INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY - 2025/6

Module Overview

The module provides an opportunity for students to apply their understanding of key theories and debates in International Political Economy (IPE) to current developments and case studies. Students will be able to discuss and debate the role of the main IPE institutions. Current and future challenges to the status quo of IPE are discussed as well.

Module provider

Politics & International Relations

Module Leader

KAEDING Malte (Politics IR)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 25

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

none

Module content

The first part of the course introduces students to the main perspectives with a strong focus on theoretical approaches in IPE. The second part focuses on the historical development of the international political economy since the Industrial Revolution. The third part focuses upon contemporary issues and debates in the subject, grouped around the organising theme of development and 'globalisation'. The emphasis of the course is not upon the technical aspects of international economics or economic theory, but rather upon the political and institutional context in which they operate. Therefore an economics background is not required for this course, but advanced knowledge of the theoretical foundations of international politics strongly recommended.

It strongly emphasises the political, philosophical, and ethical aspects of IPE and is therefore more in-line with studies of Political Theory and Philosophy rather than Classical Economics.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Alternative assessment to the presentation is the individual submission of 800-word blog piece on the presentation

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

• Critical engagement with the relevant literature, e.g. to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key debates in IPE


• Demonstrate understanding of the need to apply theoretical arguments to the analysis of actual events and actions


• Demonstrate capacity to apply theoretical arguments to the analysis of contemporary developments in IPE.


• Identify appropriate and feasible area for analysis


• Identify and apply appropriate methodological approach


• Demonstration of excellent study, research and team-working skills

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Presentation


• Country briefing paper


• Open book exam

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will receive verbal feedback on their performance during lectures/seminars, and in one to one meetings during office hours. Additionally, students will receive brief feedback on their presentation and individual feedback on their on their country briefing paper by the module leader. They also receive written feedback on the presentations by peers. Feedback is module-specific but is also designed to be used for feed-forward to other aspects of the degree programme as well.

Module aims

• To provide students with an advanced background in the competing international and comparative political economy approaches to the subject with a strong focus on their theoretical underpinnings
• To deepen understanding of political economy issues and debates surrounding the contemporary world economy, with particular emphasis on the causes and implications of globalisation
• To develop a critical perspective towards the role of the main IPE institutions
• To develop critical debating and argumentation skills

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The teaching strategy follows a specifically developed model of engagement with students. This includes a discursive teaching style in which borders between lectures and seminars are fluid. The lectures/seminars will consciously not use any electronic support systems such Microsoft PowerPoint etc and instead focus on engaging students and on their active participation. Hence students will be expected to actively follow and contribute to discussions during classes based on the reading material and their anticipated knowledge of current affairs.

In preparation of the class, short videos with original mini lectures on specific concepts are made available via the virtual learning environment. This allows for deeper discussions in-class. For post-class preparation brief lecture summaries are also made available via the virtual learning environment. Students use Microsoft Teams to communicate with classmates to cooperate presentation and exchange ideas on the trade agreement negotiation simulation.

Students are constantly encouraged to formulate their own lines of enquiry, thus developing, and testing their skills in respect of making appropriate critical judgments in respect of both theory and empirics.

Following initial weeks of theoretical discussions in combined lecture/seminars key actors in IPE will be discussed in a lecture, which is followed by a group presentation by students on a specific aspect of the actors’ impact on a country case. The presentations are assessed, and they are accompanied by a student-led discussion on the topic. Students use their theoretical insights and the knowledge of the key institutions in IPE to research on a country briefing paper that builds the basis for the simulation exercise. The simulation is not assessed.

The learning and teaching methods include lectures, mini video lectures, seminars, independent study, presentations, prescribed reading, group discussions and a simulation exercise. Classes are run in 2 hour sessions at different times in the semester over an 11 week period. After the first weeks, one hour lectures will introduce students to the subject matter, which will subsequently be discussed in weekly hour-long seminars. Borders between lectures and seminars are fluid and lectures are held in a discursive style. The final class will be a simulation exercise for which students are allocated roles and have to provide an assessed briefing paper. Students will be expected to contribute actively during seminars, having prepared to contribute to discussions based on the reading material. They will engage in assessed presentations and are required to actively debate issues in a well-informed fashion.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: POLM019

Other information

n/a

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.