Key Aspects of International Political Economy - Coursework Example

International Political Economy of 19TH APRIL International Political Economy Introduction Maswood (2000) stated that investigating the reasons and the various effects of financial and economic crises is one of the major objectives for the scholars of International political economy (IPE). The feminist IPE theory is a new perspective that seeks to explain the gender concerns in the studies of international politics. Maswood (2000) stated that the main purpose of the feminist theory of IPE is to understand the effects of gender on international politics and then elaborate the feminist understanding of the international processes. The Feminist IPE has provided many significant insights to the political economy that have made interventions in the analysis of globalization. The traditional approaches of the IPE include the realist, liberal, and Marxist theories that existed before IPE was considered a distinct discipline academically. This paper is going to explain how the feminist IPE theory uses the concept of gender to comment on traditional theories, the insights it provides and then apply the theory to a current IPE event, institution, or conflict. The paper will also discuss the functions a hegemon should provide for the global economy, provide examples of how the United States has served as a hegemon since the end of the World War II, and thereby explain how its role has changed in the current society. Feminist theory and other IPE theories Pease (2009) stated that the feminist IPE theory is one of the new approaches in international relations and its focus is to understand the effects of gender on international politics and the feminist understanding of the international processes. According to the feminist theory, gender refers to the expectations and societal norms that are appropriate for female and male behavior. For instance, men are expected by the society to participate in violent activities outside the home environment such as war while the women are expected to care and nurture children back at home. The gender analysis examines the roles of women and men in the society beyond the anatomical differences and it is clear that there are activities that can be done by both men and women (Waring, 1995). According to the ideologies presented by Waring (1995) it is can be argued that economic, social, and political relations in the society are planned around the gender identities. The Feminist IPE theory uses the concept of gender to challenge the hidden agendas of the traditional IPE approaches of liberalism, Marxism, and realism (Pease, 2009). Pease (2009) stated that liberalism is an approach that believes in the autonomy for private ownership of powers at the expense of the government. Liberalism stresses that the markets in the economy should be free from the alterations that could be caused by the government regulations and control so that they can harmonize the supply and demand of the scarce resources hence resulting in best outputs in the world. Realism is a traditional approach that accepts the markets enjoying free powers to deliver their favorable outcomes but believes that the conditions to operate are obtained after having followed government regulations. According to Pease (2009), Marxism approach believes that only the strong application of the government forces can verify the innate trends for private powers to promote the elites at the cost of the other people in the society. The Feminist IPE theory challenged the traditional IPE approaches because they were not addressing the specific issues of concern that were affecting men and women in the society. Pease (2009) stated that the traditional approaches focus on universality while the feminist IPE theory has used the concept of gender to expose its effects on economic restructuring and shown the unequal gender relations that underlie the global restructuring processes as it has been presented by the video file on Waring (1995). The traditional IPE approaches assume that the international conditions like markets, anarchy, global capitalism, and interdependence to have the same effect on women and men in the society, which is not the case. The traditional IPE approaches believe that women and men respond to the various international conditions in a similar way and the language and concepts used to analyze and describe international relations are normally gender-neutral (Maswood, 2000). The feminists like Waring (1995) make it clear in their approach that gender is a significant category for investigating global politics and for criticizing the other traditional IPE theories because by using the concepts of gender it allows scholars to explore the effect of international relations on the female gender and the roles the women play in the various relations. Insights it provides Pease (2009) stated that the Feminist IPE theory provides insight to the growth of international relations because it provides information that was left out in the traditional IPE theories like the specific response of women and men in various issues and hence improving the study of IPE. The Feminist IPE theory advocates for equal rights between men and women in the society and the right to abortion for the individuals with unwanted pregnancies. The Feminist IPE approach is important in the society as it provides the theoretical frameworks and concepts that explain the perseverance of gender inequalities in the political economy and the effects on socio-economic development in various societies. Application The Feminist IPE theory can be applied in the event such as the IPE European Pension Fund Awards. It is an annual event that was launched in 2001 by the Investment and Pensions Europe and rewards are offered to various individuals who have contributed to the management of pension funds in Europe. The Feminist IPE theory applies to this event where the male and female executives should be given awards equally depending with their contributions to the excellence of their services in the Europe’s pensions industry. Significance of Hegemonic Stability theory to IPE Hegemonic stability theory (HST) is one of the theories in the study of international relations that emphasizes that the international system is likely to be more stable when a single nation is believed to be the dominant world power. HST is significant to IPE because when the dominant world power countries diminish in the economic activities, the stability of the international system also diminishes. Maswood (2000) stated that when hegemons exercise various forms of leadership such as coercion, persuasion, and diplomacy, they are usually organizing their predominance of power. The presence of hegemonic powers in the international system develops incentives for the other countries to acknowledge the openness of trading hence enhancing globalization. Functions of a hegemon The hegemons are considered the strongest countries in the International system and act as an example to the other States in terms of how they handle their social, economic, and political affairs. The hegemons have access to raw materials for their industries, have large import markets, play a major role in controlling numerous sources of capital, yield high profits, and wages, and manufacture goods of high value hence influencing other nations to work towards achievement of the same benefits. The dominant world power countries make policies that are used by the other states in the maintenance of peace and harmony among their citizens. The hegemons ensure the growth of the global economy by helping in resolution of conflicts in countries that are fighting hence preventing destruction of properties. The United States as hegemon The United States is one of the countries that is considered as a hegemon because of its strong economy on the global scale, its strong military units, and its position between the two oceans that makes it less vulnerable to the conventional attacks from other States and the large populations of educated individuals in the society. After the World War II, the US, possessed the characteristics that suited it to be champion of global liberalism. The US had the greatest incentives and capabilities to advance globalization at that time since it had a productive economy that enabled it to benefit from the open goods markets. Maswood (2000) stated that the US had the largest sources of both demand and supply for capital at that time hence enabling it to exploit the capital markets that were open in the region. The power of the US could be used to persuade many nations, isolate the few nonconformists and to compel remainders. The role of the US as a hegemon has changed since the emergence of other dominant powers such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) that have strong economies and political systems and show that the people are already living in a multipolar world. For instance, China is developed economically and Russia has significant resources and a strong military unit hence in the multipolar World there is no state that dominates the other. Conclusion The Feminist IPE theory is important in the society as it seeks to understand the effects of gender on international politics and elaborate the feminist understanding of the international processes in the society. The study of IPE has traditional approaches that include the realism, liberalism, and Marxism theories that explain international relations in a universal way. The Feminist theory uses the concept of gender to examine global politics and to criticize the traditional theories. The Hegemonic Stability Theory is another theory of International relations that explains the role of the dominant world power countries in promoting the global economy. The United States was one of the dominant world powers after the World War II because of its strong military and economic resources but its roles changed when other states such as China and Russia among others developed and made the US stop being hegemony. References Maswood, S. J. (2000). International political economy and globalization. Singapore: World Scientific. Pease. K. (2009), International Organizations. (4th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Waring, M. (1995). Whos Counting [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.nfb.ca/film/whos_counting Read More