  • Unit of solidarity: not the nation-state
Helleiner 2023, ch. 913

Economic Scale: Nation, Region, Autarky

National protection tariffs within open trade Economic regionalism integration blocs: East Asia, Europe, Americas Autarky withdrawal from trade; self-sufficiency Degree of closure increases left to right
Helleiner 2023, chs. 5–614

Vocabulary, Week 1

IPEPolitics and economics at the global level
"Rebirth" thesis1970s IPE as revival of pre-1945 debates (Strange)
Productive powerCapacity to produce, valued above existing wealth (List 1841)
Infant industry protectionTemporary protection while new industries develop
AutarkyNational self-sufficiency; withdrawal from trade
Helleiner 202315
Case

Carney at Davos, January 20, 2026

  • Speaker: Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canada · World Economic Forum, Davos
  • Context: U.S. tariff escalation; territorial pressure on Greenland (Carney 2026)
  • Video: youtube.com/watch?v=NvSRurS-5g4
"We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition." — Carney, WEF address, Davos, Jan. 20, 2026
Carney 202616

Carney's Metaphor: Havel 1978

  • Havel 1978: greengrocer posts "Workers of the world, unite!" — compliance, not belief ("The Power of the Powerless")
  • Carney: middle powers "placed the sign in the window" of the rules-based order, knowing it "partially false" (Carney 2026)
"Friends, it is time for companies and countries to take their signs down." — Carney, Davos, Jan. 20, 2026
Havel 1978 · Carney 202617

Carney, Davos 2026: Key Passages

"The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must."— Thucydides, quoted in Carney 2026
"You cannot 'live within the lie' of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination."— Carney 2026
"A country that cannot feed itself, fuel itself, or defend itself has few options."— Carney 2026
Carney 202618

Carney 2026 Mapped to Course Frameworks

Carney 2026 Critique of the liberal order order "partially false"; rules enforced asymmetrically by the strong (Carney 2026) Neomercantilist program "building strength at home"; "strategic autonomy" in energy, AI (Carney 2026) Self-description: "values-based realism" sovereignty commitment + "fortresses" to survive (Carney 2026)
Carney 2026 · frameworks: Helleiner 202319

Seminar Questions

01Is "values-based realism" neomercantilism under another name?
02Who defines "universal values" in a fragmented world economy?
03If the "ladder" is kicked away again in 2026 — where does that leave the Global South?
"Nostalgia is not a strategy."— Carney, Davos, Jan. 20, 2026
Discussion20

Course Terms, DWA 103

Public good

Non-excludable, non-rivalrous — clean air, national security.

Free-rider problem

Benefiting from public goods without paying — NATO spending, climate agreements.

Principal–agent problem

Agent acts on own interest under asymmetric information.

Path dependence

Choices at time T constrained by T−1 — QWERTY, USD hegemony.

Course glossary21

Week 2: Classical Foundations

  • Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776)
  • David Ricardo: comparative advantage (1817)
  • Internal debates of early liberalism
Reading: see syllabus22

Sources

  • Helleiner, E. 2023. The Contested World Economy: The Deep and Global Roots of International Political Economy. Cambridge UP.
  • Smith, A. 1776. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
  • List, F. 1841. The National System of Political Economy.
  • Luxemburg, R. 1913. The Accumulation of Capital. · Lenin, V.I. 1917. Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.
  • Havel, V. 1978. "The Power of the Powerless." · Carney, M. 2026. Address to the World Economic Forum, Davos, Jan. 20 — youtube.com/watch?v=NvSRurS-5g4
  • Waltz, K. 1979. Theory of International Politics. · Keohane, R. 1984. After Hegemony. · Wendt, A. 1992. "Anarchy Is What States Make of It." International Organization.
DWA 103 · Week 123
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