Despite a burgeoning debate on substantive issues in IPE, little attention has been devoted to its theoretical foundations. In this important new text, Matthew Watson reviews the main current theoretical approaches to IPE and highlights the problems that arise from treating 'states' and 'markets' as separate and contesting units of analysis. Foremost among these problems is the lack of attention given to theorizing the constitution of the individual as both an economic agent and a moral being.
MATTHEW WATSON is Senior Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Birmingham, UK.
IntroductionApproaches to International Political Economy: Beyond 'States and Markets'Historicising RationalityAssumptions: IPE in the History of Economic ThoughtThe Classical Tradition of Political Economy: New Foundations for IPEMoral Propriety Within Political Economy: The Work of Adam SmithInstitutional Analysis Within Political Economy: The Work of Thorstein VeblenSocial Embeddedness Within Political Economy: The Work of Karl PolanyiUnderstanding the Market Within Modern SocietyUnderstanding 'the State' Within Modern SocietyApplying the Theoretical Framework (1): GlobalizationApplying the Theoretical Framework (2): International TradeApplying the Theoretical Framework (3): International DevelopmentConclusion.