School of Politics and International Relations

Globalisation and the International Political Economy of Development

The module provides you with a detailed examination – and critique - of theories of globalisation and assessment of contemporary globalising processes, and how these particularly influence the developing world. 

It examines these influences through detailed analysis of contemporary manifestations of ‘globalisation’, including neo-liberalism, US hegemony and contemporary imperialism, capital flows, global commodity chains, state-market relations, patterns of global inequality, international institutions, and questions of cultural homogenisation/imperialism. 

The module also examines the ways in which ‘globalisation’ is resisted, focusing on the rise of transnational social movements and NGOs, and the politics of ‘anti-globalisation’, and how this relates to an ostensibly ‘post-development’ era. 

In addressing these issues, the module concludes by asking the most important question: how do we think of ‘development’ in an era of ‘globalisation’, US hegemony, neo-liberalism and imperialism?